Saying Goodbye

Our time in Eldoret is coming to an end. It has gone by too quickly. While we wish we could stay longer, I think we all will also be glad to get home.

We each made special connections while we were here - children in the hospital, the wonderful staff at the Sally Test Center about whom we cannot say enough good things, the medical folks both from the US and from Kenya, the staff at IU House - Panina the cook and her two lovely daughters, the housekeeping staff, Michael the guard at the gate who is everyone's friend and certainly would win the prize for Mr. Congeniality, Dunia and the office staff who helped us with making so many of our travel plans, and Francis, our wonderful driver and new friend who thanked us for "trusting him with our family's lives". Our gratitude goes to our gracious hosts, Joe and Sarah Ellen Mamlin, who opened their home to us and provided the warmest hospitality. The people of Kenya are warm, kind and welcoming. We hope that we can bring some of that kindness forward as we move ahead.

It is really difficult to summarize what all these experiences mean to us, so I'm not going to try to do that here. Most certainly, the impact will be felt for some time to come.

I would like to dedicate this blog to the children at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital - wishing them all a speedy recovery so that they can get back to the business of being kids. I'm going to close with a few more shots of some of the kids who touched our hearts.

Asante Sana and Kwaheri! (thank you so much and good bye!)

Nyagweno Primary School

Yesterday, while Alan visited with science colleagues in Kisumu, Maya and I headed into the hills with Joni, Cliff and Mark to go visit Mark's family and the school nearby. Mark's brother, Absilon and his wife Lillian live in a sweet mud home on a fertile piece of land. Right next to the house is their farm, where they are growing corn, bananas, avocados, millet, potatoes and more. This farm surely provides the family with a good share of their dietary needs.

Joni, Jaclyn (Absilon's daughter), Mark and Absilon

This is how millet grows

Bananas

Just beyond the farm is the local primary school - Nyagweno Primary School. The motto there is Education is Light. All the schools we've seen in Kenya have their mottos posted on the outer gates of the school. Many of them refer to light in some way. We got to see the preschool class that had about 30 children - and not much else. No materials, nothing to play with, no books. Just a room with a lot of kids and two teachers. They were kind of leery of us wuzungu at first, but after the candy came out and they got to see that we were actually pretty friendly, they warmed up quickly.

The school has few resources - e.g. no running water or electricity, the children need food, the teachers need to be paid better, the buildings are crumbling, etc. etc. Joni and Cliff are eager to help make a difference here, and goodness knows a little would go a long way. But it is a huge challenge for them to navigate the culture and legal obstacles that are popping up all around. It is certainly a learning experience for them. Together with Mark, the new Executive Director of Rosie's Rafikis, they have tremendous potential to do good and we look forward to hearing about their success there.

We're not so sure about these strangers

Candy, the universal social lubricant

The children of Nyagweno Primary

The preschool classroom

Our Kisumu Rafikis

We drove down through the lush tea farms in the Nandi Hills to visit our friends Joni Block and Cliff Shatz in the city of Kisumu. Joni and Cliff have just formed a non-profit community based organization called Rosie's Rafikis, in memory of their daughter Rosie who died tragically a number of years ago.

Just us in the tea fields

They took us to a magical place called Kit Mikayi - where there are amazing rock formations on which we climbed. The view was fabulous and the feeling there is spiritual and full of wonder. How do those rocks get piled up like that? While there, we were treated to some dancing by local women who had some very cool homemade percussion instruments that we loved. They were happy to sell them to us for a few shillings.

Kit Makayi Rocks

The dancers

They were very nice

We had dinner at Kidogo Bay which offered a gorgeous view of the sunset over Lake Victoria. We also got our first chance to meet some of the members of the family with whom Joni and Cliff are working - Mark and his 14 year old twin sisters, Elizabeth and Catherine.

Sunset over Lake Victoria

Joni, Catherine and Elizabeth

Burkitt Lymphoma and Embarrassing Stampedes

We attended Grand Rounds on Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) at the hospital yesterday. There were two speakers - a man from the US National Cancer Institute and one from Kisumu - a Kenyan city south of us.

We have seen a lot of Burkitt Lymphoma here. In the US, we would think of BL as a real zebra (i.e. very rare). Here, they also see it as a zebra - except here, zebras are very common. It is most commonly found in children between the ages of 2-6. Of all the cases of BL in the world, 70 percent are found in sub-Saharan Africa. The maps of its prevalence show a very close match with the incidence of malaria. They are studying this disease and think that it has a relationship with malaria and the Epstein-Barr virus. There is great potential for this research.

All the speakers were, again, very appreciative of Alan's work on the oncology program at Moi. Of course, we are all well aware of the hard work done by so many others that has brought this program to where it is. I've heard these names of people I haven't met for years now. They loom large for us and the Kenyan partners, I'm sure. The man from the NCI told me that one hour of time from people like Alan is like a year's time to the people of Kenya.

