Elective Africa: Day six.

Gosh, I know I said yesterday…(well two days ago because I was so terribly busy and tired yesterday I didn’t get a chance to blow =/) that it was one of those days where you will never forget and one of the best days of your life. And how can anyone imagine a day getting better than “a day you will never forget kind of day”?...Well today was just that. Unimaginably unforgettable.

I slept like a princess last night under my NEW mosquito net that Dollas (my house mother) gave me. Everyone was super suspicious as to why I am COVERED in mosquito bites…one or two…ten or eleven bites is typical…30-40 and all over my face…kind of strange right? Well come to find out there was a ginormous hole in my net. Needless to say…no more new mosquito bites were spotted when I woke up this morning. It could be due to my new method, which I’m sure you’re just dying to know…so I MUST share the secret. Lotion after a shower…horrible idea. Bug spray after a shower…bug sprayed layered on after a shower…now that is a brilliant idea, and yes….I am taking all of the credit for that. J Good news though… The first thing Kimani said to me this morning at the hospital (when I was complaining about wanting to cut my ear off because it itched so bad-due to a darn bite) was “You sleep good? The bites on your face are healing and not fresh?” Yes, Kimani…thank you for pointing out that the bites on my face are still visible. Haha. Anywhoo you don’t care about all that boring nonsense stuff.

Today at the hospital was just an ordinary day. I got to administer a bunch of medications again and remove a TON of catheters from women who had cesarean sections. OH and since Kimani had a meeting to go to I got the pleasure of working with another nursing student and we were assigned “dressing change duty” which was clean and un-stich in patient and out patient c-section wounds. I love nursing…I can handle blood, gets, vomit, and I must say I’m mighty good at cleaning up some feces (I’ll spare you any descriptions ;)…puss and drainage coming from wounds that is green…and smells…and sticky. Not my cup of tea…I don’t know WHAT it is about wounds that gets my stomach rumbing…but there is something and it is a very unpleasant feeling. Thank goodness mid dressing change of the 3^rd patient, James, the nursing director of the hospital called me and told me I had a meeting to attend. THANK GOODNESS because I was in a room that was like 8 by 8 foot, one window, no fan, flies everywhere…a sheet hanging up over a wire for a door and women who were in pain due to these nasty infected wounds with a nurse who doesn’t speak Swahili except for 5 words that are applicable in a hospital (which I must say I am very proud of.) I usually just smile and say…”no swahili.” So back to this meeting…James says “Abbbbiigel (typing it how they say it so you get the jist-Africans love my name for some reason?) meeting at 10..where are you?” That’s funny James…you never mentioned anything about a meeting so I say “I didn’t know there was a meeting but I’ll be right there” and I say it nice and loud so the nursing student standing on the other side of the curtain hears me so I can get out of that room as fast as possible before I faint or vomit. So now I have to find the board room and don’t speak Swahili…people look at me like I’m from another planet each time I say “Do you know where the board room is?” Keep in mind how much easier it would be if I knew about the meeting so I could have walked there with Kimani…so I walk in 60 minutes late…which isn’t really a big deal because Kenyans are late for EVERYTHING! For example…at 1015 (meeting started at 10) I said to Kimani…”Don’t you have a meeting at 10?” He said, “Yeah but the board wont be there until 1030 so I’ve learned not to be on time.” Gosh…my kind of schedule ;) So I get to the meeting, which was really rather boring. Everyone talked in English which is all fine and dandy….but they slur every word together talk to fast I didn’t really follow anything. After the meeting I went back to the floor for about 30 minutes and then we left the hospital to come home, grab a quick lunch, and OFF TO SEE THE ORPHANS! J J

Before I tell you guys how the orphans school….I want to make it clear that I am not judging, or dis crediting, or taking anything away from these people. They are doing the absolute best with what they have-and doing a fine job of it at that. Sometimes it is hard to understand what one feels through reading. I have the utmost respect for the people of Kenya and wish in so many ways I had the opportunity and ability to be more like them. They are the hardest workers and most sincere people I have ever met.

Driving to the school I had a vision in my head…and go figure it wasn’t anything like the real thing. When we pulled up to the school, I literally thought I was going to get sick. It broke my heart. When we went into the school the children were in the middle of a lesson and SOOO THRILLED to see us. You could just see that the smile was coming from the deepest part of their soul. We met Patience who runs the school and the school had a 1 headmaster and 1 teacher. Patience explained to us that there was only 66 students today but more will be coming (they have room for 80) in the next couple weeks. This week was the first week of school for the students since their break-this is the start of their school year. (This is for all schools in Kenya, not just the orphanage.) Patience introduced us to the class and then we went to the outside area of the school and played their games with them and then taught them “Ring around the Rosey” and “The Hokie Pokie” (sp?). ---lame but they loved it and my brain shut off and I couldn’t think of anymore childrens games like that. Except “duck duck goose” which we had already played. After we finished that we went back into the school and they sang and danced for us…and at this point my heart was shattered. They sang us many songs, mostly in Swahili, but then they sang one in English….wishing us a happy life, good days, smiles…etc. These children…who are in a steel shed, who sit on the dirt floor, who are being raised by single parents who don’t have jobs if they are even living with parents and not Patience, in the most unreal circumstances. Circumstances most of you would allow your children to even imagine…needless to say at this point I started crying. It was so emotional wrecking-but beautiful all at the same time. These children are my heros…and most of all Patience. She is a brilliantly astonishing women. At the end she said a prayer for us…and prayed that we would be praying for her and her ability to keep the school running. She has to pay rent a total of 3000 shillings a month. 1 dollar is equivalent to 80 shillings, ps. That’s $37.50 a month. So I am going to go meet with her next week to figure out how I can pay her rent for at least the next 6 months. Anyways, enjoy the pictures…comment if you have any questions at all. I know I was brief…but it is just so hard to describe. I think you will all enjoy the pictures and it will be able to help you understand. When I get back to the states I really want to continue to support this cause and do everything I can to help these children. Whether it be just send donations of paper, pencils, crayons, etc. Or money for rent. I am going to shop for materials with a worker at my house who is good with woodworking and we are going to get supplies to build desks! So excited.

Until next time!

Love always,

Abigail

"Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose."

~ John Stossel

YUM...fanta in a glass bottle! (ALL soda is in a glass bottle over here...and you get them cheaper if you return the bottle)...now thats a good way of recycling, eh!

thought this way funny...car on fire so they pull up next to a gas station.

These pictures are a little out of order but it's the bst my computer would let me do. These are all at the school with the children.

That building behind jess to the right is the school

Patience...the woman who runs the school

Patience and Dollas-our house mother.

dancing?...anyone who knows me knows i am the worst dancer ever! HAHA

The most beautiful, courageous, strong woman I have ever met.

"I'm holding out for a hero, I'm holding out for a hero until the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, he's gotta fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight."