Getting stronger

Slowly but surely, I’m finally gaining back a bit of strength after battling a very frightening case of malaria.

As you remember, I was diagnosed about a week ago with malaria and a chest infection, which were making me quite faint, feverish and tired.  In the beginning went on a dose of strong anti-malarials and antibiotics to kick the parasites out of my body. They didn’t work. After the first three-day treatment, I was extremely weak and couldn’t eat anything so I went to the hospital (first time) and was given more drugs to counter the malaria. Well, they worked – a bit too well – and once again I was unable to stand on my own, eat or sleep because they were so strong.

Unfortunately, after a day on those second medications, I was taken to the hospital (second time) and admitted for dehydration. I was given 2 liters of fluid through a seriously scary IV and left to rest at the hospital for the day.

During this time, I was advised to move to my preceptor’s home to rest. I was previously staying at the Makecho’s, but because there was a lot of noise there and I wasn’t able to rest properly, I came to Dr. Amin’s. The change of location has been a great blessing for me as I have been brought back to some sort of health through lots of fresh fruit, a hot shower and a lot of good rest at Dr. Amin’s.

I’m still clobbering through the house a bit – it’s still very difficult to be on my feet for more than 5 minutes – but I seem to be getting a bit better since I’ve been off these strong medications.

That said, I should let everyone know that I am planning on coming home as soon as possible to rest a bit more and be in familiar surroundings. The details are still coming in, but I may be leaving for Nairobi as early as Saturday – but that’s not certain yet. I should know over the course of today what the plan is for my evacuation.

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I’ve received many emails and facebook notes wishing me a speedy recovering, so thank you.

Will update again soon.

Love,

K

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Living in Kenya inherently comes with a level of danger. Daily bus rides are perilous, choosing food that won’t make you sick is a Russian roulette game, and the sheer amount of people that have the common cold can give even a mild germaphobe serious anxiety.

Though I’ve tended to avoid most of these dangerous/uncomfortable situations on my last three trips to Kenya, I have finally succumbed to contracting one of the most feared sicknesses … malaria.

Yeah, I have malaria. And interestingly enough, I don’t just have malaria, I also have a chest infection, which I probably caught from the copious amount of hands I shake on a daily basis.

I’ve been feeling pretty terrible the last few days, which mostly manifested into a bad cough, headache and fever. But today, I became quite faint at work and decided to go get tested for malaria and typhoid, at the urging of my co-workers of course. So I headed to the lab to get my blood taken and 15 minutes later, the verdict was in: malaria and a chest infection. The physician gave me lots of medications to kill anything living inside my body and told me to get lots of rest and water. But the kicker? It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Apparently, the medication for malaria is quite strong and will most-likely knock me off my feet for a few days. It’s a bummer for sure, but I’m hoping it does the trick in the end and I’ll be feeling better by next week.

Given the fact that I’m not feeling well (among several other factors going on currently) I have decided to return early to Minneapolis. I haven’t yet settled on a final date, but will keep everyone updated as things move forward.

Other than that, things have been going fine. Being sick has consumed most of my days, so I don’t have much else to report other than that. But on a good final note, I found my camera! It was under a million items in my bag (which I thought I emptied earlier this month). I’m very happy about that, so look out for photos to come.

Now it’s time for dinner and rest. Wish me luck and a speedy recovery. I’ll need it .

Cheers,

k

Of mice and other sorts of mishaps

There’s a rat among us. Or at least, there’s a rat within the Makecho house. He’s been appearing late at night, scratching at my mattress or inside my closet that is full of piles of clothes. Oh, and I found him several nights ago under my mattress, between the frame, running frantically about before jumping to the floor, narrowly dodging my feet. Obviously, I screamed and woke up the whole house. And though my host-mom said she found it and killed it, I later learned that probably wasn’t quite true.

So this morning, it came again, behind my closet from under my clothing pile. Luckily, my host-brother came to the rescue with a torn flip-flop and some determination and ultimately killed the thing, later showing the carcass off to me as proof. So with that, I’m hoping that the case of the audacious mouse is behind me and I can sleep calmly now – on a mattress free of mice.

Also, on the topic of bad luck – my camera was stolen. I’m assuming it was taken during my ride back from Nairobi, but who really knows. I do still have my DSLR, which takes decent photos, but I won’t be able to upload anything until I return to Minnesota. Bummer on all sides.

