Hospital of HOPE

Today we were able to spend time at the local hospital. Team members were able to follow the physician and Clinical Officers, as well as the pharmacist and nurses. Hannah, Julia, Jenessa, Julie and Jerrica were able to watch a baby being borne. The  staff at the hospital are amazing and all the Nuns have given their lives to help the sick. We all have many stories to tell.

Tonight we went into town and did some shopping at the local market. After dinner we had an "unpacking" party and inventoried all the supplies we are donating to the local hospital including a laparotomy set, 2 pulse oximetries, BP machine, several otoscopes and a LOT of medicines including prenatal vitamins and iron. We separated the items that will be going to the orphanage tomorrow and the items that were donated for the school in the slums.

Tonight we are packing as tomorrow we will start our safari (after visiting the orphanage and HIV support group). We can't wait!

Sunday- travel day

Sunday we boarded the train and traveled to our next destination, which was about 4 hours away. It was a pleasant journey and we were able to see elephants, zebras, ostriches and wildebeest along the way. We arrived at the guesthouse and spent some time relaxing before dinner. It is so peaceful and quiet here. Because it is more rural we are sharing our rooms (and showers) with ants, centipedes, flies, geckos, etc.

Tomorrow we will help out in the local hospital. We have not been able to upload pictures, but you can visit us on Facebook (where we have pictures uploaded). Everyone is doing great!!

Helping and Healing

Today was a busy day in Kenya.  We had the opportunity to serve many men, women, and children today in the local community.  We served a total of 189 patients in 7 hours.  We treated a variety of medical complaints ranging from aches and pains to tropical diseases.  We provided health maintenance education, deworming medications, vitamins, antibiotics and reflux medications among many others.  When we were limited by our medications that we brought, we made referrals to the local pharmacy and made referrals to local providers for follow up care.  Pain control was limited to acetaminophen and Ibuprofen, but the patients were very grateful for the pain relief it provided as these medications are difficult for the community to access with limited income.

The pharmacy was set up and run in the morning by the mission team.  We had people assigned to filling out the prescription label, dispensing the medication, and then educating them on the plan of care.  A local Hope Without Borders member was able to translate for the people who spoke Swahili and helped with the educational teach-back.  In the afternoon, a local pharmacist came to help with double checking the medication orders, acting as a translator in Swahili, and educating the team on how to write, read, and adjust prescriptions for the local people to understand.  We filled over 350 prescriptions today.

For the people who were vision impaired, we were able to provide glasses to almost 40 people.  This will help them read, work, go to school, and provide for their families.  Brandon, who was working the eyeglass station, was amazed to see the expression on their faces when they were able to see clearly.  These were inexpensive glasses which were purchased in the United States.  Unfortunately, we ran   of distance glasses during the day.  The last pair of distance glasses was given to a man who was a teacher and had trouble seeing what his students were doing in the back of the classroom.  Because of a pair of glasses, he will function better at work and his employment status will not suffer due to vision impairment.

This clinic would not have been possible without the help from the community.  We used a local chapel’s facilities for the clinic and the pharmacy.  We used local translators to help translate from Swahili to English.  We used a local Doctor and a local pharmacist to help us see and serve the patients.  They thanked us for our help, and we were so grateful for their help. 

We were struck by the differences between healthcare in the United States and this small Kenyan community.  We were frustrated that many of the people could not afford medical visits to manage their chronic diseases and said they could not afford to go to the pharmacy and fill their blood pressure prescriptions.  Many people struggled with nutrition concerns that we were not able to help them resolve but were able to provide some temporary supplementation with vitamins.  Even more scary is the local talk that a drought is worsening because of the decreased rain fall this season.   This could mean worsening hardships in an already stressed community. However, the gratitude by the residents of the communities was apparent and makes volunteering a reward that is difficult to articulate into words. 

Coops and Co-ops today....

This morning we were met with beautiful birds at breakfast; surrounded by NGO groups from around the world. From there, we loaded up in the 4x4 vans and headed into the Mukuru slum on the east side of Nairobi for a second day.

Today, the mission was simple - Help build a chicken coop to support the children and faculty of the Mennonite Academy in the Mukuru slum, and to make the process more efficient for the Ladies of Hope in their sewing co-op.

For the chicken coop project, there is presently a coop that holds 240 chickens whose eggs are collected, prepared, and served to the children and faculty. With the remaining eggs, they are sold at market to provide revenue for the school. The new coop is almost twice as big as the current one and is designed with better ventilation for the proportional increase in chickens. Upon arrival at the job site, the Hope Without Borders team was immediately assigned tasks. 

