Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
18 May Monday
Home in Boulder
Guess this is my last entry for this trip. Home and enjoying springtime in Boulder: green, but chilly. Am having a bit of that disorientation that comes with leaving Africa and re-entering the land of overconsumption. Going to the grocery store yesterday just about put me over the edge. My next 3 weeks will be spent in a mixture of soaking up the mountains, preparing to go to Haiti for June/July, and practicing my cello to play for a friend’s wedding in mid-August. I am eager, too, for quiet, quality time with my good friends in Boulder. Each moment I am filled with appreciation for the connections with good people all around this globe. Why am I so fortunate? Thanks to you all for caring ~ Beverly
Guess this is my last entry for this trip. Home and enjoying springtime in Boulder: green, but chilly. Am having a bit of that disorientation that comes with leaving Africa and re-entering the land of overconsumption. Going to the grocery store yesterday just about put me over the edge. My next 3 weeks will be spent in a mixture of soaking up the mountains, preparing to go to Haiti for June/July, and practicing my cello to play for a friend’s wedding in mid-August. I am eager, too, for quiet, quality time with my good friends in Boulder. Each moment I am filled with appreciation for the connections with good people all around this globe. Why am I so fortunate? Thanks to you all for caring ~ Beverly
15 May Saturday
San Francisco International Airport
Am waiting to board my 7:20 pm flight to Denver. Just a few words about my return flights. It began in a Nairobi downpour with the taxi driver coming at 6:30 pm to get me to the airport for an 11:30 pm flight. Seem excessive? It actually wasn’t! What should have taken 20 minutes to get to the airport took over 1 ½ hours due to HUGE traffic jams! I checked in and entertained myself in the airport gift shops. Boarded, sat next to a quiet man who slept almost the whole 4.5 hours to Dubai. In Dubai I had an exquisite cappuccino during my 3 hour layover. Flight to San Francisco was 16 hours and went over the North Pole! Emirates Airlines has cameras that provide real-time “TV” viewing of the ground from one’s seat. I loved it! My aisle seat was next to 2 Indian women – very compatible seat-mates, though one had a pretty awful cough. I slept maybe a total of 2 hours. My attention is definitely shifting from Africa and I hope I don't fall asleep and miss my flight to Denver.
Am waiting to board my 7:20 pm flight to Denver. Just a few words about my return flights. It began in a Nairobi downpour with the taxi driver coming at 6:30 pm to get me to the airport for an 11:30 pm flight. Seem excessive? It actually wasn’t! What should have taken 20 minutes to get to the airport took over 1 ½ hours due to HUGE traffic jams! I checked in and entertained myself in the airport gift shops. Boarded, sat next to a quiet man who slept almost the whole 4.5 hours to Dubai. In Dubai I had an exquisite cappuccino during my 3 hour layover. Flight to San Francisco was 16 hours and went over the North Pole! Emirates Airlines has cameras that provide real-time “TV” viewing of the ground from one’s seat. I loved it! My aisle seat was next to 2 Indian women – very compatible seat-mates, though one had a pretty awful cough. I slept maybe a total of 2 hours. My attention is definitely shifting from Africa and I hope I don't fall asleep and miss my flight to Denver.
14 May Friday
Going to Nairobi
Our early morning rising was rewarded with a fleeting, but total view of Mt. Kenya! We were thrilled. We had scheduled for our driver to pick us up at 7:30 to drive to Nairobi (2.5 – 3 hours). He showed up late and somehow the half-filled fuel tank that we had left him with was empty. And he reported no fuel available in the local town. Meaning: he had blown a half a tank of fuel and we lost 1 ½ hours because we had to drive north to the nearest available fuel. But Nairobi was south east of our location. I was not happy. Also meant that we wouldn't make it to the 11 am viewing at an elephant and hippo orphan rehab facility at the Nairobi Game Reserve. I was more than disappointed. Then, with heavy rains, road construction and our driver’s ignorance of Nairobi, what should have taken at MOST 3 hours took 5! My friend had booked a hotel room for Saturday night, so we went there and sent the driver on his way. We regrouped and basically gave up any idea of getting out in Nairobi. As the locals said, “the jam is bad!”
