Rainy day in Kijabe

This morning, I spent an hour writing a lengthy and detailed report for the blog…..it wouldn’t let me publish it or save it. Frustration indeed. Now I am attempting it again, but probably a shorter version as my patience is running out with this whole computer business.

It has been pouring rain most of the day and the power was out for most of the day!! It is the first time that the power has gone out though so that’s not too bad. I expected it to be a daily experience. The power did stay on long enough for me to cook supper, thank goodness.

I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to update the blog regularly yet. We have just set it up in the house that we are in so that will be easier for us to update it. As well, we were all wanting to use the computer at once in the little bit of time that we have been home, so I only glanced at my emails today and started to reply to some.

We didn’t go to the hospital to volunteer today, because Carly got sick last night. We think she caught the flu from the hospital. Maybe we should have gotten flu shots after all. Don’t know if it would have helped or not……She seems to be a bit better today, but still has a very sore tummy.

Adjusting to the altitude has not been too difficult. We all seem a bit more tired than usual, but that could still be the jet lag thing maybe. Going uphill here ( and there is lots of that) is a slow process. I did notice that the kids were pretty winded at the playground yesterday. We’ve been trying to drink sufficient water to ward off headaches, etc.

We have been doing laundry steady since we came. The rain, the mud, 5 of us…….The house has a tin roof so it gets a bit noisy especially at night. They have just come through their dry season so now things are starting to green up a bit and soon there will be a greater variety of vegetables available. I buy my vegetables from Mary, and Martha comes to clean the house. How about that eh?? Lots of Biblical names here. Solomon cuts the lawn across the road. We met him today. The day we came here, there was someone cutting the grass in our front yard. They do it with machetes so it is back breaking work. It took him all afternoon and he still wasn’t done and hasn’t been back to finish the job either so it looks kind of funny. They bagged all the grass. The kids were amazed that they didn’t cut off their hands doing it.

By the way, it is a myth that roosters crow at dawn. They crow any old time they please!! Directly behind our house is the clothes line and directly behind that are our neighbor’s chickens and rooster(s?). I keep expecting the boys to come in from playing soccer to announce that they are having chicken for supper next door!!!!

On the first day that we were here, the head of the Ped’s department asked me to speak at the monthly ped’s staff meeting on Monday from 5-6pm. OK, I know exactly who is laughing…..Tami, Val and Joy……When you are done laughing , you can start praying for me!!!
Every Wed. am from 8-8;30, they have hospital staff chapel. We were told to get there early to get a seat!!! Can you imagine that in Canada??? Anyway, they introduced the new people and prayed for them and then said good bye to those who were leaving and prayed for them. I am amazed at how many people go through this place (doc’s, med students, volunteers, etc.) And yet the long term people here remain gracious and welcoming to everyone. I am impressed. We must shake hands with at least 50 people a day. One of the doc’s here told us that that is likely how most people get sick here rather than via the food/water borne illness. Shaking hands is so important both to children and adults and proper greetings are a must.

Yesterday, I bought some pretty decent English muffins from Freda. You can also buy tortilla chips, tortillas, samosas and egg rolls from women who come around selling them at your door. How about that for international flavour?? Freda makes tortillas too, but I was told that Grace makes the best ones!
Excuse my grammar, punctuation etc. I am frantically typing, hoping to get it all in before everything crashes and I lose it all again.
Yesterday after the staff chapel, the kids and I headed up to the ward. We started off with a few songs, prayer and then pulled out the play doh. What a hit that was!!! We learned a few more Swahili words as we made lions, snakes, birds etc.. They all laughed at my creations. I am not really an artist at all. They are such sweet kids and so content despite all their difficulties.

We probably had about 6-8 kids between 8:30 and 12:00. We showed an Easter movie before we left. The boys were laughing at Brett. He seemed to enjoy entertaining them! Adam seems to have a sensitive heart for those kids that were alone or sad. I often found him trying to engage them in a game or toy. Carly was looking after all of them and in her quiet way was keeping things clean and organized. The kids have totally surprised me with their adaptability. They have jumped right in there with a servant heart. The sights and smells are awful even for a retired nurse and mother, let alone children. Carly seems to be the one who has been taking it all in and mulling over everything. I think her thoughts are running deep. They are real troopers and have not complained at all.

After we were done on the ward, a young guy named “Markmillan”, yes, that’s his name, took the kids to the hospital canteen for chai and chapatti. They loved the chapatti, but were not so sure about chai….
After lunch and a short rest, we headed up to RVA. What a HUGE campus. I could not believe it. The view of the Rift Valley from there was stunning. The campus reminds me of an English garden with an African flair! It would not be too difficult to live there at all. I think they often call it “Little America”. I loved it. We went to the playground behind the elementary school for awhile. There was a new type of swing there and the kids didn’t want to leave. The gym was closed because they were painting, but we saw the racquetball courts, basketball courts, soccer field, dorms, music hall, library, wood working rooms, classrooms, offices etc. etc. You can walk all around the perimeter of the campus, but we hardly got to see half of it.

Today, we stayed home, because Carly was sick. But the boys and I did walk up to the store and Post Office to buy stamps and mail a letter. We read and played games in the afternoon. I LOVE not having a TV.
Thanks for your comments everyone. I really appreciate getting the emails.
Lori