The Big Mountain

December 4, 2011 Continued...

photos from on top of "The Big Mountain".  Our van was stuck in a ditch. Man power plus Lexus saved the day :)

Milli's brother and Toni in action...

Go Lexus!

Me acting silly ;)

Jeremy, Anthony, Me and Milli

Drive to Samburu

9:09 AM 12/7/2011

its 8ish pm africa time. we are on the way to samburu. i am currently in the car. we had to stop and wait for the police to catch up to us. apparently their services are available
like an escort service. money money money...thats what it all boils down to. but in reality if no one was concerned, i wouldn't feel a concern. maybe its my ignorance. but i have
no 'spider sense'...no feeling of impending doom...no worry that anything bad will happen to us. So that makes us ok, right?

the police are behind us. it is dark. the clouds are beautiful and the moon is shining bright. We stopped at "the roots restaurant" to wait for them to catch up to us. I automatically say "lets have a drink!?" haha.

we had a choice. in life there's always choices.
go with what you know, or live in the moment of authenticity and take what native/local products have to offer.

instead of my regular TUSKER beer, i tasted the white caps- lager.

so smooth.

i'm embracing the culture and all it has to offer. :)

i thouroughly enjoyed the ride here. taking pictures- it is as if every person was something to be captivated. something special, and they don't even know how authentic they are.
they don't even know how much i admire them. they don't even know how weak they make me feel. to be so enduring, to let down your pride....for them to have joy in SEEING a tourist and be happy to wave "hi" as I pass them by. they smile.




not to be unrealistically negative...i'm being real- where ever i go in america, i haven't felt so welcomed as i do here. people are so willing to talk to you. to smile at you. to be thankful for your presence. i think at home we take a stranger for granted. i wish we can have the mentality to feel graced to be in the presence of another...as opposed to purposefully ignoring someone who passes you by.

(at this moment- we were stopped by the police. on occasion there are spikes on the road...each side of the road in a zig zag fasion for the police to check you out.)

anyhow we are being escorted by the police. they are driving behind us. just in case, for no trouble along the way. since there are several americans here- better safe then sorry.)

i stare at the clouds as we drive on by and i think to myself...i couldn't be happier right now- in this car, bladder full, a little brandy on board, and a car full of people who are here for a genuine cause. Right now, i couldn't ask for more (aside from a toilet)

i feel like no matter what, the people around you can see you through. good people are good company. and these people are absolutely wonderful.

 

12/6/11 Mission Day 2 in Muranga

12:44 PM 12/6/2011
11pm. Muranga.


woke up at 5am to people snoring. oh the joy of sharing a room.
the cook made "meat pies" (they resemble empanadas) sausages, sweet potato, taro, and veggies.

By the time we got to St. Peter's Church, the tent was filled with people patiently waiting.

Someone amongst the crowd had fainted and all of the volunteers rushed to him...we carried onto a table. The patient was an 80 year old man, most likely dehydrated, hypertensive, blood sugar 97. Patient was resucitated with almost one liter of bottled water mixed with oral dehydration mix. Basically, the man drank normal saline. That was the height of the chaos.
I would look up at the crowd once in a while and try to not to get overwhelmed by the swarm of people. The weather wasn't too bad, but it actually got hot. 

Sometimes we're so used to having things in a certain order. at certain times  the flow seemed systematic. Each patient registered at a desk and was given an assessment sheet with a number on it. It was amazing to see the crowd sitting patiently waiting for one minute and then all of a sudden flip out....as a whole they became so anxious and determined to move forward in line- it was like musical chairs. Once a patient left the vitals area to proceed to triage, someone would appear in front of me within seconds.

The work day was long. We had a break for lunch. Luckily I'm semi-used to holding my pee for hours on end. It was a repetative task- blood pressure, temp, pulse, blood sugar, "please wait over there". The numbers got all out of order, i was serving 135, then 240. At times I felt rushed because everyone seemed to be impatient. It honestly took a moment for me to "zen" myself....to remember that things dont have to be perfect. we're going to get the job done no matter what.

deep breath, deep breath.....and don't forget to smile.

