My next adventure - destination: Kenya

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Hello, everyone
I got my assignment with Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres) and will be heading off on February 10th for New York (brief HR orientation), Paris (quick finalization of methods of treating multi-drug resistant tuberculosis) then on to Nairobi, Kenya. I will be working in the slums called Mathare outside Nairobi with a team of people. I don't have a lot more details about it, although you can see a few pictures and find out more about MSF's work in Kenya at: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/kenya and at http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/allcontent.cfm?id=39 . The specific article about the work in Mathare is at http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=1962&cat=field-news&ref=tag-index . It looks to be quite challenging, but I'm excited to get to be part of it.

I have been working as a Spanish medical interpreter at the University of Washington Medical Center, and enjoying the job. In January, I went back East for a couple of weeks - spent about 9 days with my brother, Rich, his wife, Sue and son Mark at their ski condo in Vermont and their home near Boston. Then 3 "Introduction Days" to MSF at the USA office in New York City. Met a nice group of other people hoping to participate in field positions, representing administrative, logistics, and medical/nursing/midwife staff. MSF is a very large, very complex organization with about 2200 expatriate staff stationed around the world and 10 times that many local staff. They only work in conflict and/or disaster situations and are extremely careful to maintain complete neutrality. I am honored to be a part of the organization.

One thing I learned at the orientation was that blogging is pretty much forbidden for field staff, due to some security concerns (rebels and other conflict participants often have internet access and can get information from blogs) and the potential for creating international incidents with comments that might have seemed innocent at the time but could be misconstrued. Thus, this may be my last blog until I return from the field (unless I can have them reviewed at the central office). I may send individual emails to you. If I do, please be careful not to forward them on to friends and acquaintances. The 'instant communication' can be problematic if it gets circulated to someone it shouldn't have gone to.

News of my offspring: Daniel is in Florida, finishing up his undergraduate degree in international business. He played soccer in the fall (and now for spring season) and plans to stay on at Florida Southern College for his master's. He'll still be eligible to play soccer again this fall, because of 2 seasons out with injuries during undergraduate. Tafara is in New Delhi, India, working for a company that does internet websites for product promotion owned by her boyfriend, Tyler's, brother-in-law. They are blogging at: http://young-pulse.blogspot.com/ with pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/Tafara.Pulse . Tafara will be coming back to the US next month some time and moving to Chicago. The coach of the United Soccer League W-League team there (same league as the Seattle Sounders she's been playing for for a number of years) invited her to play for his team. Still hoping to play professionally. Tyler will be going to school in the Chicago area in the fall.

I'm trying to post some photos I took of the frozen terrain above Ellensburg, WA. Computer's not cooperating, though. I'll post them later if I can get it to work. Wanted to save the pictures to remember the snow - won't be seeing much where I'm going.

I hope this message finds you well and doing something you love to do. Keep in touch. I hope to have internet access in Nairobi, at least sometimes, and plan to take my computer.

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