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Published: June 25th 2009
Just another average day in Kenya; my roommate got malaria, my director got carjacked on the way to pick us up, on day number 2 of no electricity, our hot water shower broke again, our doctor’s friend was shot, getting harassed in the street, another cholera outbreak, nothing surprises me anymore.
But I finally have some time to write so let me tell you about some of my experiences here. I’m all over the place but so much happens here and I never have the time to write it down so excuse my erratic writing.
On my last day at Ushirika Clinic, I accompanied a staff member on a run to another clinic in Kibera. We walked to the other side of the slum, and little did I know that this walk would not only introduce me to a part of the world I could never imagined, but it was a walk that will haunt me forever. Kibera is the second largest slum in Africa, with about a half of a million people living in a 5 . I’ll never forget the things I saw. Sewage rivers where children are playing and drinking the water, trash piles that seem to touch the sky, stray dogs everywhere. The only positive thing I can recall is the faces of the children when they saw us, the muzungu walking among them. Their little voices yelling out, “How are you, how are you”, an English phrase memorized. I wish I could take all of them home. I would have been able to describe more of what I saw, had it not been for the horrific road conditions. Roads in Kenya are not paved, and if you aren’t looking down when you walk then you are kissing the ground. We were advised to never eat food in Kibera unless it was fruit, which we could wash. And this was advice I followed closely because of what I saw daily on the streets in Kibera. Flies covered all food, some was already decayed, clearly not advisable to eat. And yet I saw numerous people buying food that looked like that. I could cry as I write about it. The living conditions are unbearable. Dirt floors, metal slab walls, one room with no security, no comfort.
Working in Ushirika, I saw lots of interesting patients. One patient that comes to mind was a woman with third degree burns from her neck down to her genital region. She was caught sleeping with her neighbor’s husband, and so the wife threw sulfuric acid onto her private parts to teach her lesson as well as make her unattractive for any other man by burning her womanly assets. This is a common practice among women in Kibera. Another patient was working on a construction site and another man threw a rock at his head, resulting in a deep gash on his face. The doctor I shadowed let me suture his head, something I would never be allowed to do in America. It was amazing. I saw the man the next day and although he didn’t understand a single word I said, he gave me a smile and thanked me for helping him. Moments like that reassure my desire to become a nurse, and make it all worth it.
Half of the time I stand there feeling useless and unwanted, watching all the chaos of Africa unfold around me, and I wonder, “What am I doing here?”. But those moments always end when I look at someone smiling at me, and I know that whether I am helping people here directly by suturing their head closed, or injecting anti-malarials or waving to people in the streets, I am offering them hope, and that is what keeps us going.
I am making a How to Survive in Kenya list and here is what I have so far.
1. Always look down when walking.
2. Wear comfortable shoes.
3. Know the basic phrases in Swahili, a little goes a long way and Kenyans really appreciate it.
4. Remember you’re on African time, an half hr really means two or three.
5. T.I.A (this is Africa) don’t be shocked by anything,
I thought I would share with you the rest of my average day in Kenya.
6:30-7 Wake up after a sleepless night of getting tangled in my mosquito net ( Important lesson learned- never fall asleep on mosquito net, or you’ll wake up with your face burning for an entire day ( because of the insecticide it is treated with)) and being woken up by dogs fighting throughout the night or other strange noises.
7:30 Eat breakfast with the girls
8:00 Finish getting ready for the day; I may be in Africa but c’mon I still need to look good.
8:15 Embark on the 45 minute walk to work which consists of trekking up our long hill to the main road, and then traveling down the main road, hopefully avoiding being hit by matatus or eaten by monkeys chillin in the middle of the road.
9:00 I start my day at St. Mary’s Clinic in Kiserian, Kenya. Depending on the day, I am working in the maternity ward, mother child health clinic, shadowing the general practioner, in the lab, in the pharmacy or wherever else I am called to.
12:30 Lunch break which means walking around Kiserian either doing some shopping, chatting with the locals, or having my favorite chai and chapatti (mmmmmm).
5:00 Start on my hour long walk back home where I am greeted so many times that my hands are actually tired from waving.
7:00 Help Ann make dinner.
9:00 Chillin for the night since out in the bush, we’re on lockdown.
Living in a third world country makes you really appreciate the little things. I feel so cliché when I say that but there’s no other way to describe it. Not having things when you need them, or not even being able to access them is something as an American I am definetly not used to. But I am adjusting. You learn very quickly here how to do without, and never really rely on anything. It’s making me even more independent and I’m glad because I never would have been given the opportunity to do things such as learn how to take a bath with a bottle of water, or brush your teeth with sprite, or invent ways to make impromptu household items. You learn a lot about yourself, as well as different cultures.
I wish I could elaborate more, but it’s hard to understand unless you’re here experiencing the same and seeing what I am seeing. But I will post pictures and videos when I get back and you can get a taste of Kenyan life from my viewpoint. And maybe one day you’ll come see for yourself.
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Mom
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Wow
Wow is about all I can say. Anything else seems unworthy. I love you