Wednesday, March 31, 2010

From Peds to OB


I finished Peds last week and started OB this week.

Peds was a lot of fun. I enjoyed working with Eric McLaughlin and Alyssa Pfister, two of the Samaritan's Purse Post-Residency Fellows that are here for 2 years, as well as Chuck Bemm, the long-term pediatrician here. I also enjoyed working with and teaching the interns that are training here. There are four interns on each service (Medicine, Peds, OB, and Surgery), for a total of 16. They spend three months on a service, so they will train here for a year. Here I am recently rounding on the Peds ward with the interns.

I just started Obstetrics this week.  I am really enjoying it so far.  There are four interns on the service that have been doing OB for three months now, so they all generally have a pretty good handle on things. Next week a fresh group of interns will start OB for the first time, so it will be an adventure getting them up to speed.

I just finished a c-section on a very sick patient today.  A 28 year-old, gravida 6, para 5, at 38 weeks gestation, with the pregnancy complicated by rheumatic heart disease was admitted a couple days ago with edema and shortness of breath.  She was in congestive heart failure.  She was started on digoxin and lasix.  But this morning her heart rate sped up abnormally (in the 220's).  My concern was that she was in atrial fibrillation.  One of the frustrations of working in a resource-limited setting is that resources are limited!  For example, I had heard that there were a few EKG machines in the hospital, but I don't think I've ever actually seen one.  I've seen a few EKG's so I know they must exist.   Today, however, was not a frustrating day.  We found the EKG machine quickly, which showed p-waves and was regular, so no A-fib, just a vigorous sinus tachycardia.  You could even see her heart tapping out this ultra-fast rhythm on the front of her chest.  I needed to slow down her heart rate.  Her blood pressure was already borderline low, but I decided to give her labetalol (a beta-blocker which slows down the heart, but can also lower blood pressure).  Her heart rate very quickly came down to the low 100's, and her blood pressure remained stable (that is, it didn't get any lower).  Now that she was stable for the moment, and with these risk factors, we rushed her to the theatre for an urgent cesarean.  The baby came out fine, but after the intern manually removed the placenta, there was a lot of bleeding from the posterior wall of the uterus.  It looked like possibly an accreta, but I'm not actually certain.  With a few quick stitches and a lot of pressure, the bleeding stopped.  We were this close to doing a hysterectomy.  Right now, she looks fine.  The baby was small for his age, and had to go to the nursery.  I'm thankful I was here and able to help this mother.  Please remember her and her son in your prayers.  She still has rheumatic heart disease and things could get worse before they get better.  Thank you so much for your prayers while Julie and I are serving here.  We're now over halfway through our time in Africa.  Pray that we'll learn and experience everything God has for us during the rest of our remaining time here.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

One small step for Liam; one giant leap for Mommy



Liam is expressing his freedom! He walks, no runs, everywhere! Today I probably was the most "hands off" I have been since we have been here. For the most part, he is perfectly steady on his feet. He loves to explore his surroundings. He would walk and walk as far as he could if there were space.



In the morning he walked up and down our sidewalk and front yard for a couple hours. He watched ants crawling, picked up leaves, and mooed at the cows. The kids in the neighborhood were out playing and he tried to keep up. They were running while rolling a tire. It reminded me of the movie Pollyanna where the little boys did that for fun. The kids around here have to make games out of whatever they find. The boys would run past Liam and he would take off as fast as he could. It was cute, but he never did catch up!


At our house, you have to step up on our porch to reach our front door. Liam was playing with my keys and wanted to put the keys in the door. He tried to strrreeetch his arms to reach from the sidewalk, but soon determined he would have to learn to tackle the step to reach the front door.



Within minutes he was climbing up the step no problem. The problem came when I turned my head for ONE SECOND and he tried to go down the step. Ooopsie! He fell. He was not hurt, and did not cry. In fact he kept wanting to do it again and again.

Here comes the giant leap for Mommy. This whole playing outside thing makes me nervous! He falls, he gets dirty, he might pick up a bug and try to eat it. I was expressing these concerns to Logan over lunch. He laughed and shrugged and basically said "get used to it. Liam is going to get a lot dirtier than he gets right now." Rick and Jan have many stories of Logan getting in trouble, getting dirty, and I'm sure eating a bug or two.