This first task was the attaching of wire to the wooden structure to improve the structural integrity of the building while also creating a structure upon which chicken wire can be attached to keep the chickens in and predators out.

The second task was using the pickaxe, shovel, and wheelbarrow to move the rocky soil to the gaps in the building walls and ground to bury the wooden frame. This is to prevent the chickens from escaping through the gaps.

The third task was to build the roost inside the coop. This involved placement of wooden beams and nailing them into place under the local construction management team.

The fun final portion of this project was giving lollipops to the school children! They were so excited to have these candies that they almost mobbed the team! Lots of smiles and gratitude for these simple “sweets”.

The sewing co-op Hope Without Borders team went to the Ladies of Hope headquarters to aid the women with preparing fabrics to be cut and sewn into beautiful purses and bags as well as Red Elephant packs. The amount of brilliant colors and intricate designs on the fabrics are astounding! These ladies will take these fabrics and stitch them together for Red Elephant packs which will be given to the children to help them stay in school while they are menstruating. The bags and purses will be sold and the money goes to support the families of the members of the Ladies of Hope, to buy new equipment for the co-op, and to buy more materials to make more items.

Overall, today was a blessing to the Hope Without Borders team and spread to the people of the Mukuru slum.

Oh Happy Day!!!

After finally getting a full night of sleep at our hotel, the team woke up and ate breakfast at 7am to prepare for a full day of activities.  We assembled all the donation bags full of Red Elephant and Blue Lion packs to bring out to the slums.  Once we got closer to the slum, there was a definite change in the environment, and we were surrounded by poverty.  We pulled up to the gated compound where we were greeted by the members of Women of Hope. They were so welcoming to our group and accompanied us on our initial journey through the slums.  Once we got out into the slums we realized this type of living was not like anything we experienced before. There were many different smells which ranged from delicious cooked street food to sewage.  We stood out in the crowd, but we greeted with high-fives and smiles.  We were led down tiny, winding alleys on our route to go visit five different schools. 

Visiting the teachers and children at the schools was an unforgettable experience. The kids were full of energy and excitement to see “Mzungus”, or people not of color.  The kids told us about what they were learning in school, and what they wanted to be when they grew up. The most common profession was to be a pilot, doctor, surgeon, journalist, and teachers.  We also talked about the U.S. and they were in awe looking at pictures of the snow we showed them.  Every class sang us a new song, were so well behaved, and treated us with nothing but respect.  The teachers spoke with us about their needs for the schools and how they have very little resources, such as books.  Once we left the schools we headed back to the compound to take a lunch break consisting of PB&Js. After lunch we split into two groups to help distribute the packs. A couple of our group members went to distribute the Blue Lion packs for the boys and help continue to build a new chicken coop for the school. The other group members stayed at the compound to distribute the Red Elephant packs to the girls who were just from the schools we visited. The girls received a lesson on how to use the menstruation pads from Doris, and then we distributed over 150 Red Elephant packs to these young girls. The girls were very excited to look in their bags, their favorite parts were the bar of soap and the headbands. We also answered questions, took pictures, played games, sang, and even danced. We are very grateful that we are able to help these girls stay in school by providing them with tools to manage their menstruation.

We visited the main office of the Women of Hope Sewing Co-Op. They had recently elevated their office on cement barrels because their old one had gotten flooded. Inside the office they showed us several sewing machine and the different products that they are sewing. There were beautiful bracelets, earrings, shopping bags, wallets, and small purses all hand made with love. We all bought a little something to remember this amazing day. After visiting the sewing co-op we visited one last school and interviewed several girls who had been using the Red Elephant packs to evaluate their effectiveness. All of the girls gave great reviews of the Red Elephant packs. They were grateful how easy and comfortable they were to use, and how they no longer had to use or pay for the “cheap pads with chemicals” in Kenya. One girl had mentioned how her friend had to drop out of school once she started her period because she couldn’t afford pads and got married at the age of 15.  These Red Elephant packs are helping to keep hundreds of girls in school, and have even gained momentum to where other women in the community and teachers are asking for them.

We ended the day playing with the children outside in the rain. They do not have any toys, so they were using tires as hula hoops and crunched up paper as a ball to throw. We plan on bringing some of the donated toys back tomorrow. Back at the hotel we had a delicious dinner to end our night and got to try a Kenyan favorite, Chapati.  Can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store!

Lala Salama (good night)
Haley and Ali (for the team)

Welcome

Welcome to our adventure. If we have access to WiFi we will blog everyday. Please also follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/hopewithoutborders/

We can't wait to share everything we experience with you. Thank you to family and friends who have supported us on this journey.

The Kenya Team