Bungoma, Kenya

Today has been slow as it’s Saturday. There’s not much to do in Bungoma on the weekends, except go to church, and that’s only on Sunday. So, I’ve been reading a lot, working a bit and attempting to dodge a cold that has been spreading about the house.

I have 4.5 more weeks here and I’m counting down the days. Luckily, I have made some friends at the Red Cross who I’ve been going out for dinner and drinks with. It’s nice to have something to do in the evening that doesn’t involve sitting in the dark (because the power is out) and reading my NOOK (though that’s not the worst thing that could happen.) Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone when I return.

Love love,

K

Birthday Adventures

I am sitting in the dark with four children who are screaming at the tops of their lungs. The power has gone out, shortly after I finished charging my battery for my laptop. So now I have the evening to blog – which I haven’t done in a few days – while a crowd of children watch me type under the bright light of the laptop.

As you know if you’ve been following my blog, Spencer and I went out for a three-day safari in the Maasai Mara. It was a great old time, aside from the fact that I knew our time together was growing shorter by the day. We saw lots of animals on our safari, getting up with the morning sun to see the elusive leopard and many packs of lions. But, the biggest adventure of the trip was when our truck broke down in front of a very upset male lion, which growled at us while our driver was crawling in back to fix the car battery. We sped away very quickly after a few tries of starting up the vehicle.

We returned to Nairobi on Saturday to celebrate my 26^th birthday with a dinner of momentous proportions. While in Kenya, many tourists visit a restaurant called Carnivore, which is known for serving game meat in a buffet style. I had never been there and thought a birthday dinner would be perfect at the best-known Nairobi restaurant. So over the course of two hours, Spencer and I tried ostrich, crocodile, some sort of animal testicle and various amounts of beef and chicken.  And, in true tourist style, the restaurant’s roaming African drum band sang me happy birthday along with the song “Jambo Bwana.”

Next on the birthday/tourist list was going to the Giraffe Center in Nairobi. So on Sunday, which was also Spencer’s departure date, we headed to the Center to hand-feed giraffes and sip on some local coffee.  All in all, the Center was very fun, but both of us promised that it would be the last time we would spend $35 to feed animals.

But, as all fun things come to an end, so did Spencer’s trip to Kenya. He left on Sunday with his very sad, crying girlfriend saying her goodbyes at the airport. The excessive rain that evening made things even more morose as I walked back to my taxi alone, wet and teary eyed.

Now I am back in Bungoma with several stories that surely merit another blog post. But as for now, this is going to be it.  

I hope all is well back home. I miss you all terribly.

Much love,

- k

Mombasa and beyond

We arrived in Mombasa safe and sound, several days after a harrowing bus ride from Bungoma to Nairobi as well as a night in the capital city. We are happy to finally be on the coast where the weather is beautiful, the flowers are blooming and where we can watch pack of monkeys play outside our air-conditioned hut. 

We’ve been exploring Mombasa a bit since being here, going into town (which requires a short and very packed ferry ride) to buy some gifts and see a few historical areas. Spencer and I spent yesterday morning - after a huge breakfast that consisted of helpings upon helpings of eggs, bacon, sausage and fruit – at a handicraft co-op that sold all handmade sculptures and various trinkets. We were able to watch the hundreds of artists work on there pieces with rough and sometimes crude tools. It was quite an interesting excursion aside from the fact that we both had a nagging suspicion that the artists were being cheated money from their expensive pieces that were sold at the store.

After that came the spice market, where you could buy just about anything for a “good price” as the stall owners would say. Unfortunately, being tourists, it was difficult to escape the fact that we were probably paying much more than the locals for spices and other goods, despite my use of few words of Swahili, which I thought may sway the sellers to a better price. Oh well, Spencer and I both concluded.

After lunch and a historical visit to Fort Jesus, we returned back to our own thatched roof hut (complete with air-conditioning, a shower, toilet and gigantic bed) to sit on the porch and watch the waves come in.

Today was spent around the hotel taking in the sounds of the ocean and basking in the hot African sun. All in all, it was a relaxed day, which may continue into the evening as Spencer is currently taking a much needed nap. Oh and tonight, we’re heading to a restaurant that is located inside a hollowed-out cave that overlooks the Indian Ocean. It’s supposed to have great seafood and an even better atmosphere.