Later on in the evening, the three of us took a walk to the "upper compound" where all the Missionaries live. This way Liam could run and jump and play with his friends. The kids and dads were just wrapping up an all out war with water balloons and buckets of water. I have to admit I was slightly glad we missed it. What if Liam slipped and fell?

Wellllllll, fall he did. The sidewalk was soaking wet of course. He was just walking along and boom! We heard the sound of his little face hit the sidewalk. He cried immediately, and yes I did rush to pick him up. Even Daddy was a little concerned! We got some ice to put on his swelling forehead. Actually we were lucky if the ice stayed on there a full 3 seconds. Mostly the cold bag was just a new toy for Liam.


We gave him some children's ibuprophen, milk, lots of kisses, some dinner and put him to bed. He is fine. A little red and swollen on his forehead and nose, but fine. Logan again reminded me that this is the first of many. Who knew a tiny little 12 month old step could be such a giant leap for a Mommy's heart?

Friday, March 26, 2010

Surprises!

Yesterday was the big THREE-OH for me. Thirty years. I thought it was just going to be a quiet day and perhaps a little reflection. Our house helper, Nancy, so kindly told me the day before my birthday in her Kenyan/British accent, "You are increasing in weight. You have grown fat since you have come. Just ask Logan, he will confirm for you." Logan most certainly will not confirm! He better not.

While we celebrated Nancy's birthday at her house the 24th, I explained to her that a comment like that is not a compliment in our culture. (Especially the day before a woman turns 30, my goodness.) For them, to be thin means you are not eating well, or can not afford proper food. If you are heavy, then you have money to buy food and are being taken care of. Someone told me it could be a kind of backward compliment for herself and her cooking for us, specifically Chapati, my favorite. So, I shook the comment off. (ok not totally because here I am still thinking about it two days later.)

Back to my birthday. I had a wonderful morning. Liam and I joined Logan at the hospital. When we returned home, Liam's present to Mommy was a long nap! That gave me an opportunity to email and enjoy my sister's Happy Birthday blog!

Every Thursday afternoon, I teach a dance class for the young Missionary girls. The class deserves its own blog because it is such a blast. I promise that will come in the future. But yesterday, we began our class as usual doing the ballet positions, plie, pointe tendu, rond de jombe and others. All of a sudden, the moms and other long term women bust through the door singing Happy Birthday carrying a chocolate cake topped with a ballerina mouse one of the girls had. I was shocked! The girls squealed and pulled out beautiful homemade cards. They were full of wonderful pictures of us doing ballet, and one student even drew out every single position I have taught them! Since it was a surprise, I did not have a camera, but I gathered the cards and sweet gifts for you to enjoy.

They freely gave precious candy, lotion, Crystal Light, and even PopSecret popcorn! Claire said they only have three at their house, but she wanted me to have one. My heart was overflowing, and I am tearing up now even as I write. To keep a family atmosphere for the MK's, they call long term adults Aunt and Uncle. So many of the cards said "Aunt Julie." I felt so loved!

In the afternoon I had a leisurely visit with Linda Spreigle, an amazing long term wife. She is one that could write a book with all the things she does in the community. She really has a heart for Kenyans. I have seen her tear up talking about witnessing Kenyan residents grow and learn in the hospital even now after seeing it many years. She has been in Africa all of her adult life, so there is much to learn from her.

My only request on my birthday was that Logan make his yummy pizza! Not only did he make a mean pizza, but he did it while entertaining Liam. That is no small feat to cook while keeping our little guy out of trouble.

He let me enjoy a shower I did not have to rush through. Logan's pizza gets better and better! We blogged about our first pizza experience. It is still just as much fun, but the process is getting easier. We enjoyed pizza by candlelight, and then I headed to bible study.

All the new missionary women take part in a bible study each Thursday night lead by Theresa Manchester. It is always good to study the Word and share in the stresses that we are experiencing here in Kenya. Before I headed home, Alyssa casually said "hey do you want to borrow a movie or something for your birthday?" I shrugged and said "sure." I heard Alyssa had some episodes of The Office. We walked in to her place and SURPRISE!

