Day Four

I was anxious to get to work today and was assigned to work in the medical clinic once again. I woke up at 6 am and enjoyed breakfast under a beautiful Kenyan sunrise as I waited for the 7:30 departure time. The matatu we ordered was late arriving and then we realized that a 15 passenger vehicle was not nearly large enough for 15 persons and the necessary medical supplies so the morning began with packing and repacking. After a very lengthy stop at the pharmacy we were finally on the road to the clinic that was 'just down the road'

'Just down the road' was a 1 hour 45 minute ride to a service station where we used the rest rooms and stretched our legs. The restroom is called a 'long drop' It consists of a cement floor and a cement hole, the trick (for women) is to squat over the hole without having your pants rest on the previously dampened floor, to urinate, and redress while maintaining some sort of hygiene. When I stepped out of the stall I was somewhat surprised that the restroom did not have a basin sink in spite of the fact that the gas station had a very successful restaurant on the premises????? The good news was that the store had a soda cooler with Coke Light for 55 shilling (about 65 cents) the bad news was it was lukewarm and expired in November of 2011-and I was never so happy!

We arrive at an orphanage/boarding school in Njoro, Kenya, an agriculture town about 12 miles south west of Nakuru to a group of approximently 300 citizens lined up for the clinic. We were greeted with a song from the student body then were invited to the Directors office. Fourteen chairs were brought in to accommodate our group with another seven chairs for the school staff. The Director closed the door and began the meeting by introducing his group by name then requested we do the same. He then asked one of the school teachers to offer a word of prayer and immediately all fears and anxiety I was carrying were set aside.

The patients preregistered for medical services and the clinic ran orderly as a member of the school staff called the patients in order of their registration. School was suspended for the day so the lawn around the clinic held a massive group of patients and spectators. Here is a partial list of the more extreme cases that were treated:

1-a woman with leprosy on her leg (who sees that in Utah)

2-a young boy who had chopped the tip of his finger off early in the day

3-an older woman in pain for an illness she was previously told was cancer.

4-a young boy with a large, severe infection on his shin

5-a young woman carrying for a infant that was failing to thrive. The child's mother was deceased and the young woman was doing her best

6-multiple fungal infections

On the way out of the compound the children ran ahead of the van then disappeared, as we cleared the gates they jumped out and yelled "RAAAAAH" it is nice to see that some things are universal.