Caught in a Rainstorm

On Sunday our hike started out well. But as we crossed the river in the ravine and started to climb up a steep hill with trees and jagged rocks, the storm broke. Julia and I shared an umbrella and the guys had theirs. The rain turned into hail and the wind whipped through the trees. Julia and I hunkered down behind a tree for shelter. She started crying, asking "Are we going to die?" and Nathan was worried about an avalanche. The water by that time was rushing down the hill past us. My back was soaked but we held tight. Then the rain slowed just enough and I picked her up and climbed the rest of the hill. By this time, Eric and Nathan were gone. Eric planned to rush Nathan home so he could come back to "save" us. We reached the top of the hill and saw him running down to us in the pouring rain. By then, the tears were gone and we were just cold but were laughing at Eric running towards us, soaking wet. Our plan to end the hike with an Orange Fanta changed to hot chocolate. Good memories.

Unfortunately, the storm knocked down several big trees that fell onto a power line. We were without power from 3 pm onwards and most estimated it would be up to 2 days before it came back. That isn't such a big deal except for all the meat and things in all the freezers around here...high dollar items! Amazingly enough, the Industrial Plant personnel worked tirelessly and had it back on at 8 pm! It gave us just enough time in the dark to enjoy a candlelight dinner and to spend some time outside looking at the stars in the dark sky. At our high elevation, we saw a very clear Southern Cross (only seen from this hemisphere). The kids even found a few fireflies...which I didn't know lived in Kenya.

So today we acquired two new pets. Chameleons. The kids are taking care of 2 chameleons while their 5-yr old owner is away. She gave them strict instructions that they need to eat 4 or 5 flies, twice a day. Julia, being the perfectionist, is right on target with her number of flies. In fact, her chameleon is full to the brim...Nathan, on the other hand, is a little less prompt on getting his fed. We can capture live flies and then feed them as we go but they have to be alive. And let's face it, that's tough.

So instead, the kids carry these chameleons around on a stick and when they see a fly they put the stick near it and the thing will shoot its tongue out to eat it. I've watched a few times, it's very cool. Then they chew like a cow, sideways. We also took on a couple of dogs for families that are gone on their yearly retreat and vacation. The kids are loving all the pets around.

The kids seem to be enjoying their time here, even with school every morning. Here are a few shots from last week - one on the stairs of our apartment and the second at the hospital for a mandazi break (like a plain donut). Thanks to all for emails, letters, thoughts and prayers! Jodi

Eric here. As always, I have to throw in my guilt laden spin on our happenings. Today I have to wonder what our house helper thinks about purchased dog food. Certainly the dogs we are taking care of cost more to feed than their entire family. We do the same at home with our dog and don’t think twice about it. But because we are here it seems different. But in fact, it is not different. The only variable is distance. Why is it that I feel guilty when I do something here and not when I am at home? Poverty does not go away just because I do not see it.

As all the long term doctors head off to their yearly retreat, I just transferred from covering the medical ward to the pediatric ward. It is going to be a busy couple of months, especially the 1-2 weeks that the long termers are gone. It is also going to be a sad couple of months. We just went over last month’s statistics which showed that 10% of the pediatric admissions died! That doesn’t include the nursery, which I think runs in the 18% range. The top three causes of death were pneumonia (often because of AIDS), meningitis, and malnutrition. In malaria season that one is also in the running.

It is indeed sad to see so much death, especially when almost all would be preventable with good nutrition and simple medications. Today a 14 year old girl died from AIDS. She weighed only 35 pounds and could have done well with HIV meds and more food. We have a five pound 7 month old kid on the ward who probably won’t do well, and several premature babies weighing 1 ½ pounds that won’t make it. Put all 4 of those kids together and they weigh as much as one of our thin 6 year olds.

On the other hand, it is good to focus on the happy stories of which there are also many. Today a lady came in to OB for treatment. She lost all 8 of her babies due to prematurity. The obstetrician removed her circlage and wanted to send her home and await labor. She was so scared to lose another baby that they did an ultrasound just to reassure her before they sent her home. In fact, the heart beat was a very low 30-50 beats per minute. They rushed her for a C-section. The baby came out with a heart rate of 30, but with some resuscitation from the trusty new pediatricians (that would be me and my intern), the baby did great. I think it a miracle that that baby is alive.