Tusker Du!

Yesterday was much better than the jet-lagged walking nightmare shock that the day prior (as I am sure you picked up from my long tirade I typed up). Some things I had to accept yesterday. The first was that I wasn’t getting my awesome jail-broken super-customized IPOD touch back. I am already feeling the hurt from it because our drug formulary here is tiny and I haven’t used most of these drugs in the United States and don’t know much about dosing or side effects profiles. Regardless, I still looked down at the ground a lot yesterday, not because I was depressed, but because I will still naively looking for it on the ground-still hopefully in its bright green IPOD sock. Oh well, it’s gone and I can’t harp on it anymore. The $300 US it is worth (it’s actually worth more here, most electronics are more expensive) is worth 23,400 Kenya Shillings (forever to be referred to as KSh). To put that in perspective, the averaged employed Kenyan makes 4,000 Ksh a month, so it’s worth 6 months of their salary-probably more-who would turn it in if I dropped it?

The culture shock of being here is starting to settle a little bit and a lot of that is helped by the beautiful tropical landscape, amazing sunrises and sunsets, and tremendous vistas (when you have the time to look at them). I am taking tons of pictures as well. Around here, children LOVE to have their pictures taken and see them. They will also say the 1 or 2 phrases they know in English (like “how are you” or “hello”) and are absolutely delighted when you respond.

Yesterday started off with morning Gospel (which is done entirely in Swahili). Something about this gave me some relief after the stressful day before. The service is done every weekday and features tons of singing and a service. The folks that come are absolutely delighted when we try to sing along (there is a hymn book in Swahili). It was very relaxing, even though I couldn’t understand a single word. The pastors after the service gather all the doctors and we hold hands and pray together to help alleviate the suffering of patients.

The service is held at the comprehensive care clinic (HIV clinic-which I mentioned yesterday). I spotted something I never thought I would see - rows and rows of free condoms hanging on hooks (note, the hooks are not actually puncturing the condoms). This was a bit of a surprise to me honestly, but I noticed that few had been taken. I have been fortunate enough to talk to a few people about this. The culture of Kenya is entirely paternalistic, and part of this culture is that women are responsible for birth control - although rather than using condoms, this usually comes in the form of dangerous tubal ligation or an IUD. Condoms are rarely used, despite availability. Bethany sent me a study conducted across the street at Maseno University that showed that an overwhelming majority of students did not think condoms could protect them against HIV or other STDs. It’s truly incredible to see so many babies here with HIV. What did they ever do to deserve this?

Yesterday we got a patient in that was drunk and stepped in front of a truck. His skull was fractured and a bone fragment was displaced into his skull. The attending asked what we could do as we didn’t have a surgeon or a cat scan. I suggested doing frequent neuro checks,which was a good idea because in a matter of hours after we saw him, he developed a complete right sided hemiparesis (paralyzed on his right) likely from a developing hematoma or hemorrhage. We arranged for him to be transferred to the govt hospital in Kisumu but the hospital here would not let him be transferred until he paid all his bills in full. So he sat here overnight until a local missionary heard about this and “bailed him out” of the hospital and took him to Kisumu. He has a high risk with these symptoms of herniating through his foramen magnum and going into a coma. I hope he turns out ok. He is a very young man.

What made yesterday so special though was our small group (Helen and David and I) walked the mile to the Maseno Club - the popular Maseno Bar. On the way there we ran into a super friendly guy on a bike named Patrick. Helen became really quiet (which is unusual for her) and started walking really fast. After shaking his very moist hand he asked our names and then asked us if we needed a ride on his bike. We politely declined. After he sped off, Helen let us know that he, like in the movie Borat, was the town rapist and had apparently raped one of the visitors to the mission hospital! Patrick never went away though, he was circling us the entire trip (which is why we are told never to travel alone).

Eventually we arrived at the Maseno Club. This is like the “flying saucer” in Memphis. There are many different types of local beers on tap and in bottles. Yesterday I had a locally brewed (in Nairobi) Tusker beer. You know the beer is going to be good when it’s named after the elephant that gored the founder of the beer company! It was absolutely amazing, so smooth, cold, and delicious! I also discovered they had Guinness Foreign Extra which is a high gravity version of American Guinness. A half liter bottle is 100 Ksh which is about $1.25 american! Suddenly, being in Kenya was much more tolerable! Of note, Coke and other sodas do not have high fructose corn syrup and are served in glass bottles-the taste is phenomenal!

On our way back home, we passed the Maseno school where Barack Obama’s father went to school. Obama’s father is from nearby Kisumu, which may be why they are getting an international airport now instead of a dirt strip. The view of the mountains yesterday was amazing especially because a big storm was rolling in as we were walking back. I took plenty of photos which I will share with all of you when I have some bandwidth.

So far today has been a pretty interesting day because the entire hospital is without electrical power. Apparently, some trees are being cut down and before the trees are harvested, the local power lines are disconnected. We used to have backup generators here but there were two issues. 1) We couldn’t afford the gas to run them 2)People would steal the batteries! So we are all struggling today because there are no lights in the buildings (which thankfully are open to the environment and surprisingly well lit naturally) and we can not power or charge our devices. Hopefully power will be restored soon.

I am sleeping a little bit better now. I am not completely over my jet lag so I have been sleeping close to 10 hours a night. The entire hospital complex is gated, locked up, and guarded after sundown because of crime, so we are locked inside at night. The anophalies mosquito which transmits malaria and yellow fever is most active between sundown and sunup so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Once I do get adjusted, I will probably be really bored at night-which is why I have books (can finally read House of God!) and my journaling to keep me busy.

I would love it if you all can email me (chaosbuzz@gmail.com) as I am able to check my gmail at the university (have to pay 1ksh a minute-so it’s about $1US an hour). I look forward to hearing from you all soon! I love you all and miss you a lot!