I took my first "shower" yesterday since the YMCA in Nairobi and I must admit, it would have been really difficult with all that hair I was so discombobulated about chopping off. Basically, I just filled a 3-4 gallon tub with water (some of it warm from an electric tea kettle) and stood in the non-functional bathtub in the girls dorm and doused myself cup-by-cup. Those of you that know me well will find this pretty interesting: I've decided I really really really like western showers.
We had another really big scare yesterday. The child I sponsor, Lomurion, started having difficulty breathing and was unable to talk...it almost looked like he was having seizures. The older kids called me over (I'm sort of the pseudo-nurse here) and as soon as I saw him I knew he was in bad shape and I started screaming at them to "Get Mummy (Carol) right away, hurry hurry" And she came running down and the Pokot chief happened to be visiting so the 2 of them hauled him out of bed and out into the road. Since we don't have our own transport, we were relying on a passing matatu to stop...it was very tense, 2 men carrying this kid up the road who's basically choking to death and Carol running up and down the street trying to find a taxi...I just heard her say over and over, "I don't want to lose another one, I can't lose another of my kids". Finally they got a matatu to stop and all piled in. They were gone for several hours at the public hospital, where they wanted to keep him overnight in the same bed with kids who were vomiting all over the place. Carol refused and brought him back home, still unable to get a diagnosis or treatment because they lost the labs twice. Early this morning she took him to the private hospital so hopefully he is getting better care now. It was so so so scary to realize how life and death every single second is here...when Chief Isaac came yesterday he also brought 15 more kids, most of whom are in terrible shape and will also fall ill soon. Plans are in the works to hire a nurse full time who would live at the center and I am working on the emergency contingency plan so that this type of situation doesn't happen again.
On a happier note, we've started classes for the primary and secondary kids at the center since they are on holiday from school. It's been so fun to help teach these kids who really really want to learn. All 5 of us current volunteers are also busy with trying to develop a community outreach program so that we can get people in town more involved with the kids. It's all about networking...for example I had a talk with our preschool teacher about how we wanted to take the kids on an outing to Lake Nakuru. Her husband has friends who work at the park and are going to help us arrange for everyone to go down on a public holiday for free admission!
We had to move the volunteer dorm down to another building last night because of all the new kids. Kenya is extremely fundamentalist Christian, and we've already had rumors in town swirling around about how males and females sleep in the same building. The dorm we're in now has no electricity or plumbing but hopefully we'll get that sorted out in the next week. It's like camping. With killer mesquitos. I got bitten for the first time last night because my net was all askew, but I've been taking my malarial prophylactics quite faithfully so I should be fine. I also woke up with my right eye swollen shut and I have no idea what that's about cuz it doesn't itch or hurt or tear up or anything. Being that I have that going on as well as the start of a cold (which ALL the kids have) I think I'll try to stay in bed as much as possible today. My asthma is in high gear here with all the dust and smoke from cooking and trash burning.
More later,
Angela
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2 comments:
Wow Angela, I don't know how you do it. I had trouble coping with my comparably luxurious vacation to Vietnam. It's gotta be that youth thing. I think it's good that you take a day off. Don't forget about HP. He/She is there too.
Wow, just got caught up on what you are doing. It sound really intense. As for not taking pictures, I am the same way when I'm in the moment and not wanting the lens to separate me from the event. When I get home I've regretted not taking more shots and really treasure the one that I own. I want to see the mullet and swollen eye. It sounds like you are going on a physical as well as spiritual transformation while you in Africa.
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