mud huts and HIV clinic

The first week we arrived in Kenya someone asked us, “What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Africa?” After telling them that “Well, I think of Safaris, lions, and tribes”, I later asked Reika if anything else came to her mind. I don’t know if this is a bad thing, but one of the first words that actually came into our heads was AIDS. This past week Reika and I got the chance to work in an HIV clinic. Amy Bemm’s Husband is a doctor at Tenwek and asked if we would do some counseling with his patients. He asked us to assess the clients and figure out the most common needs.

Our first client that we talked with was a mother and her nine-year-old twins. We asked how she was doing, and if there was anything that she was in great need of. She looked at her twins and said, “We need food. We are supposed to be eating nutrient filled meals, and I can’t even afford meals for my daughters. I can’t find work, and I’m so scared.” She then told us how she didn’t know that she was HIV+ until she was in the hospital giving birth to her twins. She was devastated upon finding out, but she was even more devastated when she found out her daughters were HIV+ as well. When she told her husband he denied it, left her, and then proceeded to marry another woman. She has not seen her husband since the day she told him. She now lives with her parents who are very sick, old, and poor. Her parents are the only ones who know about her health. She informed us that if she told any of her nine other siblings they would disown her and humiliate her. She was in tears from the moment she told us she had no food left to when she walked out the door. It felt so sorry for her. All I could really do was ask if I could pray for her and her daughters. Reika and I don't have extra resources here to help people like we did in America. They don’t have food banks, homeless shelters, government funding, etc… All they have are their families.

The last client that we talked with was the hardest on me emotionally. It was a four-year-old boy and his father. I would NEVER have guessed that the child was four years old. I would have guessed one. He was so small, dirty, sick, and covered in scabies. The father looked just as thin as well. He told us that he and his child were both HIV+. As he started telling us about his situation the child started scratching his skin raw, crying, and had tears constantly rolling down his cheeks. We asked what was wrong with the child and the father said, “He is so hungry because he has not eaten in days, and his skin hurts all over his body.” We immediately called down to the kitchen to get the child some food, and continued talking to the father. The longer the child cried the more my heart broke. He kept burying his head into his father’s chest and would look into his eyes just asking him to make it all stop. I had to stop what I was doing and, in my head, count to ten. Tears were on the tip of my eyelashes just waiting to fall. I knew that I could not let that child just leave the hospital, because I knew he would not live long enough to come back for help if he got sick. After talking to the father we were able to get him some bags of food, and made a follow-up appointment for next week. We told him that if his son had lost any weight we would have to admit him into the hospital. Malnutrition is such a HUGE problem in Kemya. I really think that every child I see when we go on our walks has signs of malnutrition. We saw so many patients that day, and they were all pleading in their eyes for help, the most powerful thing that we could do for them was to lay our hands on them and pray for them. Aids is such a catastrophic problem in Kenya, and it is so looked down upon.

This child has not left my mind all week. I finally went to the Lord and asked why? I didn't understand because the more I thought about their situation the more helpless I felt. I started to pray and ask God what he was trying to show me. This is what I heard in response, "Caitlyn, you know the picture of the child and his father that you can't get out of your head? That is what it looks like when you, my children, look to everything but me to satisfy your needs. You tend to go to the very source that caused your problems to fix your problems. The father was the reason that the child was sick. He was the one that infected his own son, yet the child did not see that. All the child wanted was for his earthly father to make him better, but he can't and he wont." So many times we go to others to fix our problems before going to the Lord. We expect so much from people that are only destined to fail us. We become so distracted of what matters in life by all the stuff in our lives. People, especially in America, make themselves so busy that they do not have time to just stop and think. They don't give themselves time at the end of the day to go back and ask God why this happened, or why that happened. We are missing huge opportunities of letting God show us who he really is. God is our teacher and we must ask him questions in order for him to give us answers.