The majority of the people could not speak or understand english, so much of the communication was conquered through body language.


Who would've thought having someone place a temperature probe under their tongue could be such a challenge. A lot of people were scared of us poking their fingers to check their blood sugar (assessing for diabetes). 

At the same time, I was surprised when someone could understand me. Any english word was a sense of comfort.

lunch time couldn't be more of a relief. We went  back to milli's house in rounds.

-----
the flip side to doing serving those in need is the working with the native people here who know how to take advantage of you.



although, i'm sure that their partially here for the cause...some of the workers are here to get over somehow. some things were taken, and some people would keep asking for things....personal items.

not only did we have to manage the flow of the clinic, but we had to keep one eye on our personal belongings at all times. i feel almost 'wrong' for even thinking like that, but how can you be too careful. at any given moment temptation can overpower someone's righteousness.
sad but true.

on a positive note, we saw more than 300 people.
what baffled me was the amount of clothes that these people were wearing. men and women wore a thick blazer with a long sleeve blouse underneath. and their head wrapped.
during the peak of the sun's heat a good amount of people had a low grade fever. it was difficult to decipher whether or not the patient had an underlying issue or if the patient was tachycardic from dehydration .

12/5/11 Sunday Drive to Muranga

We went to a local market place to buy some supplies. Made it to Blue Post hotel for lunch- buffet. There was a waterfall - Chania falls. It looked like willie wonka's chocolate river.
There were tables along the lawn. security guards  of course. We then decided to go for a hike at oloindonyok sabuk- which means big mountain. It was barely sprinkling that day. When we arrived, the sun was out and we captured a gorgeous view of the area. As we hiked along the path towards the top, we were about 6 km away, it started to pour. So some of us went back to the van and drove up the mountain to get the rest of the group.

We loaded up the van with our group, the driver attempted to bust a bitch, aka turn around...and our tire got stuck in a ditch.
Several attempts were made to help the situation, but ultimately what saved us from our despair, as the sun began to set, was the good old lexus SUV. The men attached the lexus to the van with some bungee cords and off it went. I was so worried about the luggage falling out of the trunk (because we left the trunk open for whatever reason) that i was frozen, and not able to record this amazing potential lexus commercial. Who knew such a prissy looking suv would have so much power and would be able to endure such a rugged terrain.

Anyhow, of course the rain was ALL over with by the time our car was stuck. Great bonding session to say the least.
I had the chance to visit with Lord Macmillan and his wife.
We reached our final destination- Milli's house around 9pm. We had dinner and went to bed.

...talk about home away from home though. (because africa resembles the philippines in more ways than one).

just our luck the toilet coincidentally stopped flushing when we got here. "how do we flush the toilet then?" I just laughed to myself because I've experienced this before. My trips to the Philippines has definitely prepared me for Africa. Any sense of discomfort I might experience, I think I've been through something worse...

Day ONE

Heads up...no internet maybe for a week.


Right now it is 830am 12/4/2011. It seems I'm usually the first one awake, usually motivated by the fact that breakfast starts at 830, and so far only one other person is awake. I put my ear on the doors of the rest of the group and I haven't heard anything.  Maybe its my ears. I'm so reluctant to be the one to wake people up. We are supposed to leave at 945 to Muranga today.




DAY ONE:


We started out our morning slow. Most of us had a spanish omelete with sausage on the side, toast and fruit. I can get used to that everyday.


Our first task as a group was to unpack all of the suitcases and categorize all of the medications and medical supplies. We ultimately split the majority in half- for Samburu and Muranga; some of the supplies were also set aside for Kenyatta Hospital, which we are hoping to tour later on.


After 7pm we headed to Westgate- "THE MALL". This is very much decorated like at home- they're ready for christmas. We exchanged our money into shillings and attempted to buy "gum boots"- aka rubber boots for the rain. Yes it has been raining on and off here, and the party we're going to is outdoor and we've been forewarned about how muddy it is.


