Monday, February 27, 2012
Safari Pics
Here's just a few safari pics. More to come later. The giraffe pic is blurry but I like it because it looks like he's smiling =)
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Safari!
Wow! What a full day!!!! The Mara did not disappoint!!! Before we even entered the gate, we saw zebras and topi. But I'm getting ahead of myself.....
It took us a couple of hours to get to the gate of the Mara. On the way there, we stopped at a Masai manyatta (village). I have truly never experienced anything like it. The view that these villagers have of the Mara is unbelievable (see photo below). The Masai wear a wrap calleda shuka for their tribe that is bright orangey-red and purple - it complements their skin so perfectly. Their traditional dress is very elaborate with bead necklaces, earrings, and headdresses. Peter was our 'tour guide'. He showed us around the village and taught us of life there. The Masai believe they own all the cows in the world and each individual Masai village care for hundreds of cattle. To protect their flock from the predators, they build a fence around their homes and bring their animals inside the walls each night. This equal poop everywhere in the village. And where there is poop, their are FLIES. I have honestly never seen so many flies in one place!!! It was really gross. You swatted in vain. There was no way to keep them off of you. It was pretty uncomfortable.
The Masai live off the cows blood and milk. As their guests, they wanted to share cow blood with us - here's how it goes: they round up a cow, put a rope as a tourniquet around the cows neck to distend the jugular, then they take an arrow and puncture the vein.... They fill a charcoal lined (to kill the germs-ha) gourd with the blood then pass it around for you to drink. Sound appealing? Did I mention the flies really like the blood too? Although I did not partake (I'm not crazy!) some of my teammates did.... I took a video of the ceremony and will post it if I can.
We are staying at the Mara Serena Lodge. The pic below is taken from my bedroom balcony.... Breathtaking! The hospitality here is great and the food is wonderful! I highly recommend it!
On our game drive this afternoon we found a pack of lions resting by a ginormous dead hippo. The lions were spectacular! We were REALLY fortunate to see THE Big Daddy Lion King as well - isn't he beautiful?! I couldve watched them all day. Watch the video - super cool!
I kept saying that each animal was my favorite as we cam upon them.... It's really hard to choose a favorite when they are all so beautiful and unique. So fortunate to see them in their natural habitat. It was a great day and I'm off to dream of riding an elephant. Nite!
It took us a couple of hours to get to the gate of the Mara. On the way there, we stopped at a Masai manyatta (village). I have truly never experienced anything like it. The view that these villagers have of the Mara is unbelievable (see photo below). The Masai wear a wrap calleda shuka for their tribe that is bright orangey-red and purple - it complements their skin so perfectly. Their traditional dress is very elaborate with bead necklaces, earrings, and headdresses. Peter was our 'tour guide'. He showed us around the village and taught us of life there. The Masai believe they own all the cows in the world and each individual Masai village care for hundreds of cattle. To protect their flock from the predators, they build a fence around their homes and bring their animals inside the walls each night. This equal poop everywhere in the village. And where there is poop, their are FLIES. I have honestly never seen so many flies in one place!!! It was really gross. You swatted in vain. There was no way to keep them off of you. It was pretty uncomfortable.
The Masai live off the cows blood and milk. As their guests, they wanted to share cow blood with us - here's how it goes: they round up a cow, put a rope as a tourniquet around the cows neck to distend the jugular, then they take an arrow and puncture the vein.... They fill a charcoal lined (to kill the germs-ha) gourd with the blood then pass it around for you to drink. Sound appealing? Did I mention the flies really like the blood too? Although I did not partake (I'm not crazy!) some of my teammates did.... I took a video of the ceremony and will post it if I can.
We are staying at the Mara Serena Lodge. The pic below is taken from my bedroom balcony.... Breathtaking! The hospitality here is great and the food is wonderful! I highly recommend it!
On our game drive this afternoon we found a pack of lions resting by a ginormous dead hippo. The lions were spectacular! We were REALLY fortunate to see THE Big Daddy Lion King as well - isn't he beautiful?! I couldve watched them all day. Watch the video - super cool!
I kept saying that each animal was my favorite as we cam upon them.... It's really hard to choose a favorite when they are all so beautiful and unique. So fortunate to see them in their natural habitat. It was a great day and I'm off to dream of riding an elephant. Nite!
Clinic
Kenya Relief holds three days of clinic every week there is a team in Migori. Clinic days start early and run late. Many patients come from all over Kenya - I met a lady who traveled eight hours to see the doctors from America. For some, we are their only hope for treatment.
