Reflections on Easter at Kijabe

Easter Sunday is drawing to a close. Walking the dirt paths to the sunrise Easter service we could imagine the women as they walked to the tomb that first Easter morning. Families working both at the hospital and at Rift Valley Academy gathered on the front lawn overlooking the Rift Valley as the sun rose.

The torrential rains and hail of the afternoon have passed; the boys created a truly African version of "Kum by yah" on the new instruments we purchased "at the door" yesterday; the boys are in the shower after returning from an evening soccer match under the lights at the neighbors yard; and the fire is slowly fading as Lori struggles with her knitting (not much porgress today).

Though this is known as the season of the "long rains" they really haven't experienced significant rain for the past 5 years. The rain we have seen over the past weeks has seen the land florish in a wealth of green both on the hills and through the valley.

The hospital remains busy. It seems that no one has let the patients know that this is the Easter weekend. They have a small ICU where they keep the 5 sickest patients in the hospital. It is amazing the amount and variety of equipment that has been donated, but not so surprising that it often does not work when you really need it. And yet somehow we manage to gather resources and provide the care necessary for these most ill of patients.


Attached to Kijabe hospital is Bethany Childrens Hospital that cares for children needing orthopedic and neurosurgery care. For a small center 5 km off the "beaten track" they do hundreds of VP shunts each year, repair numerous cases of spina bifida, repair well over 300 cases of "club feet" and tackle many children wiht difficult scoliosis repairs. This unique centre draws on patients throughout the country even into the refugee camps near the Sudan border.

I will take call for ICU again tomorrow night, but with many of the experienced staff returning from their retreat in Mombassa it should be less daunting. We hope to visit the libraries at RVA again tomorrow, find a few groceries from the store and collect a few more pictures. We might even get to sleep in for a while, considering our early morning today and the fact that the vendors won't return until Tuesday.