Her living room was full of people wishing me Happy Birthday! Logan had gotten with the McCropDers and her and planned the whole thing! Rachel made a cake and Heather conspired to store the ice cream Logan bought. Ice cream is such a treat! He took a matatu to Bomet and bought three kinds for the party. The most intriguing was a bright orange kind called "Kesar Badam Pista." It includes saffron, pistachio, almond and cardamom. Just a reminder that no, we are not in Kansas anymore!

When I blew out my candle, I was careful to hold my hair back, so as not to do a repeat of my sister's 30th candle disaster! Logan had to tackle Kari to pat out the flames on her hair!

I finally got to open the presents from family that had been torturing me for a couple weeks! Kari had sent "flirty thrity" gear that I had given her at her party! So I proudly wore the sparkly 30 necklace.

Logan got me a french press for coffee, Obama gum (Obama is from a Kenyan tribe not far from here), a Swahili/English dictionary and chopsticks! Jan and Rick sent two seasons of The Office, so I didn't have to borrow from Alyssa afterall! My parents sent a bag of Churchills Sinless Pastry decaf coffee. Let me just tell you, that one got passed around the room and every person put their face up to the bag and smelled, just dreaming of how good it must taste!

I will never forget this birthday. My 30th! In Africa! Thank you to all my friends here who blessed me greatly, family and friends back home for sweet emails, cards, and gifts, and my wonderful husband. Logan worked hard to make me feel special and adored. And I do! Love you all.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Take Your Son to Work Day

Today I officially declared "Take Your Son to Work Day." Liam and I went to the hospital at 10:30 this morning to "take chai" with Daddy. The hospital, and the rest of the compound, comes to a screeching halt at chai time. We had chai (which is tea leaves brewed in boiled milk) and mandazis (similar to a donut that is not sweet.) We passed Liam back and forth between us. Logan told him all about what he was seeing around him at the hospital. We sat outside of the little cafeteria they have. It is for patients' families, doctors, or even the patients themselves.

Liam was enthralled by a little boy at the next table. He was probably 2 or 3. The boy kept saying "Toto, toto?" which is swahili for baby or child. Liam soon wandered off and headed straight to the Peds ward. He drew quite a crowd as he walked through Tenwek like he owns the place.




He waved to everyone he saw! The kids loved seeing him. They laughed and laughed! Logan scooped him up and carried him through the wards and proudly told his patients that this is his son. Liam brought some smiles if just for the few minutes he was there.


We even took the opportunity to weigh him Kenyan style! He weighs 9.8 kilos. (multiply by 2.2 to get the lb conversion).









This was not his "official" 12 month doctor's visit, but we have a doctor living right in our home, and he assures me that Liam is doing great! Still "tall and thin" but walking forward, backwards, and sideways (when he chooses to be shy.) We counted about 24 words that he says. The most common are "Mama" and "No, No." A new one is "belt". He loves to play with Logan's belt.

Some people have asked us, "Is it hard being in the third world with a baby?" I would say it would be so much harder without Liam. He is a breath of fresh air, not only to us, but also to all the nationals he sees. Their eyes always light up and they grin when they see Liam. He's loved all over the world!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Shamrock Shakes and Missing Shoes

Well Liam and I both had a first on St. Patrick's Day. Liam's experience was much more fun I'm sure! He had his first milkshake! The Roberts hosted a Shamrock Shake party for all the Missionary Kids. It was fun seeing everyone dressed in green.

Liam has the cutest all green safari outfit. I dressed him in it early that morning and put on his new brown boots that were purchased before we left the states. He looked adorable! At snacktime, he kicked his shoes off under the table. When I got him out of his highchair, he picked one up and took it to the other room. I cleaned up his tray, bib, etc. Soon it was time to get ready and head out the door to the party. I changed his diaper, but then I could not find that shoe! I frantically started searching everywhere. I ran quickly all over the house. Liam followed me from room to room. I wished he could tell me where it was! After searching as much as I could, I chose another pair of shoes (that, of course, did not match).
 


When I returned home from the party, I turned our house upside down. I mean I looked everywhere Liam can reach, and even some places I don't think he can reach. I got down on the floor in every room, looking under chairs and beds. I looked in all the trashcans. I even looked in the toilet! He had been going in and out of the house that morning, so I even looked all over outside. I had Nancy ask the neighborhood kids if they had seen it.