For myself and the majority of my teammates, it was our first time to serve with Kenya Relief. We all had to think outside the box and step out of our comfort zones. Although most of us had just met and had never worked together, we shared a common goal: to help as many people as possible in our short time here. I felt our team worked really well together from the word 'go'. In three days, we treated over 500 patients and performed 25 surgeries. An excellent group of ENT surgeons from Harvard university did a superb job removing many enlarged thyroid glands (goiters) in a setting that was completely unfamiliar to us all.
Every anesthetist knows patients with large goiters can be some of the most challenging airways to manage. As you can see in the pictures, these patients had MASSIVE goiters. Although their were two patients that we were unable to intubate, every patient was safely managed. I was proud to be apart of such an outstanding group.
In America, we have so much equipment and supplies at our disposal. I was impressed by what equipment we did have in Migori (thanks to generous donations). We had fully functioning anesthesia machines (with scavenging running out the window), suction, bovie cautery, and even an air conditioning window unit. Back home, we use a monitor called a capnogram that measures the amount of each gas being exhaled by the patient. We did not have a capnogram at the clinic so we had to use other data to ascertain the depth of the anesthetic being delivered. This was an intimidating challenge at first but I feel everyone adjusted quickly and became fairly comfortable without the monitor.
Power at the clinic comes from a large generator that was graciously donated. I now know it is not a question of IF the power will go out, it is WHEN. The first day of clinic, we had multiple power outages which presents many issues in the operating room in the middle of surgery. Without power, you are unable to deliver anesthetic gases or look at the patients vital signs on the monitor. Most of the time, the power was only out for a few minutes at a time, but we did have one instance in which the power was out for at least 25 minutes. I was impressed because everyone in the OR kept their cool. We held flashlights over the field and the surgeons continued to do what they could without power. Molly and I had brought our precordial stethoscopes which allowed us to monitor the patient by listening to their heart tones and breath sounds. We placed a portable blood pressure cuff on the patients' legs and gave bumps of propofol to keep the patient asleep. It was an experience to say the least. =)
This week, I have experienced a roller coaster of emotions - joy, overwhelming sadness, love, anger, hope, helplessness, shock. One patient in particular had a huge impact on me. Her name was Velma. Although her mother claimed she was six months old, she looked no older than a month or two. She was extremely malnourished and what we in the States would consider 'failure to thrive'. The more we learned of this baby's story, the sadder it got. Her mother was twenty years old, HIV positive, and had already had one baby die. It appeared as if she herself had been eating well... She claimed to have been trying to feed Velma porridge. This situation angered me. Velma will eventually die. Even if she happens to not have HIV herself, she has not had adequate nutrition to develop properly. I am angered so because this situation will repeat - it happened to Velma's sibling and will continue to occur. Depending on how the mother's disease progresses, she may have many more children in her lifetime. This is just one story out of one million. I am certain there are thousands just like Velma. I think of my sweet, healthy, chubby nephew, of how fortunate we all are and we had nothing to do with it. You do not pick where you will be born. Every child deserves a chance at life. It is so unfair that some on this planet have so much while so many go without.
I am thankful that we were able to help so many people in the community this week. I am humbled by the spirit of the people of Kenya. If only we could learn from them, we could have much fuller lives and live contently instead of always wanting more. One of my friends favorite quotes keeps resonating with me - "I am a part of all I have met" - Velma will always be apart of me as will many others here. I believe this experience changes you, changes your heart, changes your thinking, hopefully changes your actions. I plan to continue to do what I can to make conditions here better. I hope to open your eyes to life here so you will do the same.
Now, we head to the Masai Mara for two days of safari. It is dawn and we should be in the park in a couple of hours. Still can't believe I am here. Someone pinch me.
For myself and the majority of my teammates, it was our first time to serve with Kenya Relief. We all had to think outside the box and step out of our comfort zones. Although most of us had just met and had never worked together, we shared a common goal: to help as many people as possible in our short time here. I felt our team worked really well together from the word 'go'. In three days, we treated over 500 patients and performed 25 surgeries. An excellent group of ENT surgeons from Harvard university did a superb job removing many enlarged thyroid glands (goiters) in a setting that was completely unfamiliar to us all.
Every anesthetist knows patients with large goiters can be some of the most challenging airways to manage. As you can see in the pictures, these patients had MASSIVE goiters. Although their were two patients that we were unable to intubate, every patient was safely managed. I was proud to be apart of such an outstanding group.