On an upper note…we were able to help discharge three mothers from the maternity ward. They were all so thankful, and a few of them were in tears when we brought them their discharge papers, and we informed them that they did not have to worry about paying their bills, because the hospitals “needy patient fund” was going to cover it. We were also able to help an orphaned baby from being sent to a terrible orphan home. We convinced the Uncle to take the baby to another home, even though it was a little more expensive, and after about a week of talking to him he agreed. There are also a lot of orphaned babies in the ICU, so we have been going in and feeding them.

This afternoon Reika and I got to mud a hut. It was such a wonderful experience. Upon getting there we took off our shoes, were given huge buckets, and told to go all the way down the mountain to fetch the water. I really mean all the way down the mountain. We made I don’t know how many trips, but it was a lot. I’m sure we are going to hurt tomorrow. After fetching all the water we mixed the mud with our hands and feet. We then rolled the mud in huge clumps and squished it between the branches, which were the frame of the house. We had a blast. We stepped on a million

thorns, got rocks stuck in our fingernails, and got a little sun burned, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone in the family helped to make it, including the two and three year olds. They were right by our side walking back up the mountain with a smaller bottle of water. It was amazing to see their work ethics compared to the children in the US. I can just see myself telling my kids one day “Well, you know when I lived in Africa the children had to carry bottles of water up the mountain just to have something to drink…and they were half your age.” Hahaha. It was beautiful and I can’t wait to help another needy family make one. It was like Habitat for Humanity Kenyan style.

first week in the hospital and my bday!

This past week Reika and I spent most of our time in the hospital. Our mission was to go around to the different wards and look for patients that had been discharged, but were still hanging around the hospital. This is a huge problem that Tenwek is having, and it’s costing them a lot of money. The ward that we spent most of our time in was in the maternity ward. We talked to about six women that had been in the hospital for over three months. Their babies were no longer new born looking babies ha. They were all telling us pretty much the same story. Their husbands had dropped them off to have the baby, and they had yet to return to pick them up. If their families had phones they told us that their families were “locking” them so that the mothers would not be able to reach them. They told us that they had not been in contact with anyone since they had birthed their babies. From what they were saying it sounded like their families wanted nothing to do with them. I can’t imagine going through the whole experience of having a child, and not having anyone to support me or be there with me after. A lot of these women don’t even have phones, so the only means of communication is by word of mouth, which could take weeks since the majority of the patients are tribal people and live in villages all over the mountains. It’s overwhelming trying to figure out how to help them. It’s also overwhelming trying to figure out if what they are saying is true or not. Reika and I have both been told that all the patients will try to take advantage of us since we are white.

Reika and I decided that we would right down each of the patients name and information such as their family name, tribe name, chief of the village, and some background info. We are now having to work together with community health get a hold of the chiefs, or go to the villages to reach the families of these women. A lot of them were in tears by the end of us talking to them, because they were so overwhelmed at how large their bills had gotten. They had no idea how they were going to pay for them. This week we will continue to help these women get a hold of their families and try to get them home.

Reika and I both really enjoy going on our walks through the mountains. We always end up being invited into peoples little huts for chai, and then they proudly show us their crops, animals, and land. They are so proud of the small amount of stuff they own. Everyone’s gardens consist of maize (corn), beans, tea plants, and lentils. Everyone’s lives are so out in the open. I think the Kenyan’s would be shocked coming to America and seeing how private everyone lives are.