Finally I assumed it was left outside and stolen or carried away by roosters. There literally was nowhere it could be inside. I looked, Nancy looked, and Logan looked. I think perhaps Riley and Luke looked a little! I have to admit, I was in a little bad mood that day. These shoes are really nice. My parents bought them for Liam before we left. What would I tell them? Would I even tell them at all? I realized this was the first of many lost things, especially shoes, even as I was trying to get out the door. But, how was I unsuccessful on my first lost shoe? I am "the finder" of my family!

Well, 24 hours later, Nancy walks in the back door holding a sweet little brown shoe! I rush to hug her and thank her! Where was it?? It had found its way into our dirty clothes basket that was in our closet. Ahhhhh, yes. I did not look there. I should have thought of that! He does get clothes out of there often. Thankfully the shoe did not get washed.

So, all in all it was an adventure! I'm sure he will lose many more things in the future. And Liam did not mind that his shoes looked a little silly at his Shamrock Shake party. He was just enjoying the ice cream!
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Are they really gone?



I think we are in denial. Luke and Riley are officially back in the US, after a very long journey. Liam loved watching the kids jump rope outside with Riley and play catch with Luke. It was such a joy to have a bit of home here at our African home.

In fact Luke and I were saying we had never ever spent this much time together. Because we lived so close to Branson, we would never sleep over at Holidays and special occasions like other out of town family would do sometimes. Same with them, they live 30 minutes away, so it is a little easier to just go home to sleep. We had some great quality time with Riley and Luke that we will treasure always. Liam was also able to bond with them and become completely comfortable. Luke swears that Liam even said his name! They are pals now.



Thank you guys for coming halfway through our time here. It was wonderful timing for us. Having the opportunity to view Africa through Riley's eyes was a joy as well. We love you guys and miss you!

And we miss ALL of our family! Love and hugs to you all!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Wrapping up the Banks' visit


Riley with her neighborhood friends.


Luke shopping for a new backpack in Bomet. He got a great deal: 8 bucks!


Riley giving away the blankets that she and her friends from home made for the children here. All the neighborhood kids loved the gifts. I know they will be cherished and our tour of all the houses will probably be a topic of discussion for years to come.


Julie carrying Liam in the traditional Kenyan way.


At the Giraffe Center in Nairobi.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Kips and Cheps


 
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We're currently driving to Nairobi to drop Luke and Riley off at the airport. I have my Safaricom mobile modem hooked up to the computer. I had to look up directions to our hotel, Macushla House (Irish for "beloved"). Julie and I are going to skip the Mennonite Guest House for a night and have a nice relaxing and romantic night out in Nairobi. We are going to try to take the four of us to Carnivore restaurant before they catch their flight. While I was looking up the map, I thought I'd explain these pictures some. I downloaded them for Julie last night (took forever) and didn't get a chance to write anything. She was asleep last night, so didn't write about it, and she gets carsick, so she doesn't want to write now either.

Julie and Riley went to the nursery a couple days ago. There are lots of newborn babies that need close attention and stay in the nursery (the Tenwek equivalent of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Julie has been before, and knew it would be a good experience for Riley. Riley has also talked about this experience on her blog.

Usually there are several babies in the nursery that are orphaned. They became orphans at or around the time of their birth due to maternal complications. All the children in the nursery need to be fed every 3 hours. Usually the mothers come in and do it, but the orphans rely on nursing or other staff, or volunteers. The day the girls went to the nursery, there weren't any orphans. However there was a new set of triplets that were just a few days old, and a very overwhelmed new mother. Riley and Julie met the mother, and teamed up with her to help take care of them for that time. They held the babies for a while, helped clean them up, and fed them.

The babies here are named in a special way. Children are usually given a "Christian" name when they get older, but their first name that they get at birth is determined not by the will of the parents, but by according to the time of day (or other circumstances) around the time of their birth. For example, since I was born early in the morning, my name in Kipsigis would be Kipkorir. Boys names start with Kip, girls names start with Chep. The second part is the time of birth. Korir means early in the morning. These babies were all born at the same time. Boy, girl, girl. Their names are Kiprotich (boy born when the cows are coming back from feeding), Cheprotich (girl born at the same time), and Cheprono, which means 'born when the goats come back from feeding' (apparently, the goats come back just after the cows). Liam was born in the evening so his Kipsigis name is Kiplangat.