Our early morning rising was rewarded with a fleeting, but total view of Mt. Kenya! We were thrilled. We had scheduled for our driver to pick us up at 7:30 to drive to Nairobi (2.5 – 3 hours). He showed up late and somehow the half-filled fuel tank that we had left him with was empty. And he reported no fuel available in the local town. Meaning: he had blown a half a tank of fuel and we lost 1 ½ hours because we had to drive north to the nearest available fuel. But Nairobi was south east of our location. I was not happy. Also meant that we wouldn't make it to the 11 am viewing at an elephant and hippo orphan rehab facility at the Nairobi Game Reserve. I was more than disappointed. Then, with heavy rains, road construction and our driver’s ignorance of Nairobi, what should have taken at MOST 3 hours took 5! My friend had booked a hotel room for Saturday night, so we went there and sent the driver on his way. We regrouped and basically gave up any idea of getting out in Nairobi. As the locals said, “the jam is bad!”
13 May Thursday
Naro Moru River Lodge
There is no doubt of why this lodge is named “River” lodge. Last night, after heavy rains here and torrential rains on Mt. Kenya, about 9 miles upstream, the river just outside our door rose at least 5 feet. As we left dinner to return to our cabin, the night guard walked with us, leading us along higher walks, over a fence and past the rising river – already it had covered part of the sidewalk that we normally would have used.
So, here you have 2 public health nurses, both mountaineers and used to “being prepared”. We launched into securing the things we would want to have with us in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night. Passport, money, clean undies, toothbrush, sunglasses and hat. We laid out the clothes we would jump into (just like firemen) and decided to go with tennies rather than hiking boots, as the boots would make swimming harder!! We set the alarm for 1 am to check the status. Up we got, raincoats over nighties, headlamps and sandals. River was holding just a few inches above a spot on a tree that normally stood on the river bank. Now it was in about 4 feet of water.
We repeated our alarm-rising river-checking at 3 am and were exceedingly relieved to find that the water had begun to recede – at least it was going in the right direction! Slept in till almost 7! The pay-off for the heavy rains Wednesday was almost 24 hours without rain on Thursday.
There is no doubt of why this lodge is named “River” lodge. Last night, after heavy rains here and torrential rains on Mt. Kenya, about 9 miles upstream, the river just outside our door rose at least 5 feet. As we left dinner to return to our cabin, the night guard walked with us, leading us along higher walks, over a fence and past the rising river – already it had covered part of the sidewalk that we normally would have used.
So, here you have 2 public health nurses, both mountaineers and used to “being prepared”. We launched into securing the things we would want to have with us in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night. Passport, money, clean undies, toothbrush, sunglasses and hat. We laid out the clothes we would jump into (just like firemen) and decided to go with tennies rather than hiking boots, as the boots would make swimming harder!! We set the alarm for 1 am to check the status. Up we got, raincoats over nighties, headlamps and sandals. River was holding just a few inches above a spot on a tree that normally stood on the river bank. Now it was in about 4 feet of water.
We repeated our alarm-rising river-checking at 3 am and were exceedingly relieved to find that the water had begun to recede – at least it was going in the right direction! Slept in till almost 7! The pay-off for the heavy rains Wednesday was almost 24 hours without rain on Thursday.
8 May Saturday
Soroti to Eldoret, Kenya
Leaving Soroti at 5 am (really!) in Martin’s (the clinic’s finance officer) friend Herbert’s van. Herbert’s family is from the area of Kenya where we are headed. Martin has never been out of Uganda. We are all excited! Crossing the border only took a little more than an hour. All of us were amazed at the large farms – much larger than the commonly seen farms in Uganda. The weather held for us, with little rain along the way. We arrived in Eldoret around noon, welcomed by my friend who is a volunteer professor at the School of Nursing at Moi University. She has been here since January and we are her first house guests.
Kerio View
Sunday morning we drove about 30 minutes away to have breakfast at Kerio View, a luxurious restaurant and lodge perched on the edge of the western ridge of the Rift Valley! We totally enjoyed the food, views and company. Well, except for the 3 bugs in Herbert’s coffee that I thought were cardamom seeds…oh well. Martin and Herbert had to return to Uganda in the afternoon. My friend took me around Eldoret and we even did a little shopping. Monday I was treated to an informal morning meeting with most of the Nursing School faculty. I was humbled to hear of their various interests – HIV was a theme, with intimate partner violence, community assessment and women’s health all important. Our afternoon was spent packing in preparation for the next four days.