We are heading out tomorrow to Nairobi, and will be taking a safari beginning Thursday. Internet will be sparse I’m guessing, so you probably won’t hear from us until Saturday, when we’ll be celebrating my 26^th birthday.

Hope all is well at home. Much love to everyone.

K (& S)

One week left

It was our last daily lunch date at Sharriff’s Center today. Spencer is heading back to the United States in a week from Sunday, so he’s saying his last goodbyes here in Bungoma. That and tasting his last beef stew and rice dish for a while. which makes me jealous.

We’ve been bouncing about the city for the last few days working on different projects (mine is peer education while Spencer’s is management training) at the Red Cross and Bungoma District Hospital. And though both been enjoying our time here, I think we are ready for a holiday for the next week in Mombasa and on a safari.

An apparent "creature baby". 

I had my second peer education training this morning, covering contraceptives, HIV/AIDS and pregnancy. Though Monday’s training brought in around 30 students from across Bungoma, today's only had around 15 attendees, which was a bit disappointing.  But we did cover a lot of good information and dispelled many myths about sex. I’ve never really taught a class like this before, and I was surprised by the amount of questions students had about sex and sexuality. The most common questions fell into three categories: LGBT groups, contraceptives and their possible effects on the body and how someone becomes pregnant. Though those may some like straightforward questions, there were many inquires that were a bit difficult to field. Primarily the questions of how can a man can become pregnant (referring to the man on Oprah who was born a female but lived as a male and thereby became pregnant) and the rumor that a Kenyan man produced a “creature baby with hair and scales.” Yes, I did my best to answer those questions, but I’m not sure that the Red Cross group trusted my answers. Therefore, any and all additional suggestions on how to answer those questions would be greatly appreciated.

Also, my host family’s son has taken to calling me “Mzungu (white person) Mama”, which makes Spencer and I laugh uncontrollably.  I may generally detest being called a mzungu, I’ve come to love the “mzungu mama” reference from Caleb.

Caleb and Papas, who coined the name "mzungu mama".

OK, so with those two stories, I think Spencer and I are going to head out for a game of pool at Sharriff’s Center. Hope all is well in Minneapolis. Much love.

- K

Mt. Elgon Part Two

We were back at Mt. Elgon early this week, helping to coordinate medical camps in some of the poorest villages in Western Kenya. But before we even began our medical mission, we encountered a problem. Our LandCruiser was stuck in the mud. And it wasn’t ordinary mud. It was knee high mud. Thick and slushy mud. So much so that it was over the top of the wheels of the SUV on one side and the vehicle was tipped to the side almost completely.

Our LandCruiser in the mud. 

The team had lodged the SUV in the mud late Monday night and had spent the evening/next morning in the vehicle to make sure that no one stole or vandalized it. But the next day, after much talking, slushing about, putting 4x4s and rocks under the tires and ultimately a strong tow from another car, we finally got the LandCruiser out of the mud and onto Mt. Elgon.

Up high in the mountains we went, curling up the red hills of Mt. Elgon. When we arrived on site, there were hundreds of people – mostly women and children – waiting for medical assistance from the Kenya Red Cross team. Though we had several doctors and a few nurses and pharmacists as well as many volunteers, we were still overwhelmed by need (or at least I was).

At the camp we saw everything; malnutrition, broken arms, malaria, jiggers, skin infections, HIV/AIDS. It was quite indescribable to see that we were the first and possibly only medical aid that many of these patients would receive. And though we tried to stay busy, I had a great sense of not being able to do enough - a bit helpless in a very difficult situation. We finally headed out for the evening around 5pm, leaving ¾ of the team to finish up seeing patients (we did have to close the doors to many people at that time).

For today, Spencer went out on another medical mission - I had to stay back to finish preparing for the peer education group. I’m completing my field experience at the Kenya Red Cross this summer coordinating and implementing a peer education program on life skills. We’re reaching out to 20 schools in the Bungoma District to talk to students about everything from relationships to communication to sex and drug abuse. Though it’s completely worthwhile, this project is proving to challenge my skill set, which I’m enjoying. I’m finally using my public health knowledge on the ground, which feels great.

I should let you know that Spencer and I will be on holiday starting this Saturday and ending on June 25^th. We’ll be heading to Mombasa for several days to enjoy the beach and then going on a safari (which is a must when you visit Kenya). We’re both looking forward to some much-needed R&R.

Hope all is well in Minnesota. Sending everyone my love!

k