I think Julie and Riley had a great time helping and bonding with this new mother.

I've been doing Pediatrics more exclusively for the past few weeks, so I've spent a lot more time in the nursery as well. One thing that I am still coming to grips with is how much neonatal death there is here. In the Unites States about 7 babies die per every 1000 born alive. With the medicines and technology available we can keep a baby alive in the states even if the pregnancy is just over halfway done (around 23 weeks). The infant mortality in Kenya is about 55 babies that die per every 1000 born alive, so around 5.5% of babies here do not live to see their first birthday.

Here, babies that would normally do very well in most cases, if they were born in a setting with more resources, just don't have a chance. There is no surfactant here (a chemical made by mature lungs but lacking in premies, that helps the lungs stay open for good air exchange). There are no baby ventilators. In fact, the closest thing we have is a make-shift CPAP machine, which involves a graduated cylinder with actual centimeters of water in it that help create a positive pressure that goes through a nasal cannula taped to the baby's face. Ingenious, to be sure, but in many cases, grossly inadequate. There is at least a baby or two, on average, that die on the Peds ward or in the Nursery every day. Extreme low birth weight, lack of surfactant and oxygenation, and infection (no GBS screening here), account for the vast majority of neonatal mortality.

The hardest experience for me so far has been when I lost four babies in a matter of 30 minutes. I've gotten more experience in neonatal resuscitation in three weeks than I ever did in three years of residency. Three of these children were actually triplets (obviously not the same set mentioned above, there is a high rate of twinning and multiple gestation here) born at 24 weeks gestation. Only one of them really even tried to breathe, and those breaths weren't effective. They were all pronounced dead minutes after birth. The other was a baby born at the same time, full-term, but with thick meconium aspiration. The baby came out with a good heartbeat, but just never breathed. We worked on that baby for half an hour, but if a baby doesn't breathe on their own, we don't have a way to make it breathe. That was a long, long walk back down the hill to my house at the end of the day.

I'm not one of those people that ask, "Why, God?" very frequently. In fact, I don't know that I've ever had an experience where I questioned the will of God. But I found myself meandering slowly home that day with tears in my eyes, wondering why. Why did this have to happen? What could I have done differently? These are the experiences that I'd rather not learn lessons from. But I know to tuck this away somewhere deep and never think about it, and never learn from it, would be to waste the precious and tragic lives of these young ones and to disrespect the grieving hearts of these young mothers.

This was just supposed to be a post about the fun Julie and Riley had in the nursery. I'm sorry for taking it somewhere so drastically different. Please pray for the mothers here and their children. Pray for me, and the other physicians, as we take care of them. And pray that I'll learn all the lessons God has for me here, no matter how hard they are.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Daylight Savings

If you are keeping track of what time it is here, you may have noticed that the time difference between where you are and where we are is now different. This is just a reminder that Kenya doesn't observe Daylight Savings time. That means that if you are on Central time, we are now 8 hours apart instead of 9.

Kenyans don't even understand the concept. There is simply no need to save daylight here. All year long the sun rises at about 6:30 every morning and sets at about 6:30 every night. Sunrise is as early as 6:20 in the summer and as late as 6:40 in the winter.

We're only about 7/10 of a degree south of the equator here. When I look up at the huge expanse of sky at night, not only are the stars brighter here, but you can see a greater number here than you can in the States. Because of our relation to the equator, you can also see stars that are common in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Here the Big Dipper lies close to the horizon in the North, and it's bucket points to the North Star, which lies just below the horizon (since we're below the equator). The Southern Cross also lies just above the horizon on the opposite end of the sky. I would walk right toward it every morning as I walked up the hill to the hospital. You can see Orion brightly overhead, although he is leaning more to the side, instead of standing upright and being closer to the horizon, the way the Greeks pictured him years ago.

The Milky Way shines brightly here, and is a testimony to the awesome expanse of this galaxy and this universe that God created. For some, the bigger they realize the universe is, the smaller God seems, and some refuse to believe altogether. But for me, knowing how incredibly huge this physical world is, makes the God that spoke it all into being with one word all that much more awesome and mighty.

