Blurbs from the first fortnight
Highlights from the first two weeks in Kenya . . .
- Eating sweet, juicy mangoes for 30 cents a pop! Ate a whole one tonight for dessert, plan to do the same every day for the rest of my stay in Migori. YUM!!!
- The warm-hearted, big-smiling people of Kisumu and Migori. Such friendly, welcoming communities—a far far cry from the menacing, hectic feel we got in Nairobe last time around. I could stay here a while.
- The kids yelling at the top of their lungs “How aaaare youuuuuu???” and collapsing with shy laughter when we reply.
- Traveling abroad with Obama as my president and not Bush !!! I didn’t realize ahead of time how different it would feel to be PROUD to be an American and to WANT to talk politics rather than feeling ashamed. Countless Kenyans, from Tuk-tuk drivers to doctors, have told me that Obama has given them an optimism they never before dared to have, that they themselves and their children and Kenya as a whole might become something great one day.
- A last-minute trip to Masai Mara, in which despite our lack of advanced planning, organized tour or 4-wheel drive vehicle, we ended up with a fun-loving and able driver whose company we loved, a hawk-eyed Masai park guide who, from the back middle seat of our beat-up Toyota station wagon somehow spotted a family of cheetahs lying under a tree hundreds of yards away. A cheetah with her four baby cubs up close and personal! That and a pride of lions we admired from within 10 feet (and not a single other vehicle around), a crocodile sunning himself next to a big heap of hippos, a herd of elephants that crossed the road right in front of us (with babies!) and much more. All for $40 per person.
- Learning from the clinical officers here who struggle daily to take care of HIV patients with very limited resources, and sharing with them the knowledge we have gained from our own training in the US. More on clinic experiences to come.
Lowlights from the first two weeks in Kenya . . .
- Mosquitos that come with the risk of malaria. I have discovered that I am somewhat paranoid when it comes to this particular disease (don’t worry Mom, I haven’t missed a single prophylaxis pill, I sleep under a mosquito net, and I am rabid when it comes to killing them).
- The fashion and hygiene nightmare that were Reena and Meg after wearing the same jeans that we sweated in for 11 straight days while we waited for British Airways to finally deliver our lost bags. The two of us would have been no match for the stylish Kenyans anyway (the women of Kisumu look like a million bucks every day, in heels, slim skirts and brightly colored fabrics), but we were really slummin’ it in our tan hospital Clarks (Meg) and our hiking boots (Reena) in clinic. Desperate for clean clothing more suited for the 90 degree heat, we hit up a big open market in Kisumu and found some choice items that had made their way to Kenya from Goodwill (H&M reaches the developing world!). Fashion show photos to come when Rahul brings me the camera cable which I went off and left.
- Missing my hubby! Being back in the developing world without my backpacking partner in crime feels just plain wrong. But he’s headed my way in 5 days. Wooooooo!!!
- Day after day seeing patients go without life-saving diagnostic and therapeutic measures that we take for granted back home. Today I saw a patient with headache and neurologic abnormalities concerning for a mass in her brain. Without a head CT to characterize the mass, she will have to be treated empirically for an infection called toxoplasmosis and hope she improves. If she instead has a brain tumor, there is little chance that she will ever be able to get a CT to make the diagnosis, and even less chance that she would be able to receive the specialized treatment it would need.
- Meg
- Eating sweet, juicy mangoes for 30 cents a pop! Ate a whole one tonight for dessert, plan to do the same every day for the rest of my stay in Migori. YUM!!!
- The warm-hearted, big-smiling people of Kisumu and Migori. Such friendly, welcoming communities—a far far cry from the menacing, hectic feel we got in Nairobe last time around. I could stay here a while.
- The kids yelling at the top of their lungs “How aaaare youuuuuu???” and collapsing with shy laughter when we reply.
- Traveling abroad with Obama as my president and not Bush !!! I didn’t realize ahead of time how different it would feel to be PROUD to be an American and to WANT to talk politics rather than feeling ashamed. Countless Kenyans, from Tuk-tuk drivers to doctors, have told me that Obama has given them an optimism they never before dared to have, that they themselves and their children and Kenya as a whole might become something great one day.
- A last-minute trip to Masai Mara, in which despite our lack of advanced planning, organized tour or 4-wheel drive vehicle, we ended up with a fun-loving and able driver whose company we loved, a hawk-eyed Masai park guide who, from the back middle seat of our beat-up Toyota station wagon somehow spotted a family of cheetahs lying under a tree hundreds of yards away. A cheetah with her four baby cubs up close and personal! That and a pride of lions we admired from within 10 feet (and not a single other vehicle around), a crocodile sunning himself next to a big heap of hippos, a herd of elephants that crossed the road right in front of us (with babies!) and much more. All for $40 per person.
- Learning from the clinical officers here who struggle daily to take care of HIV patients with very limited resources, and sharing with them the knowledge we have gained from our own training in the US. More on clinic experiences to come.
Lowlights from the first two weeks in Kenya . . .
- Mosquitos that come with the risk of malaria. I have discovered that I am somewhat paranoid when it comes to this particular disease (don’t worry Mom, I haven’t missed a single prophylaxis pill, I sleep under a mosquito net, and I am rabid when it comes to killing them).
- The fashion and hygiene nightmare that were Reena and Meg after wearing the same jeans that we sweated in for 11 straight days while we waited for British Airways to finally deliver our lost bags. The two of us would have been no match for the stylish Kenyans anyway (the women of Kisumu look like a million bucks every day, in heels, slim skirts and brightly colored fabrics), but we were really slummin’ it in our tan hospital Clarks (Meg) and our hiking boots (Reena) in clinic. Desperate for clean clothing more suited for the 90 degree heat, we hit up a big open market in Kisumu and found some choice items that had made their way to Kenya from Goodwill (H&M reaches the developing world!). Fashion show photos to come when Rahul brings me the camera cable which I went off and left.
- Missing my hubby! Being back in the developing world without my backpacking partner in crime feels just plain wrong. But he’s headed my way in 5 days. Wooooooo!!!
- Day after day seeing patients go without life-saving diagnostic and therapeutic measures that we take for granted back home. Today I saw a patient with headache and neurologic abnormalities concerning for a mass in her brain. Without a head CT to characterize the mass, she will have to be treated empirically for an infection called toxoplasmosis and hope she improves. If she instead has a brain tumor, there is little chance that she will ever be able to get a CT to make the diagnosis, and even less chance that she would be able to receive the specialized treatment it would need.
- Meg
posted by Meghul at 9:47 PM
2 Comments:
mad at my life over the last few weeks not to have pored over these earlier ... can't wait to see you and hear more about everything. I feel like I'm back in my Lockheed Martin cubicle hanging on every word!
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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