In America, we have so much equipment and supplies at our disposal. I was impressed by what equipment we did have in Migori (thanks to generous donations). We had fully functioning anesthesia machines (with scavenging running out the window), suction, bovie cautery, and even an air conditioning window unit. Back home, we use a monitor called a capnogram that measures the amount of each gas being exhaled by the patient. We did not have a capnogram at the clinic so we had to use other data to ascertain the depth of the anesthetic being delivered. This was an intimidating challenge at first but I feel everyone adjusted quickly and became fairly comfortable without the monitor.
Power at the clinic comes from a large generator that was graciously donated. I now know it is not a question of IF the power will go out, it is WHEN. The first day of clinic, we had multiple power outages which presents many issues in the operating room in the middle of surgery. Without power, you are unable to deliver anesthetic gases or look at the patients vital signs on the monitor. Most of the time, the power was only out for a few minutes at a time, but we did have one instance in which the power was out for at least 25 minutes. I was impressed because everyone in the OR kept their cool. We held flashlights over the field and the surgeons continued to do what they could without power. Molly and I had brought our precordial stethoscopes which allowed us to monitor the patient by listening to their heart tones and breath sounds. We placed a portable blood pressure cuff on the patients' legs and gave bumps of propofol to keep the patient asleep. It was an experience to say the least. =)
This week, I have experienced a roller coaster of emotions - joy, overwhelming sadness, love, anger, hope, helplessness, shock. One patient in particular had a huge impact on me. Her name was Velma. Although her mother claimed she was six months old, she looked no older than a month or two. She was extremely malnourished and what we in the States would consider 'failure to thrive'. The more we learned of this baby's story, the sadder it got. Her mother was twenty years old, HIV positive, and had already had one baby die. It appeared as if she herself had been eating well... She claimed to have been trying to feed Velma porridge. This situation angered me. Velma will eventually die. Even if she happens to not have HIV herself, she has not had adequate nutrition to develop properly. I am angered so because this situation will repeat - it happened to Velma's sibling and will continue to occur. Depending on how the mother's disease progresses, she may have many more children in her lifetime. This is just one story out of one million. I am certain there are thousands just like Velma. I think of my sweet, healthy, chubby nephew, of how fortunate we all are and we had nothing to do with it. You do not pick where you will be born. Every child deserves a chance at life. It is so unfair that some on this planet have so much while so many go without.
I am thankful that we were able to help so many people in the community this week. I am humbled by the spirit of the people of Kenya. If only we could learn from them, we could have much fuller lives and live contently instead of always wanting more. One of my friends favorite quotes keeps resonating with me - "I am a part of all I have met" - Velma will always be apart of me as will many others here. I believe this experience changes you, changes your heart, changes your thinking, hopefully changes your actions. I plan to continue to do what I can to make conditions here better. I hope to open your eyes to life here so you will do the same.
Now, we head to the Masai Mara for two days of safari. It is dawn and we should be in the park in a couple of hours. Still can't believe I am here. Someone pinch me.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
All you need is Love
This day has been chocked full of heart-bursting activities. I am overwhelmed by the resilience of the people here. I am having trouble putting what I am feeling into words so I will simply tell you what we did and let the pictures speak for themselves.
This morning, I awoke to the sound of roosters crowing and I watched a sunrise that may just be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It was majestic and a perfect way to start my day.
After breakfast, we attended a Catholic church service. The congregation here welcomed us with open arms. There is such a sense of community among these people. The women help each other with their children, the older children look after the little ones. They are all family. Even though there is much need, they still rejoice. They have such faith. It is inspiring.
After church, we visited the community hospital. If you have ever been to the zoo, you know exactly what it smells like in the hospital wards. The majority of inpatients are terminally ill with AIDS, or close to death from malaria or TB. The men's ward was particularly jut-wrenching as there were a couple young men who were taking their last breaths while we were there. As you can see, these wards are over crowded, many patients are two to a bed. It is an infection control nightmare!
Steve likes to take every team to one of the homes of the orphans and share their story. We had the privilege of visiting Willie's home where she, her siblings and grandparents used to live. The trek to their home was an adventure to say the least. We took a long drive down a rough dirt road filled with holes and boulders. Eventually, the road became a small foot path and we had to walk the rest of the way. The homes and families we saw along the way were humbling. More on that later.
Willie's story, like so many of the orphans, is heartbreaking. She approached Steve at the clinic a couple of months ago and asked if she and her siblings could come live in the orphanage. Her grandparents were caring for them but couldn't support them financially. It turns out that sweet Willie and her baby brother had watched their father kill their mother. For anyone to have to witness such an act is unthinkable, let alone these precious children. Because of Steve and Kenya Relief, these children are now in a loving home with many brothers and sisters. They have a warm, clean bed to sleep in, a washroom to bathe in, are fed physically and spiritually daily, and receive counseling and tutoring from their dorm parents. I am so thankful that Steve had the vision he had and that Kenya Relief has become what it is today. I can't help think of the children that are still out there in similar or worse conditions. A child could be down that dirt path now, all alone, starving and thirsting to death and no one would ever know. That breaks my heart.