The Bible says that "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen." (Romans 1:20) In Colossians 1:16, Paul writes that "by him (Jesus) all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Jesus was there in the beginning, with God, speaking everything into existence.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. John 1:1-3

When I read that and think of Jesus holding "all things together", I think about Physics. The strong and weak nuclear forces, these unseen and unexplainable forces that hold together everything from atoms to galaxies. You see, it really doesn't make any sense that in an atom you would have a bunch of positively charge particles stuck together in the middle of a nucleus. Like repels like, so the nucleus should explode! But for some reason it doesn't. Also, when you put a positively charged proton and a negatively charged electron next to each other, they are attracted to each other and the electron should just fly into the nucleus. But somehow this doesn't happen! Because of these counter-intuitive interactions, matter can exist. Physicists talk about smaller and smaller particles to help explain this phenomenon (quarks, gluons, and my favorite, neutrinos!), and have created the concepts of the strong and weak forces. And you can really get a physicist's mouth watering if you talk about the Higgs Boson, the Holy Grail of particle physics. But without Jesus holding all things together, this world would simply fall apart!

And one day, the Bible says it will.

All the Stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. Isaiah 34:4


Jesus, who was there at the beginning putting it all together, will take it all apart. In Revelations 20, John speaks of Jesus at the end of all physical matter. "Then I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them."

But this is all part of God's plan to have eternal fellowship with all believers who put their faith in Him. John goes on to say in Revelations that after all that has passed, then "the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Boy, I really went off on a tangent there. I just meant to remind you about Daylight Savings time.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Mosop Orphanange



On Monday, Riley, Luke, Liam and I rode out to Mosop, an orphanage and school about 20km away. We arrived just before the kids got out of school. There are about 250 children, boys and girls, ages 5-17. Over half are orphans and live there, but the other half just come for school during the day.

They divided the kids according to age. From there, the older ones split up boys and girls. Luke spoke with the older guys while two social work girls here from Kentucky spoke with the girls. The girls talked about guys, sex, telling them they have a right to say no and guard their hearts and bodies, and just spoke openly about starting their periods. These are taboo subjects, and it is likely a young girl might start bleeding and have no clue what is happening, and never tell anyone. Especially if they are not at home with a mother close by. These kids kind of raise each other. As I understand, there are only about 3-5 adults who live there with the kids. Riaka and Kaitlyn said the talk went very well. They opened the floor for questions. Of course the girls were too embarrassed, so the girls said to write their questions down. This was brilliant, so they got their questions answered without having to be singled out. They were amazed that American girls have to go through the same things with their bodies.



While the older ones were learning, Riley and I took the younger kids under 11. We listened to them sing loudly and beautifully, and we taught them a couple games. In the picture Riley is leading them in a game of Red Light, Green Light. They thought it was hilarious when she would say "redlightgreenlight" really fast! They loved it! When we were not playing the game, the kids swarmed Liam (who was on my back) and Riley. They want to look, touch (especially hair), and listen to our funny accents!



Riley is having an amazing time. She brought a whole suitacase full of toys and gifts. She and her friends and family made about 200 gospel bead bracelets that she will hand out, and share the meaning of them. She has made many sacrifices to come. She did not open any presents on Christmas morning from her parents, because any money that would have gone toward her Christmas went toward this trip. She also kind of "gave up" receiving any presents for her 13th birthday. She asked all her friends at her party to instead bring something for the children in Africa for her to pass on. She and her friends also made blankets and tied ribbons on them with their favorite scripture verse written on it. She is missing a full week of school, plus her Spring Break. I don't know if missing school is a "sacrifice", but she does have to make up the work when she gets back! Luckily she is a very good student, so her teachers are understanding.




Riley is just doing amazingly here. Even after a near fainting experience, she has not complained once. She is game for whatever we are doing! Before we went out to the orphanage, we were told by several people that this place is "really nice." Just to keep things in perspective, there are no showers, and to go to the bathroom, you stand over a hole in the ground. So Riley is getting the "squatty potty" experience for 4 days!

She is soaking the whole culture in. She is trying to pronounce words and phrases, willingly eats the local food, and jumps in a laughs and plays with the kids. This will be an amazing growing experience for her.



