Getting Out There and First Clinic Day

What an eventful couple of days!  On Sunday, when I left off writing, Dr Cochran was removing a benign tumor from a MITS student’s shoulder.  I’m happy to report the boy survived!  Seriously, the surgery went well, though they were not able to get all of the tumor, so the boy will keep his appointment with a Nairobi doctor to finish the job.  He was very grateful for their work, and was happy that at least it was reduced in size.

When that work was done, we loaded up our two Land Cruisers and set out for Nakuru, a city in central Kenya that will serve as our base of operations for the next few days.  The trip was easy, though longer than we wanted and it was past dark when we rolled into the Kunste Hotel parking.

This morning, we set out for Londiani Orphanage.  This site was one of the first ones I visited on my very first trip to Kenya in 2008.  John DeFore was coming to negotiate the land deal and agreement with the church here to build what was then our seventh orphanage on this beautiful site.  While we were touring the land on that day, I snapped a picture of kids standing on a ridgeline.  These were the orphans that would later call this place home.  The picture was so memorable that we made it our logo.  You can see the original picture on the KWO facebook page and as an outline on our logo wherever it appears.

We were greeted by singing orphans and widows, just like I have grown accustomed to.  I never tire of watching the new visitors seeing grateful orphans for the first time.  The smiles on all the faces are as genuine as you could hope for.  The orphans are so happy to have visitors from America and the Americans are so happy for the warm reception.  As Ryan and Cherie entertained the kids, the rest of us pitched in and got the clinic set up.  Our good friend Bibiana, who is the nurse at Muhoroni Orphanage was there already and had all the furnishings in place and ready for us.  What a time saver!

Serving the kids went about as smoothly as could be expected for a first day.  Each child was given lessons in tooth brushing, flossing, and hand washing, as well as a vision check, fluoride treatment, medical and dental examination and a visit to our own pharmacy.  We were able to see 79 people in only 5 hours.  After we got back to the Kunste he had a short meeting to recap the day and brainstorm solutions to some people floe challenges we had.  I’m really impressed by the positive attitude of all of our team.

Tomorrow we will be treating the kids from the Chesyliot Feeding Station and possibly some Londiani Feeding Station kids as well.  We will get an early start, leaving the hotel at 6:30 to give us the best chance for a light day on Wednesday, when we must travel to Eldoret in the afternoon to be ready for the great Pokot adventure.  Thanks for reading, and be sure and check out the pictures on our Facebook page here.