Happy Birthday Rachael!

Some kids in Malava wanted to say Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day! Remember when you turned twenty-one and got a cake made out of candy and we played with the pinata in the backyard! Miss you tons buddy

Well other than the fact that Rachael Valley becomes a year older, theres not much for me to report. Life has been pretty normal around here recently. I did get my final birthday package last week, filled with great new reading and listening material. Big thanks to everyone who sent something for my birthday!

Last Friday I made my second driving trip to Eldoret, skipping the epilespy clinic to take one of our clients-Luka- to see a pediatric cardiology at the teaching and referral hospital. It was an incredibly long day since I first had to get him from the hospital in Kakamega where he was admitted, drive the two and a half hours to Eldoret and then drive him back. But it was really important b/c he's suffering from failure to thrive and the docs at Malava and Kakamega just can't figure out why. So I took him to get an echo and see the cardiologist. I have to say that the Moi Teaching and referral Hospital was clean and efficient. In an hour we got in, paid, had the echo and talked to the pediatrician. There was nothing wrong with his heart, which I guess is good and bad. Good b/c fixing heart problems can be VERY expensive and this is a very poor family. But on the other hand, we still don't know whats going on with his malnutrition.

The weekends was relatively uneventful. Went to Kakamega on Saturday and got some new movies. Sunday I made brunch at the boys house (chili...yum) and watched the Exorcist whie it stormed outside. This week at work has been nothing out of the ordinary and today was slow, so tom and I sat in the office and studied Swahili. Next weekend is a four day holiday weekend and I think we're going to go to Mt. Elgon for the weekend...so there should be some good pictures of wild elephants. This weekend we might take a hike up to the ridge that runs along all of the western province. Its part of the Nandi escarpment which runs along all the way up from Kisumu.

Hope everyone at home has a wonderful memorial day weekend and the beginning of summer!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy (belated- sorry I'm a bad daughter) birthday and Mother's Day Mom! I hope you're been having a wonderful and pampered weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all the other wonderful women in my life who've been keeping up with my stories!

This week has finally felt like life is back on track. I feel like I've finally gotten back into my groove. that said, there's not much to report.
Last Sunday we went for a hike in the Kakamega rainforest with the other two CMMB volunteers in Kenya- Cristy and Lauren. They live in Karungu which is on Lake Victoria, near the border with Tanzania. They live two hours from the closest dirt road and their town has no electricity or running water. Needless to say, our little place in Kenya felt like a wonderful slice of civilization. We had a chance to hike up to an overlook that the sister had told me about with incredible views of the countryside and the Nandi Escarpment- check out the pics on my Picasa page.
Work this week was like any other with a little bit of play therapy mixed in with admin tasks and reading the news paper. Friday the center had a training on epilepsy that I missed to go with Judi to the Provintial Hospital in Kakamega. One of our clients- Luka- is failing to thrive and the docs in Malava are stumped. He saw the peds specialist at the hospital in Kakamega and told us that malnutrition is his biggest problem- which we already knew b/c the family is very poor- but that he also needed to have his heart checked out. He needs an echo from a hospital in Eldoret so for now he's admitted in Kakamega and I'll take him for an echo next week. I got Mariah Carey and Bob Marley tapes from a store in Kakamega for the long drive there and back. It looks like I'll be driving when ever Judi needs me to so if anyone wants to send me their old cassette tapes from home- that would be great. Remember, small padded envelops only take about ten days to get here!
Otherwise, life has been pretty normal. A large group of children have taken to playing at Michael and Tom's house in the afternoons so I got to play with them for a little while yesterday and today. They're such good kids, Michael and Tom are really lucky to have their company.

Thats all for this week.

For anyone who is interested, I finally posted some pictures from our coast vacation. Check them out on my Picasa page...the link is on the right side of this page!

A trip to Eldoret

Today was my first experience driving a long distance on Kenyan roads. Sr. Judi told me before we went on vacation that she would need help taking children to a clinic in Eldoret today b/c they would not all fit in one car. Since I'm the only one of the volunteers that has a lot of experience driving a manual transmission, I started taking lessons at the beginning of this week. I wanted to get a feel for driving on the left side of the road before I drove all the way to Eldoret. Anyways, after a next practices with the driving instructor and one time out in the pick up with Sr. Katherine, I felt ready.
I collected some of the parents and children in Malava bright and early this morning and waiting for Sr. Judi to get back with the kids who needed to be picked up out of town. Eldoret is about as far away as Kisumu is, but I've been told it does not take as long to get there b/c the road is much better. I'll say this, it was faster and the road is better is most places, but there was still plenty of bumping along as we made our way there.
The traveling clinic only comes to Eldoret once every two months and they see children who are dealing with orthopedic problems as well as children who have neurological conditions. The children we took were mostly kids with Hydrocephalis and spina bifida as well as kids who were having ortho problems fixed the bracing. The clinic was held at a community based rehabilitation center run by the Anglican Church of Kenya.
Something that continues to amaze me is how much people thank me. Today I met any members of the ACK community based rehab team and they all said how wonderful is was of me to come to Kenya and how wonderful the work I'm doing is. I wanted to say "Hey, thanks for letting me come to your country. And I just drove here...you guys are the ones fixing our kids". But i know this is rude so I say thank you and thank them for their work as well. Like Sr. Beatrice tells me...visitors are a blessing.
Anyways, we were at the clinic for hours b/c we had so many kids with us and I didn't get home until after 6 this evening. Driving on the left side of the road isn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. It's more then inside of the car thats weird. The seat belt is on the other side and I have to shirt gears with the left hand instead of my right. But, all in all, I'm pretty proud of myself for making it all the way there and back.
Not much else has been going on since my birthday, which is actually really nice. I'm getting back into the swing of things here and enjoying the quiet life. The have been some interesting things going on in Kenya. There are a bunch of article's on Tom's blog that I suggest you read if you're interested!