The Tenwek team, as well as the Mosop staff, is also excited to have a man spend time with the kids. As you can imagine, going to the orphanage is something the visiting wives do while their husbands work at the hospital. And trust me, most visitors do not sleep there with the kids! These boys specifically do not see many strong, Christian male influences. In fact, Luke spoke to the older ones about something that is not done in their culture: respecting women. In Africa, it is not "ladies first," but men first. In everything. Women are mostly there for having babies, raising them, and housework. So, for Luke to talk about treating a woman with respect, loving his wife and sleeping with her only, would not be something they would hear. He had a translator, but what was funny was that the translator spoke in English, but just the African accent! They could understand Enoch's English better than Luke's! Luke has offered to help however necessary around the place. He was on such a high when I left them!

I would have loved to stay, but it would not be a great idea with Liam. All four will return to the hospital on Thursday. I'm sure they will want to take a good shower, have a nice meal, and rest. The three girls are sharing two twin beds at Mosop! For Riley's fans reading this blog, she likely will not be able to add to her blog until she returns. But keep praying for her and for Luke. They are doing a great thing, even if it is just playing with kids! I know I am missing them, and looking forward to their return to Tenwek so we can enjoy our last couple days together.

"Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there." Matthew 19:14

I know Riley and Luke will not be the same as they "go on from here," now that they have placed their hands on these sweet children.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

More Masai (pictures)


All the Masai children loved to see Liam walk. The rest of the group was inside one of the mud huts with the Chief. Liam was so fussy and mad at me because I would not let him touch the puppies. They were adorable, and just his size. He kept saying "Dod" which is dog. I would love to let him play with a puppy, but just not where we were. Probably all the dogs not only have fleas, but who knows how many types of worms. So, we played with the kids instead! I just tried to turn him away from the "doddies."


This was one of the young men who jumped really high. He loved Liam, but Liam was not too sure about these Masai people. He just looked closely at them and their adornments. Plus, he was actually missing nap time to be here.

Below is a picture of one of the men jumping really high. If you look at his head compared to the other men's heads you can tell how high he is. On the left are the women. They stood in a line and sang in high voices while the men chanted in very low tones made in the back of their throat. I wished we could get closer to them, and just about that time, they came over a grabbed us by the hand!
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Riley and I got to jump right along with them! Before I knew it, I was singing right along with them too! It was a memorable day!

Experiencing the Masai


This weekend we went to Masai Mara with Luke and Riley. The Masai people are very interesting. When you think of Africa, in fact they may be one of the main people groups that you picture. They jump very high, are tall and slender, drink cow's blood in their milk, have many wives and children, and live in mud huts. The safari that we went on is one of the most famous safari locations in the world, Masai Mara. We had a chance to "experience" the Masai culture, and took advantage of it. Of course, they play it up a little for the tourists as you could imagine, but it was a fun day nonetheless. The Masai did their tradition singing, chanting, dancing, and jumping for us. They "snaked" their jumping line toward us slowly and grabbed Riley and me to come jump with them. It was really fun! They jump several feet in the air, so I really felt like "white men can't jump!"

We had an amazing time on Safari, and are looking forward to a great week back at Tenwek. Riley and Luke are going to spend a couple days at an orphanage as well. Sorry if I have not been blogging as much, but we have been busy, busy busy! Check out my neice, Riley's blog to get a chance to see Africa through her eyes! We will post when we can because we have some amazing pictures and stories to tell!

Hope you all made it through the time change ok. In case you are wondering...Kenya does not go through daylight savings time, so we did not have to wake up any earlier this morning!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Liam's Birthday Party!



What a joy it has been having Riley and Luke here! I teared up this morning just thanking them for coming. It is as if they are representing all of our family from the US on both sides. Many family members sent gifts and toys and decorations with them for his party which we had last night.


We had an awesome time with all the Missionaries and their kids. There were over 40 people there to celebrate with us. I made a chocolate giraffe cake. I used the food coloring sent from my Mom to get just the right color! Tracy, you picked out perfect plates with a safari theme! All the little kids loved the noise makers, and of course balloons are always a big hit! So thanks to Jan there. Showing in the picture is an impromptu game of "hot potato" about to go down.