February 20^th was MY BIRTHDAY. It started off with an invitation to go over the Bemm’s (my supervisor) house at 9am for homemade banana, choc chip pancakes. They were amazing. I got a candle on my pancake and everything. After breakfast Reika handed me a card. Little did I know the surprise that was awaiting me inside of it. When I opened the card it said, “I hope you have a great birthday in Bosto!!!!” (Bosto was the very fist orphan home that we had visited. Reika and I both fell IN LOVE with all of the children. It’s a pretty long, hard drive to get to Bosto, so I didn’t think we were going to be able to return until the end of our trip.) I was smiling from ear to ear. Amy then told me that the taxi was waiting for us outside. It was a beautiful day of laughter, duck duck goose, letting the girls play with our hair, reading stories and cuddling, and showing them how to make bed bracelets that represents the story of Christ. Reika and I were EXHAUSTED by time to leave. Reika actually slept on the ride home, which I still have no idea how she did because we were driving about 110mph in the rain. We were sliding all over the place because all the roads are made out of mud. I know we almost hit about five kids, 3 elderly people and a good amount of animals. When Reika woke up she kept grabbing my arm and we would both nervously laugh, because we thought we were about to die and we didn’t really know what else to do. Since I’m writing this letter it’s obvious that we made it back in one piece. Upon returning to the Bemm’s house they had a wonderful dinner ready for me, which was fresh grilled Tilapia, rosemary potatoes, and homemade brownies. I also received a card from the four Bemm kids and a present from Amy. Needless to say my family does not need to worry that my birthday was not well celebrated. It was a beautiful day and it was mainly because of my beautiful sister Reika Oda, and the generosity of the Bemm family. They have really welcomed us right into their family.

The hospital

“So, the chaplain asked, do you have any words of encouragement for this young lady?” Reika and I both stood there speechless. After gaining consciousness I asked, “Uhhh would you mind if we prayed for her?” What words of encouragement does someone give to a lady whose husband married another women (while still being in relationship with her), and then left her, lost her job at the tea factory, hospitalized for a sickness, had her legs amputated and her right hand is paralyzed, her left is getting weaker, and she still has to support three children? Today Reika and I went around the hospital with Helen, one of the 10 chaplains. This was the longest duration of time that we had spent in the hospital. We went from ward to ward praying and talking with very sick people. I can’t even describe the types of casualties that the people are dealing with in the hospital. I am not one to have a queasy stomach, but after about an hour in the hospital I could hardly even talk because I was concentrating on appearing to not look sick. Reika kept asking me if I was okay, and I was doing the same to her. It was always a nice break when we would walk outside to a different ward, because it was about a minute of fresh air.

The smell of the hospital is somewhat indescribable. It is a mixture between a hospital, open wounds, blood, food, bedpans, and body odor. Reika and I both agreed that the smell was worse than the wounds. The hospital beds are rusty old beds. The sheets are ripped pieces of clothe, and some of the wheel chairs, that they use, don’t even have wheels on them….you just kind of push them. It’s hard to believe that this is the hospital that people want to come to when they are sick and to have their babies. A lot of the patients are in the hospital because of motorbike accidents. The people in Kenya buy motorbikes without being trained on how to drive them. We saw a lot of men with legs that were swollen four times as much as their healthy leg and all sorts of rods poking in every which direction…at one point I looked at Reika and asked “are all those rods going straight through his leg?????” Theirs a lot of bloody bandages, open wounds, and stitches. Mom, you wouldn’t have made it out of one of the rooms before you would have fainted Haha. There are 7 to 16 people in one room. Privacy does not exist.

I think the more we start working in the hospital the less sick we will feel, but we could definitely use prayer. We also received our first real client today. There’s a child that has been brought to the hospital twice because of severe malnutrition. The hospital, knowing they could not send her back to her home situation, did some research on what is going on. Her mother has died, she has another sibling in another hospital for the same reason, and her father is a severe alcoholic and is not taking care of them. Community health at Tenwek went to the village to ask the chief if he would be sure that the child was fed and taken care of. He said that it was not his responsibility to check up on her. Reika and I have to do some investigating to make sure that the chief was actually talked to, and if he was, Reika and I will need to figure out if there is somewhere else the child can go. If there’s not anywhere else she can go she will be sent to a children’s home. She is so young, and if she suffers from severe malnutrition again she could suffer from a lot of developmental issues.

Yesterday Reika and I were asked if we would like to go live in a village for a weekend. We will work in the fields, milk cows, fetch the eggs, cook over open fires, and who knows what else. We are both looking forward to that.