I was walking over to the hospital and I saw one of the usual groups of cattle being walked down the side of the road (no sidewalks here) in my direction. I thought - what a good chance to take a picture! So, as I walked, I took out my camera and snapped a shot. As I took my camera down from my eye, I looked back up and saw this herd running right at me. As I leaped (in my long skirt) across a ditch to get to the road and away from being trampled, I'm sure the herder must have had a good laugh at the crazy mzungu (white person).

Looking pretty casual here - before they started running

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hope you have a fantastic day!  We love you!

Francis' Story

We have been very fortunate to have Francis Dagala as our driver and guide during our travels to Nakuru and our upcoming trip to Kisumu.  Francis works for AMPATH, coordinating all of their transportation - getting folks across the Kenyan countryside, and handling rescue efforts when there are breakdowns, etc.

Francis was born in Eldoret as a member of the Luya tribe. He is one of thirteen children born of parents who didn't understand what it took to meet the basic needs of their children. So Francis ran away and became a street kid at the age of 6. On the streets, Francis joined the other kids who spent their days getting drunk on Chang'a, sniffing shoe glue and petrol, and doing any other drugs they could get their hands on. At night, after everyone went home, they would just curl up on the streets and sleep. Francis told us that the street kids probably have a more balanced diet than kids who live at home, because they are eating food from the trash of restaurants. Francis says, "It's just that the hygiene isn't so good".

A minister named Michael Nieswand found Francis at age 13 and brought him off the street and into his home. He took care of him and sent him to school.  Rather than send him to high school, Michael sent Francis to get training to be a mechanic and a driver. Francis tells us that his siblings and other friends from the street are either sick with AIDS, drug addicts, in jail, or dead. Francis survived.

When he was 20, Francis went to work at the Rescue Center, going back out from whence he came to counsel street kids about getting off the streets. Joe Mamlin met Francis at the Rescue Center in 2004, and hired him for his current job.

There was a grinding wheel outside the gates of the Rescue Center where people would go to grind corn to make ugali. One day, there was a girl there named Rebecca. She had come to grind some millet to make porridge. "She pulled my eye" says Francis. He introduced himself and soon, they fell in love. Now, it isn't easy to get married when you were once a street kid, your sweetheart is from a different tribe (Rebecca is a Meru), and you don't have five cows required for a dowry. But Francis knew what he wanted and he persisted. Rebecca's family saw that Francis was a good man and eventually the wedding occurred.

Rebecca and Francis are now the proud parents of two children, Glory, age 12 and Abendigo, age 9. Abendigo wants to be a lawyer and Glory wants to be a "medical person". Francis and Rebecca have also taken in two street kids, Moses, 11, and Daniel, 26.

Francis

Lake Nakuru - A slice of heaven

We drove 150 kilometers east (across the equator) to Lake Nakuru, Kenya. In Lake Nakuru Game Park, we drove throughout the lake area to see the animals that make this slice of heaven their home.

Lake Nakuru is a soda lake (very alkaline) and is probably best known for the thousands of flamingos that live here. As you look at the lake, it is bordered by a fluttering band of pink. Mixed with the pink are white pelicans, whose wing spans must be five feet and who fly in groups back and forth across the water's edge.

The list of other animals that we saw is long. But, a few are: White Rhinoceros (particularly, the three young ones who spent the day together), Thompson's Gazelles, Water Bucks, Water Buffalos, Giraffes, Impalas, Hyenas, Jackals, Maribu Storks, Baboons and Zebras galore. Although we ended our first drive without seeing any lions, we were rewarded this morning for getting up for a drive that began at 6:30 a.m.

This morning, we found two stunning male lions who seemed to have been fighting before we arrived. They both looked worn and one was limping. As one of them slowly walked down the road (with us behind him), he just roared repeatedly, as if he was moaning. Not sure though, because I don't speak lion.

We are traveling with Francis, our Kenyan driver and guide. Francis' story is amazing. More on that later. We are also traveling with Jim Myer, a pulmonologist from Brown University, and his friend Chris McBurney from Providence. They've all been great company.

We are staying at the Lake Nakuru Lodge - a lovely place. Our room is funny with three twin beds, each with it's own "dazzling-to-the-eye" mosquito net. One wall is all glass sliding doors which look out to the park. The baboons walk around the lodge like they own the place.

Need I say more?

Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Just us and the birds

Maya's favorite animal

Cape Buffalo

Young White Rhinos hanging out for the day

Mother and Baby Baboon

A found impala horn

Simba after a long night

Simba surveying his territory

Flamingos and Pelicans

Kids are kids are kids

There is no better reminder of the common humanity we all share than spending time with kids.  I think some of these pictures say it better than words.