Mt. Kenya
Tuesday morning our driver arrived (late) to take us to Nakura National Park and then on to Mt. Kenya. Nakura gave me my first views of African animals in Africa! We saw flamingos, zebras, impalas, gazelles, waterbucks, baboons, monkeys, rhinos, giraffes and a COBRA!! Luckily we were in the car. The roads deteriorated horrendously after that and our driver was visibly anxious as we entered terrain populated by a tribe that was made notorious by their violence after the most recent Kenya elections. We didn’t arrive at our destination til 8 pm! But it was well worth it. Understated elegance – we even had a fireplace in our room. We were disappointed to learn that the fee for doing a day-hike on Mt. Kenya was $345 per PERSON. That, plus the weather was AWFUL, made us agree that we were going to have to face a forced time of relaxation. Something that neither of us is very accustomed to doing. I went swimming in the lodge’s swimming pool and had a sauna.
Leaving Soroti at 5 am (really!) in Martin’s (the clinic’s finance officer) friend Herbert’s van. Herbert’s family is from the area of Kenya where we are headed. Martin has never been out of Uganda. We are all excited! Crossing the border only took a little more than an hour. All of us were amazed at the large farms – much larger than the commonly seen farms in Uganda. The weather held for us, with little rain along the way. We arrived in Eldoret around noon, welcomed by my friend who is a volunteer professor at the School of Nursing at Moi University. She has been here since January and we are her first house guests.
Kerio View
Sunday morning we drove about 30 minutes away to have breakfast at Kerio View, a luxurious restaurant and lodge perched on the edge of the western ridge of the Rift Valley! We totally enjoyed the food, views and company. Well, except for the 3 bugs in Herbert’s coffee that I thought were cardamom seeds…oh well. Martin and Herbert had to return to Uganda in the afternoon. My friend took me around Eldoret and we even did a little shopping. Monday I was treated to an informal morning meeting with most of the Nursing School faculty. I was humbled to hear of their various interests – HIV was a theme, with intimate partner violence, community assessment and women’s health all important. Our afternoon was spent packing in preparation for the next four days.
Mt. Kenya
Tuesday morning our driver arrived (late) to take us to Nakura National Park and then on to Mt. Kenya. Nakura gave me my first views of African animals in Africa! We saw flamingos, zebras, impalas, gazelles, waterbucks, baboons, monkeys, rhinos, giraffes and a COBRA!! Luckily we were in the car. The roads deteriorated horrendously after that and our driver was visibly anxious as we entered terrain populated by a tribe that was made notorious by their violence after the most recent Kenya elections. We didn’t arrive at our destination til 8 pm! But it was well worth it. Understated elegance – we even had a fireplace in our room. We were disappointed to learn that the fee for doing a day-hike on Mt. Kenya was $345 per PERSON. That, plus the weather was AWFUL, made us agree that we were going to have to face a forced time of relaxation. Something that neither of us is very accustomed to doing. I went swimming in the lodge’s swimming pool and had a sauna.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
7 May Friday
4 May evening
No Power.
Tuesday evening. No power in my guest house for over 24 hours. Rest of town has power – nobody really know why we don’t. The generator is “spoiled” which meads not even minimal lights…and I won’t be able to boil water for my coffee in the morning. Will have to wait til I get to breakfast for my first cup.
Julius – Surgery
The young man who came to us with a worsening 2-month old leg wound arrived at TSMP clinic early on Monday. He, the driver (Richard) and I went to the private clinic where he had gotten a wound culture done on Saturday. At 9:30 we were rthe first to sign in to see the orthopedic surgeon (who is only here 3 days/week) Julius saw the doc at 11 – not a bad wait (though I was eager to be back to our clinic)! Xray showed no bone involvement, but the tissue needed debridement. About 300,000 shillings ($150) later and at 5 pm, he was waking up. Somehow, Richard had located Julius’s wife and year-old daughter (the 4 orphans of Julius’s brother were left at “home” in the hut in the camp.) Here, a patient’s family has to provide food, water, help with the bathroom…since Julius and his wife actually have NOTHING, we arranged for meals to be brought to them in the evening and tea and donuts to be brought in the morning.. The wife was prepared to spend the night – she had a sheet to sleep on the cement floor.