AGC orphan home

We went to an orphanage and im in love with all 40 of the children!!!! It's a really remote orphanage! Ill write more later. When returning back to Tenwek Reika said, "I'm adopting" and I said, "All 40 of them" :)... We just found out that we are going to get to live here for a while. Soooo excited. It will be an experience. No running water, no electricity, 25 orphans+ us in one room....doesn't get much better!!!

We have arrived in Tenwek

children that live around our house,

the last plane ride

and our backyard!

Today Reika and I finally arrived in Tenwek. What an amazing drive! My body was so exhausted the whole way, but I wouldn’t let myself hardly blink because I didn’t want to miss a thing. We drove through the great drift valley and it was everything I had always imagined and so much more. The lion king depicts it beautifully. When Mufassa is showing Simba all of the land that is one day to be his. That is exactly what I drove through. It was the land of the hyenas and migrating animals. We passed so many beautiful animals, nomadic people, desert dry land, and lush green land. One side of the road would be only sand and a few “African trees” and on the other side would be vibrant green grass, tropical trees, and animals of all sorts. It was truly amazing. Most of the animals were being hearded by children. Some of them looked nothing older than 6 or 7. These same children often had babies strapped to their back and a younger one hand in hand. I cannot imagine an American child being in charge of a whole heard, a baby, and a young child. Kenyan children have to grow up so fast. They have no idea what childhood even means. They have more responsibilities than most people in the world by age 7. I also loved watching the children get out of school. All of the children were wearing matching blue or red uniforms. They were running out of the schoolroom doors all racing home to see who could get there the fastest…Most of them without shoes.

Tenwek is beautiful! Laughter is the first word that comes to mind. Everyone that I have met has such a loud and contagious laugh. A laughter that not only comes from ones chest but through ones entire belly. The sounds of Tenwek are the hundreds of birds that secretly hide away in the trees, the loud groaning of the cows that appear to fill every field, the innocence of children laughing and playing, the occasional motorbike that drives by, and the wind that is constantly rustling in the trees. Tenwek is a little community perched in the middle of the mountains/jungle. I walk out of my door everyone morning only to see hills of huts, cows, and tropical plants. All the women dress very modestly. Pants do not exist for women.

Upon arriving we were greeted by Amy Bemm, my soon to be supervisor. She is full of energy and spunk. She invited us into her home, offered us lunch, and then took us for a tour around the hospital. I have NEVER seen anything like it. Every single bed was full, a lot of them having two patients. It is a very strange thing to see two full-grown men, whom have never met, curled up next to each other on a single size bed. There were people EVERWHERE. I know that it is a very nice hospital for Africa, but man o man do I hope that I don’t get sick by any means. You cannot even compare Tenwek to an American hospital. When I am working in the hospital I will mainly be working in pediatrics and in the nursery with the babies. I have never seen so many babies in intensive care. Maybe around 40 babies total, some being two to an incubator. Some of the babies hardly bigger than the size of my hand using every bit of energy they had just to take one more breath. They looked like they were in so much pain. It broke my heart. A lot of the children are abandoned upon being brought into the hospital (More children are abandoned than babies). A family member will sign them in, sit with them the first few minutes while they are being “hooked up” and then they “go get something to eat” and never come back. I can’t imagine the feelings that go through these children’s head knowing that their whole family abandoned them all the while being extremely sick. These are the children that Reika and I will be helping. We will be helping to discharge patients as well in order to provide more room for other patients. Reika and I will be the only social workers for the ENTIRE hospital hahaha O my!!! It’s comforting to know that God isn’t going to give us anymore than we can handle.

I already love it hear. I love the people, the land, the weather (80 during the day and 60 at night), the food, and especially the simplicity of life. It’s so simple, yet so beautiful. People living in this type of lifestyle understand something about life that no one else will ever be able to figure out. They enjoy the smallest things in life, and they appreciate every moment. They make the best of their circumstances, and even though it is a hard way of life they all seem to glow with Joy and happiness.