The Medical Team Arrives

Saturday, Susie, Mauryn, Francis and I spent the day packing and getting ready for the medical team’s arrival.  Francis brought by his new friend from America, an FBI agent named Troy.  Troy is friends with the Colston’s daughter and is here to help teach the team at MITS some conflict mediation techniques.  While we were visiting with Troy, he asked if we had any volunteers who were from Andrews, where he grew up.  We told him the Sears’ were coming that night and they are from Andrews.  He was surprised to realize that he knew them, having been classmates with their son, Truman in high school.  So we set up a plan to surprise the Sears with Troy Sunday morning.

Check the KWO facebook page for pictures from today.

Later Saturday, we went in town to do last minute shopping for the team and pick them up at the airport.  Francis drove one van, and I drove the other.  It was like my final exam for Kenyan driving, Nairobi city driving, also know as urban warfare.  I managed not to hit anything and we made it to the airport around 7:30.  The team was set to arrive at 9pm, but it takes that long to find a parking place at the airport.  It takes skill, teamwork, and ruthlessness to get a parking spot, but we managed.

The medical team arrived on time, and all baggage arrived with them.  That in itself is a miracle.  We spent more than an hour in the airport parking lot loading the vehicles, as all baggage had to be tied on top with our the new tie downs that we brought from the US.  Then we drove on to Kamulu for the night.

Sunday morning, after we surprised Ruth and Bob with Troy, we said a prayer and loaded up for the long journey to Dirubi.  Driving the other van was Arrington, our long time friend, who was very surprised to find me behind the wheel of the second van!  On the way out, we stopped at the Rift Valley overlook to see the view, though it was overcast and somewhat foggy.  I asked Arrington how I was doing and he said I was too fast.  I seemed to remember him being a very fast driver, so I was surprised he was so conservative, but dismissed it as a language problem, or sour grapes.  Turned out he meant something else.

As we approached Niavasha, we found our first Police checkpoint.  I was surprised when they motioned for me to pull over, as they usually do not like to mess with mzungu.  The nice office told me that they had a “sophisticated speed camera” up the road that had clocked me at 92kph, 12kph over the limit.  I doubted the camera story, but kept quiet.  He took my license and went to consult with another officer.  At this point Arrington and Mauryn got involved and tried to find out what they really wanted.  They said that we were going to have to go to the Niavasha Police Station and “post bail” for me for the speeding charge.  They gave my license to a messenger who drove off with it motioning for us to follow.

By this time, the team was getting a little apprehensive.  So was I.  I figured all they wanted was a bribe, but it turns out they really wanted the fine and to charge the American.  So we posted a $35 bail and left, giving the name of our worker in the area who would come on my behalf next week to clear the fine.  So we were on our way again, driving a little slower and an hour late.  We stopped for lunch at the Delemere, our usual roadside haunt and then pushed on to Kericho.  The long diversion was still there, made even slower by our heavily loaded vehicles.  We arrived in Kericho around 5:30.  We made a quick pit stop at the Tea Hotel to borrow their facilities, (Susie managed to shop for soapstone there, again) and then we were off.

The last hour of driving was some of the hardest I have done.  In the failing light, we drove a long, winding, hole-filled road from Kericho to Sondu.  Fortunately, the rain stayed away and we made it fine.  In Sondu, you have to drive through the town to get to the little road to Dirubi.  It feels a lot like driving through the middle of an African block party, and one wrong turn had us wondering if we were stuck. But we pushed through and the team breathed a little easier, at least until we got to the really bad, dirt road to Dirubi.  I wasn’t worried, because I had driven it last week, but some of our passengers were sure we would get stuck.  Finally we arrived in the dark and gave thanks for our deliverance.

We spent a long couple of hours unloading and getting set up for our Nurses’ training Monday, where we are sitting at this moment.   I’ll write more about that tomorrow.