Liam had a great time! He walked around clapping and laughing and watching all the big kids play. The kids sang to him and helped him blow out his #1 candle. We were so happy there was a great turn out! We held the party at the McLaughlin's house because their place is right in the middle of all the action. Our house is a small hike away, so it was just easier for us to bring all the food and supplies up there.

I also made fresh salsa and guacamole that Luke and Riley helped me taste-test along the way of making. We used ugali chips to dip. They were a big hit as well. We don't get chips very often around here!

We miss everyone who was not there, but know that we had a wonderful party and every inch of the giraffe got eaten! It was cute how the kids would say "I want the foot." or "Can I have part of his mouth?" They picked out the perfect piece and came back for seconds if their mom wasn't looking!

Overall, it was a great time and will be a great story for Liam! What a birthday week he has had! And it is only beginning, because this morning we are off on Safari! Happy Birthday Liam!

Mennonite Guest House



I wanted to upload a few more pics from the Mennonite Guest House. This is where we stayed in Nairobi.

We stayed here when we arrived in January. But at that time, it must have been full, because we had a very small room. Just like a small dorm room. But this time, we had what must be one of the best rooms. We didn't know how big it would be, and we tried to reserve another room for Luke and Riley to stay in, but they were all booked up. So we thought we might have to put them up in another guest house which is nearby. But when we got there and saw our room, it was huge! It had a double bed, and two bunk beds. Liam even got his own room with a crib!


Eating at Java House

We are now back at Tenwek. I've had very little time to blog, but you can read about what we are all doing at Riley's blog. Luke came on rounds with me today on the pediatric ward, and Julie and Riley went and fed the babies this morning. We also had a fun birthday party for Liam tonight (thanks to my mom for sending party decorations). I'll let Julie tell you more about that.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

In Nairobi!

 
We just arrived in Nairobi. We're here to pick up my brother, Luke, and my niece, Riley. They should be landing in about 10 hours, so we'll meet them at the airport in the morning. We are so excited! I don't know if we'll be able to sleep tonight. Partly because of the excitement, but also because of the gecko we saw on the wall just now. I saw it first, and had to warn Julie not to freak out and scream when she saw it, so she wouldn't wake up Liam. We really do have a sweet room here, much nicer than the first one we had. We'll take some more pics of this room, as well as the rest of the Mennonite Guest House tomorrow and upload them for you.

We're excited to show Luke and Riley around Nairobi (the little bit of it that we are familiar with). Tomorrow is just shopping, and then Tuesday we head back out to Tenwek. Please pray for their (and our) safety while they are visiting. That they wouldn't get any kind of illness, that jet lag wouldn't bother them, and that they have an amazing experience while they are here, and the Lord will speak to them and draw them both closer to Him.
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Church at Tenwek

 
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Church was great this morning! Services are held in a meeting room right on the hospital campus. There are about 150-200 people there weekly. About 5-10% are American. Many work at the hospital, are residents, nurses, or even patients wander in wearing their hospital gown! The Western influence is evident in the way the service is structured and the songs that are sung. The services are in English, and we even sing and do responsive readings from an old hymnal in addition to the contemporary praise and worship.

Eric McLaughlin led worship from the piano this morning and Logan played acoustic guitar and helped out on the vocals. They first sang a song in Swahili, mainly led by a Kenyan who also plays the guitar. By the way, his young son goes up on stage every week and "plays" this little plastic toy phone that has a strap attached to it like a guitar. Adorable. He never cracks a smile, or even sings, but buddy he strums that toy phone like he was a rockstar!

I loved seeing Logan leading worship today. The guys introduced a new song for this congregation, "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong.

Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save,
He is mighty to save

Forever author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave!

We have sung it a million times at James River, so it was a welcomed taste of home. Logan did an awesome job playing it as well. He's pretty much the best looking guitar player I know of!

We also took communion this morning. A first since we have been here. It was great to pause and remember the Cross and how our Savior conquered the grave. (Not to mention it was interesting trying to take communion with a one year old on my lap!)

Soon Logan will start playing for the Sunday night youth services, and I will help out in the kids Sunday School class. We are looking forward to the opportunity to get more involved in our local church while we are serving here.