We arrived at house party around 900pm. The backyard had a couple tents, there was a good 40-50 people there...maybe even more. People were sitting down on folded chairs facing the stage. All the young boys (ages 12-14 ??) who were scheduled to be circumcised were standing in a row on the stage. A few people were sharing the mic: This man dressed in a white robe thing, and a furry white hat and a couple men dressed like a preecher. Of course I didn't understand what they were saying. They also had huge speakers, a camera man and professional lights for the stage. They were basically preparing these boys to become MEN. Maybe we should do this back home? maybe...


just saying...haha


It sprinkled on and off. I ate whatever was there- mystery meat (some say it was goat, but it didn't smell like it), tomato salad with onions, corn meal mashed with vegetables (it was green)- looked like guacamole and roasted potatoes.

On the ride home we took the back roads because of traffic. And because of the rain, some of the roads were blocked. I felt like I needed a breast binder and that at any given road bump my skin was going to detach from my chest. The road we were taking was that bad...and yet for some reason I was able to fall asleep. I've always loved long car rides for the nap, but this has definitely brought me to a new level.

Our last member also arrived from the airport last night, a doctor from Seattle.

I sipped on my Tusker beer, tried to use the internet (and gave up) and packed my stuff for the next day.

So here I am eating my eggs and sausage, fruit and yogurt. We're going on a hike today. So far its not raining and the weather is similar to LA. Defintely not as cold as the bay area.

 6am 12/3/2011
kenya time.
we are here in the hotel room. i'm sharing a room with 2 other ladies.

not even one hour into our visit, at the airport we already experience shadiness and greed. one of the ladies had medical supplies stolen from both of her bags (both of which
had locks). The customs agent checking our luggage opened 2 or 3, and then he decides to take Milli aside. They walk along with Milli's husband and Allison to a corner far
from the other officials. The rest of us wait by the bags.  Supposedly we had the wrong documentation to bring the medical supplies, and they wanted to "hold" the medication until Monday. We were let off with a warning...


Aside from that, getting from the US to our "Guest House" was not too bad. Airplane on time, food was great, movies galore.

I noticed the billboards on the road to the hotel were pretty much all in english, which was a surprise to me. I don't feel too far from home just yet.

I was excited to sit in the front seat of the car because I was on the left side and we were driving on the left side of the road. It felt very odd. I can't imagine a foreigner being able to drive around here. The road signs are small and some of the roads are ambiguous.

We will be attending some ceremony later tonight. Milli's nephew is turning 18 yrs old, and in celebration of his manhood they have a huge party, similar to cotillions. But, the major difference is on Monday he will be circumcised (at a doctor's office). i'll write about that later.

Until then, a little nap and I can't wait to eat!

on my way. Istanbul, Turkey stop

12/2/2011


in turkey its almost 1800 here. dark.
the plane ride wasn't bad at all, i watched two movies and had two glasses of wine. 


I arrived to milli's house around 3pm. it was a little chaotic. luggage all over the floor, milli was in the shower and the women were in the kitchen eating guava, like we
had no where to go. my luggage was 8 lbs over weight so i had to redistribute some items onto my carry on and i left some stuff in my trunk.




there was a lot of waiting. waiting for everyone to get ready, waiting to leave, waiting in line and checking in 14 bags took quite some time. then when all of that was finally over, i felt like i didn't have much time before we boarded the plane. I made a few phone calls, bought water and it was time to go.


i'm lucky no one sat in the middle seat. perfect. everything went smoothly.

some people even had a whole row to themselves because the flight was not full.


here at the airport:
there's a one stall restroom, i asked the cleaning lady where another restroom is. she waved her hand in the air, didn't even look at me and yells "turkish, turkish". I pointed at the female restroom
sign and said "bathroom? restroom?" I wanted to find another restroom! seriously...she just walked away.




somehow a couple ladies ended up speaking with a man here from LA. he's attending USC for his masters in something. anyhow, it seems like he's just going to nairobi on a whim. he's meeting up with his friend's friend...they're friends on facebook. maybe we'll see him later on. I swear I can't do what he's doing. He's so brave to travel alone like that.