The surgeon was highly suspicious of the tissue and sent a biopsy to Kampala ($15). He thinks it may be TB. The results will be back when Julius sees the doc on the 14th. Meanwhile, we transported him to TSMP, where he spent one more night in a bed and in a clean environment, with food and clean water. His wife arrived on Wednesday morning and was there fro the first dressing change. The wound looked good – it was dry and the tissue is pink. But it is really big and the tissue around it is extremely fragile. The gellow has at least a month of healing ahead of him. I decided to give money to Richard to pick up beans, posho (like polenta), cooking oil and charcoal for them as he drove them home. Richard is one of those amazing angels – he know the people, is really spiritually connected and is incredibly dedicated to the poor people who were displaced by the civil war and who now have been pushed out of the camps by the government, but still are somewhat homeless. It is not a good scene here.
A bit more about this situation with Julius. Generally, my approach is to focus on community level needs. There is so much need here that helping one person feels a bit like a drop in a very huge bucket. And how does one decide who is meritous and who is not? I crossed over that line with Julius and am feeling quite conflicted. He’s only 21 and lost his ability to earn money with this leg injury. He most surely would have lost his leg, even though he had been to our clinic right after the accident and was treated. At our all-staff meeting on Wednesday morning, I talked about this with the staff. I acknowledged that I had made a mistake and should have consulted with Martin and Dr. Nathan before launching into the wound culture and all that ensued. One of the problems that this could lead to is people in the community expecting that the clinic will be able to provide this for everyone. And of course, we cannot. I both wanted to let the staff know that I had made this mistake and was totally owning it. AND I wanted to demonstrate that making mistakes is quite human. In talking with one of the staff about this later (Esther), she said “when you don’t have open communication with people and they can point out your mistakes, how can you ever learn and avoid doing something wrong?” I totally love these guys and am constantly inspired by their wisdom.
Outreach Day – Thursday
Thursday we packed into a van and drove about 40 minutes north and east of Soroti where we did an outreach clinic. Four doctors saw medical patients (155); a midwife saw antenatal women (30?), a midwife did childhood vaccinations (I have no idea how many) and the lab did some malaria tests (we ran out of test strips) and the dispensary nurses counted out tablets and gave injections! WOW! I helped with registration and was very popular with the docs when I showed them how to change the new thermometers to Centigrade! I also helped with the vaccinations – filling out the cards and escorting sick Moms to the medical docs, when needed. Then I helped in the dispensary, something that is always needed, but not my favorite thing to do.
Friday
How can it be my last day in Soroti? I woke at 4:30, the power is off, again. (It had been on for about 24 hours.) I plan to be at the clinic this morning, will see Julius and change his dressing. I am hoping it will be busy enough that I won’t have time to cry. I am so full of many emotions – gratitude for Charles Steinberg’s invitation to come here 6 years ago, for the “Gails”, for these strong and dedicated staff who provide such loving care for people who have suffered so much and for Jennifer Braun and her willingness to partner with us and then take over the clinic. Without her dedication, none of this would be as it is today.
As I sign off, I will be heading to Kenya tomorrow. I’ll be meeting with a friend there who is teaching at a school of nursing. I’ll try my best to report in about that road trip and the possibility of a job interview! And then actually having some fun.
HOME ON the 15th. I am actually going to be home on May 15, not the 5th. I made a type-o. Sorry for that!
No Power.
Tuesday evening. No power in my guest house for over 24 hours. Rest of town has power – nobody really know why we don’t. The generator is “spoiled” which meads not even minimal lights…and I won’t be able to boil water for my coffee in the morning. Will have to wait til I get to breakfast for my first cup.