A Very Kenyan Birthday

Happy Birthday to Kate (well...and to me)! I hope your birthday back in Cincy is wonderful.
As for me, 7 hours ahead, my birthday is almost over, but it was a really nice day.
Tom and I went into Kakamega for lunch and I got three new bootlegs, including one of Julia Roberts movies and Sex and the City Season two. I've been having bad matatu luck recently b/c now two matatus in two days have broken down on my way to Kakamega and I had to get out and wait for another one. Also, today in the matatu a lorry drove by and splashed a puddle of stagnant muddy water on the side of the matatu and on me since my window was open.
But anyways, after getting new bootlegs, Tom and I had a delicious lunch at the Shywe guest house before heading back.
The sisters here also had a very nice dinner for me this evening. Tom and Michael came, along with everyone from both houses here on the compound. We had a delicious meal of chapati, sukuma and beans made by the new postulants- Susan and Elizabeth. After dinner came ice cream, cake and presents. All in all a wonderful 24th birthday.
I want to say a BIG thank you to my family for my birthday present that came in the mail yesterday. The best thing is having my knitting stuff again. I've started a new blanket with the yarn and needles my mom sent from home.
Thank you also to all the people who sent birthday wishes from home!

Return to Malava

It's been a really long almost two weeks, but I arrived back in Malava after our coastal vacation yesterday. I have now officially used every form of transportation Kenya has to offer...except for a motorcycle.
It would be a really long post if I went through day by day, so I'll just list some of the highlights
- Exploring Ft. Jesus and haggling for fabric on the street on Old Town in Mombasa
- Swim in pools on the top of a coral reef
- Swimming in coral caves with a lot of bats
- Exploring a tidal river and floating all the way back to the ocean after treking across a crab infested "minefield"
- Air conditioning, hot showers and movies on TV
- Eating lots of really good food that I didn't have to make myself including shwarmas, fresh fish, goat ribs and crocodile
- Having a live baby crocodile just chilling on my arm
- Reading and relaxing under palm trees with the sound of the Indian ocean
- The train ride from Mombasa to Nairobi- felt really old school and we saw a huge family of giraffes!

All in all, we got a little taste of Mombasa town and a little taste of the beach. We ended the whole thing with a retreat with Sr. Jane in Nairobi. The retreat house had the best shower I've had since I got to Kenya, I took two a day. I flew back to Kisumu rather than taking the bus like I had on the way there. It was really fast and completely uneventful.

Pictures will come soon!

African weddings

Well it might be a while before I have a chance to post again. We're leaving on Wed. for a little vacation to the Indian Ocean and we won't be back in Malava until April 20th. We'll be at the beach for a few days and then we're all going to be in Nairobi for the weekend of the 18th for a retreat with Sr. Jane. It's amazing that our time here is now more than a quarter over, I feel like I just left.

Well last week was pretty slow but there are some fun things to catch up on. Jean and I headed to Kisumu just for the day on Friday to indulge ourselves in a little bit of shopping. It was nice to wander around, have a nice big lunch and get some new clothing. The matatu back took forever and we didn't get back to Malava until after dark. Luckily Sr. Katherine came to our rescue and picked us up at the top of the road so we didn't have to walk in the dark.

Saturday Jean went to the orphanage to play with the kids, but Michael, Tom and myself went to a Kenyan wedding. David, one of the therapists from the center invited us so Nancy (who also works at the center) came to pick us up around 10. We got there and waited and waited and waited. We did get a chance to watch them slaughter the chicken we were going to eat after the ceremony. Finally the wedding party arrived around 1:15 and the ceremony started around 2. The processional in was amazing. All the bridesmades and a bunch of younger girls and the groomsman danced all around the room and the bridesmaids made an aisle that the bride walked through. But once all that was over we had a 2 hour sermon to get through by the preacher of their church. We left the hall when we thought the wedding was over, but they were still in there singing and praising while we ate our dinner. We finally had to leave so we could get home before it got too dark. All in all, a learning experience. I think if I ever get married I'm going to make the wedding party dance, it makes it so much more festive.

Sunday was Palm Sunday so I walked to church with Jean. Angela told us there would be a procession from the school behind where the boys live to the church and I was interested in seeing that, but there was none. There was a small reading on the church grounds by the priest and then people went into church. Jean and Michael went to the service while Tom and I hung out at his house. Church was followed by a quick lunch at Honey Drop and then home to clean and get ready for vacation.

Tomorrow I'm going to an orphanage and center for abused children in Kakamega with Sr. Katherine. I'm thinking about working there a few days a week. I love the St. Julie's Center and I enjoy my work there, but I'm looking for something a little more hands on. I'm hoping that this place will be the answer. I'll know more about the arrangement when we get back from the beach.

Also...I forgot to bring my camera to the wedding, so hopefully Tom put some pictures up on his blog.