I don't want to leave on such a sad not but my heart is heavy with the need of the people here. I think about how much we Americans take for granted, how spoiled we are. There are so many in this world that have nothing. I live a blessed life and I am thankful for the reminder I have received today.
This morning, I awoke to the sound of roosters crowing and I watched a sunrise that may just be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It was majestic and a perfect way to start my day.
After breakfast, we attended a Catholic church service. The congregation here welcomed us with open arms. There is such a sense of community among these people. The women help each other with their children, the older children look after the little ones. They are all family. Even though there is much need, they still rejoice. They have such faith. It is inspiring.
After church, we visited the community hospital. If you have ever been to the zoo, you know exactly what it smells like in the hospital wards. The majority of inpatients are terminally ill with AIDS, or close to death from malaria or TB. The men's ward was particularly jut-wrenching as there were a couple young men who were taking their last breaths while we were there. As you can see, these wards are over crowded, many patients are two to a bed. It is an infection control nightmare!
Steve likes to take every team to one of the homes of the orphans and share their story. We had the privilege of visiting Willie's home where she, her siblings and grandparents used to live. The trek to their home was an adventure to say the least. We took a long drive down a rough dirt road filled with holes and boulders. Eventually, the road became a small foot path and we had to walk the rest of the way. The homes and families we saw along the way were humbling. More on that later.
Willie's story, like so many of the orphans, is heartbreaking. She approached Steve at the clinic a couple of months ago and asked if she and her siblings could come live in the orphanage. Her grandparents were caring for them but couldn't support them financially. It turns out that sweet Willie and her baby brother had watched their father kill their mother. For anyone to have to witness such an act is unthinkable, let alone these precious children. Because of Steve and Kenya Relief, these children are now in a loving home with many brothers and sisters. They have a warm, clean bed to sleep in, a washroom to bathe in, are fed physically and spiritually daily, and receive counseling and tutoring from their dorm parents. I am so thankful that Steve had the vision he had and that Kenya Relief has become what it is today. I can't help think of the children that are still out there in similar or worse conditions. A child could be down that dirt path now, all alone, starving and thirsting to death and no one would ever know. That breaks my heart.
I don't want to leave on such a sad not but my heart is heavy with the need of the people here. I think about how much we Americans take for granted, how spoiled we are. There are so many in this world that have nothing. I live a blessed life and I am thankful for the reminder I have received today.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
We have arrived!
After 10 hours of driving, we finally arrived at the Brittany House in Migori, Kenya. The beautiful countryside with crops of sugarcane, coffee, tea and corn is contrasted by the devastating poverty that exists. We were greeted by a heartwarming performance by the KenyaRelief orphans. My belly and my heart are full and I just took a hot shower - what more could a girl ask for. I am blessed and life is so good!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Jambo!
Jambo! (Swahili for Good morning)
After spending several hours in Nairobi airport, we finally arrived at our home for the evening, Gracia Gardens, around 11pm. I slept great and feel like a new woman today!
Today, we will travel 565 km west of Nairobi to Migori. We have a great team of 13 people from all over the U.S. It is overcast and cool here this morning, something I am thankful for. I will post pics of today's journey later.
I can't believe I'm in Africa!!!!!
After spending several hours in Nairobi airport, we finally arrived at our home for the evening, Gracia Gardens, around 11pm. I slept great and feel like a new woman today!
Today, we will travel 565 km west of Nairobi to Migori. We have a great team of 13 people from all over the U.S. It is overcast and cool here this morning, something I am thankful for. I will post pics of today's journey later.
I can't believe I'm in Africa!!!!!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Journey
My journey to Kenya has begun! I am so very excited and full of anticipation as I travel to the other side of our globe. As I prepared for this 'medical mission' trip, I started thinking about what my 'mission' really is.... What do I expect to accomplish on this journey. Here I sit in the midst of my travel to Migori and I am still unsure....this is what I know for sure: there is really nothing that can prepare me for what lies ahead; I am certain there will be more work than I can do, more people than I can help, and that my heart will break. So, my plan is to give up all control. To let go and let God. To focus on what I can do rather than the enormity of what can't be done. I don't expect it to be easy, but then nothing good ever is.... =)
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