Julius – Surgery
The young man who came to us with a worsening 2-month old leg wound arrived at TSMP clinic early on Monday. He, the driver (Richard) and I went to the private clinic where he had gotten a wound culture done on Saturday. At 9:30 we were rthe first to sign in to see the orthopedic surgeon (who is only here 3 days/week) Julius saw the doc at 11 – not a bad wait (though I was eager to be back to our clinic)! Xray showed no bone involvement, but the tissue needed debridement. About 300,000 shillings ($150) later and at 5 pm, he was waking up. Somehow, Richard had located Julius’s wife and year-old daughter (the 4 orphans of Julius’s brother were left at “home” in the hut in the camp.) Here, a patient’s family has to provide food, water, help with the bathroom…since Julius and his wife actually have NOTHING, we arranged for meals to be brought to them in the evening and tea and donuts to be brought in the morning.. The wife was prepared to spend the night – she had a sheet to sleep on the cement floor.
The surgeon was highly suspicious of the tissue and sent a biopsy to Kampala ($15). He thinks it may be TB. The results will be back when Julius sees the doc on the 14th. Meanwhile, we transported him to TSMP, where he spent one more night in a bed and in a clean environment, with food and clean water. His wife arrived on Wednesday morning and was there fro the first dressing change. The wound looked good – it was dry and the tissue is pink. But it is really big and the tissue around it is extremely fragile. The gellow has at least a month of healing ahead of him. I decided to give money to Richard to pick up beans, posho (like polenta), cooking oil and charcoal for them as he drove them home. Richard is one of those amazing angels – he know the people, is really spiritually connected and is incredibly dedicated to the poor people who were displaced by the civil war and who now have been pushed out of the camps by the government, but still are somewhat homeless. It is not a good scene here.
A bit more about this situation with Julius. Generally, my approach is to focus on community level needs. There is so much need here that helping one person feels a bit like a drop in a very huge bucket. And how does one decide who is meritous and who is not? I crossed over that line with Julius and am feeling quite conflicted. He’s only 21 and lost his ability to earn money with this leg injury. He most surely would have lost his leg, even though he had been to our clinic right after the accident and was treated. At our all-staff meeting on Wednesday morning, I talked about this with the staff. I acknowledged that I had made a mistake and should have consulted with Martin and Dr. Nathan before launching into the wound culture and all that ensued. One of the problems that this could lead to is people in the community expecting that the clinic will be able to provide this for everyone. And of course, we cannot. I both wanted to let the staff know that I had made this mistake and was totally owning it. AND I wanted to demonstrate that making mistakes is quite human. In talking with one of the staff about this later (Esther), she said “when you don’t have open communication with people and they can point out your mistakes, how can you ever learn and avoid doing something wrong?” I totally love these guys and am constantly inspired by their wisdom.
Outreach Day – Thursday
Thursday we packed into a van and drove about 40 minutes north and east of Soroti where we did an outreach clinic. Four doctors saw medical patients (155); a midwife saw antenatal women (30?), a midwife did childhood vaccinations (I have no idea how many) and the lab did some malaria tests (we ran out of test strips) and the dispensary nurses counted out tablets and gave injections! WOW! I helped with registration and was very popular with the docs when I showed them how to change the new thermometers to Centigrade! I also helped with the vaccinations – filling out the cards and escorting sick Moms to the medical docs, when needed. Then I helped in the dispensary, something that is always needed, but not my favorite thing to do.
Friday
How can it be my last day in Soroti? I woke at 4:30, the power is off, again. (It had been on for about 24 hours.) I plan to be at the clinic this morning, will see Julius and change his dressing. I am hoping it will be busy enough that I won’t have time to cry. I am so full of many emotions – gratitude for Charles Steinberg’s invitation to come here 6 years ago, for the “Gails”, for these strong and dedicated staff who provide such loving care for people who have suffered so much and for Jennifer Braun and her willingness to partner with us and then take over the clinic. Without her dedication, none of this would be as it is today.
As I sign off, I will be heading to Kenya tomorrow. I’ll be meeting with a friend there who is teaching at a school of nursing. I’ll try my best to report in about that road trip and the possibility of a job interview! And then actually having some fun.
HOME ON the 15th. I am actually going to be home on May 15, not the 5th. I made a type-o. Sorry for that!
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