Imani Workshop

AMPATH does so much for so many people.  One program that they run is called the Imani Workshop.  We took a tour there this afternoon.  The people who work at Imani are all HIV positive.  They are referred to Imani Workshop by their doctors and/or their social workers to help them gain skills to work and earn a living.

At Imani Workshop, they manufacture a wide variety of things.  They make books and cards out of recycled paper and papyrus.  They make beads out of Oprah Magazine (you've got to see this), and handmade clay.  They hammer stone to break it into fine grains, then soak it for days and then knead it into clay to make beads.  They sew all kinds of items including such things as aprons, wine bottle carriers, shoulder bags... You name it.  They make fabulous jewelry.  We partook heartily of their merchandise.  It all goes to a very good cause.

They really do use Oprah's magazine to make the beads

Making paper for books and cards

Making handmade beads

Breaking stone to make clay

Vulnerable Women and Children

Today, Sarah Ellen took us to see a Women's Shelter here in Eldoret.  Most of the women there are HIV positive.  For many, when their husbands found out that they were sick, they kicked them out.  Yet, in most of these cases, the women became infected by their husbands, so the next woman who comes to live with these men will suffer the same fate.  The shelter houses about 8-10 children as well - some who came with the women and some who came because they were "defiled" (what  they call rape here).

Florence, the caretaker, was lovely. Yet, the scene felt grim and far from joyful as was the case at the other places we went.  But, at least they are safe, for now.

Next, we went to the Neema House - a thriving orphanage that houses and educates somewhere around 50-75 children, from birth to teens.  The Directors, Joshua and Miriam, have devoted themselves to the hard work of meeting the many needs of the children in their care. Folks at IU put together a YouTube video about the place. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Hj1ke2fUE

Sarah Ellen and Miriam at Neema House

Most of the children at Neema (which means grace) were abandoned and came here HIV positive.  Miriam lines up the children in the morning for their ARV's (anti-retrovirals) - think Oliver and castor oil.  One 10 year old had a mother who did not want her, so she left her with her Aunt.  The Aunt then decided that she did not want her, so she threw her down a dry well.  The girl survived the experience, but her legs were severely malformed as a result.  She had surgery on one of her legs to straighten it and is walking in a way that she never was able to before.  She is supposed to go back for surgery on the other leg soon - maybe.

Javan, our driver, and the children at Neema House

The children lined up to play a game.

The final stop was the home of a family from Idaho who have lived here for five years. They are devout Christians who came to Kenya and found their calling.  They have five children of their own, two of whom are with them here in Kenya - girls, ages around 14 and 15.  Their teenagers are being home schooled.  The girls told me that they have two friends here, but they go to school out of town, so they don't get to see them very often.  Otherwise, it's just them and their family.  They seem perfectly content, but having teenagers of our own, it's hard for me to imagine a life like that all the time.

This family has taken in 10 boys and 13 girls - all abandoned as infants.  The 23 children are all ages five and under.  It feels like a large infant toddler center.  Their newest addition was a newborn who was born prematurely and left in a bag at the side of the road.  She said that she could tell that this baby has a strong personality already.  She believes that her strong personality kept her alive through the challenges she experienced in the first days of her life.  I wonder.

The commitment and compassion that these people show in their life work is extraordinary.  The embodiment of tzedakah and tikun olam.

30 Minutes from the Equator

On Sunday morning, we flew from Nairobi to Eldoret, Kenya.  That's where we are now.  We're here as part of a program called AMPATH.

AMPATH (Academic Model Providing Access to Health Care) treats over 120,000 HIV positive patients at 25 main clinical sites and over 30 satellite sites in both rural and urban Kenya. Indiana University is the heart of the AMPATH consortium which includes a number of other US and Canadian universities.  Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital is the regional medical center in Eldoret in western Kenya. 

The compound that houses the folks that come here to work is called IU House.  We are particularly honored to be staying in the home of the head of AMPATH, Dr. Joe Mamlin and his wife Sarah Ellen.

Joe Mamlin is the heart and soul of AMPATH.  In fact both AMPATH and Joe have been nominated numerous times for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Alan is here working on the AMPATH oncology program.  While he is doing that, Maya and I are working with Sarah Ellen in the pediatric ward at the hospital.  More on that later.

On our first day here, Alan, Maya and I walked over to the hospital together.  We saw a sign for the Hemato-Oncology Clinic in the brand new AMPATH building.  There was no such thing as an oncology clinic here when we were here seven years ago.  Alan was the first oncologist to come here.  As we walked in to look around, we met a doctor from the clinic.  Alan introduced himself and the man grabbed his arm and said "you're Dr. Rosmarin?!  You're the man that started this!"  At that point I burst into tears.  I was so proud.