Internet is too slow.
apparently I am far enough into South London to have re-entered the developing world.

Will post more pictures from home. As for the safari pictures.... go watch the discovery channel.

Am going to go be a tourist now....

love to all
Bex

Heh, heh... silly me

Hey all,

Sorry for the confusion. In the scramble to get out of town, and the chaos of all the travels, I had apparently forgotten that many of you had no idea where I was going (or that I was going anywhere at all)....

for those who are very confused (sorry for those seattle friends that are in the know)...

I went to Kenya with a group of Bastyr students to essentially do medical relief work in a series of villages.

the blog address is:

http://beckyinkenya.blogspot.com/

and my web address with more about the trip (from the pre-planning end) is:

http://www.doctorbecky.net

I stopped by London (that's England, not KY Mr. Ellis!) on the way home for a week of bonifide holiday....

Cheers!

Greetings from London!

Hello all,

Just wanted to let you all know that after many trials and tribulations, I have finally found a functional internet port for my laptop and the blog actually has content of interest including the first several rounds of pictures.....

Having a very good trip, very enriching (if not entirely comfortable all the time), and I feel like I have mostly achieved the goals we set out to meet.

Am really enjoying London!

Hope you all enjoy the blog. There should be more pictures tomorrow!

Much love!

Becky

Kenya day 17 - 21 (Sept 19-23)

Massai Land and Safari

So the trip to Massai land was the same as the others. 8 hours of jarring, deafening, stomach churning terrible roads.

Emanuel met us a little past the halfway point, and we had lunch with him at a nice hotel, then headed back to his house (a regular wooden farmhouse, not traditional Massai at all).

The next day was our Safari day. There were apparently no trucks to be had, so we went animal hunting at the Massai Mara in Emmanuel's Toyota Tercel (sigh). It ended up being very cool anyway. Here are some of the things we saw:

Kenya days 7-16 (Sept 9-18) Muhuru Bay and Mamma Maria Clininc


Because of the number of bags we were carrying, we decided to charter a matatu directly from common ground to Muhuru Bay. Again it was a painfully jarring, dusty, deisel fume breathing 8 hours on the tortuously bad Kenyan roads. But we arrived safely and with all our luggage thanks to that charter. On the way we got to stop in Kisumu for lunch and internet. It is actually a lovely city with a beautiful view of Lake Victoria. After lunch we moved on to Migori to meet our next coordinator Charity. Charity came with us the rest of the way to Muhuru Bay and helped us get settled.



Muhuru Bay and the town of Custom is in the far southwest corner of Kenya on the border with Tanzania and on a peninsula that sticks out into Lake Victoria.

Our time in Muhuru Bay was very different than our time in Common Ground. Our accomodations at the compound were not as comfortable, and as we were not staying with the coordinator, we did not connect as well with our hosts. There were definitely some cultural and language challenges. Muhuru is very hot and dry. The compound we slept at was a 4-5 mile walk down a hot, dusty and busy road to the clinic. We were pretty tired (both physically and emotionally) as well as completely filthy by the time we got to the clinic each morning. My feet have never been so dirty!









To compound the discomfort, we only got to bathe every few days (the water had to be carried from the lake (10 minute walk each way) and there were so many of us we thought it was not really reasonable to request that they prepare water for that many baths each day.

Our clinic experience was fantastic though. Unlike the Sr. Frida Clinic which had a lab that they would not use, the Mamma Maria clinic had a really well developed protocol and patient flow that included testing for everyone before diagnosis and treatment were given. I think we all learned a lot and the staff was really open to learning about natural and preventative medicine. They were eager to add our therapies and knowledge to what they all ready knew.



We also got to plant trees at the site of the new hospital.....



There were three other volunteers at this site. Nicole was a 3rd year student from the Canadian naturopathic college. She has been volunteering in developing countries for many years and has done extensive training in homeopathy with the Abbha Light foundation in Nairobi. We learned a lot from her on treating all the tropical diseases homeopathically. Kat is a pre-med student from N. Carolina. I had a great time with her since we were both from the south. Angie is a engineer at Boeing and was working on the memory book project recording family trees and life histories for patients that are very sick and may die. We really enjoyed working and hanging with all three of these folks, and having such a large and diverse group probably really helped us all maintain our sanity and gave us all nice social buffers for when people started to bug each other, there was always someone else to spend time with...



At Muhuru we also did school education outreach programs. One of the schools had an award winning dance team and they performed for us after we fininshed teaching. That was so awesome!


One of the last days in Muhuru I convinced Charity and Brook to sneak over the border to Tanzania so I could say I had been there.


On the 18th we headed out for the Massai land. Due to a crackdown on all of the non-roadworthy cars being used for public transport, we nearly got stuck in Muhuru. There were almost no cars to be had and we again ended up chartering a private car to take us to Kilgoris where we would meet our next host Emmanuel.

Kenya days 3-7 (Sept 5-9) Common Ground Project





Common Ground as it turns out is not a place, but an idea. Joshua's vision is to become a teaching center for sustainability on all levels. He teaches Kenyans to farm organically, to layer crops and how to make more money and grow more food from limited amounts of space. He teaches sustainable business practices, he is working on developing grey water systems and solar cooking and food dehydration to preserve food and increase people's food security. He is also very interested in improving public health. He has built the Chris Halperin Memorial Clinic in honor of my friend and classmate Chris Halperin who loved serving the people of Kenya so much before he died.

When medical volunteers come thru he has us teach at the schools and do various outreach programs with small communities in the area (widows, orphans, family groups, etc) to increase thier knowledge of good health practices and sanitation to prevent the most common infectious diseases. Infectous diseases and malnutrition are huge problems in Kenya, followed closeley by musculoskeletal complaints due to the manual labor that is done (especially by the women). Much of the diseases are perpetuated by poor hygiene and sanitation practices and are thus totally preventable with some small changes of habits (boiling water and hand washing).

Below are some pictues from around the compound:


New Volunteer hut being built



Mr Robinson (Sister Frida's husband and owner of the land where Sr. Frida's hospital is)... Really magical man. We loved him.


Nathan demonstrates the proper use of a pit latirne





Learning to use pit latrines has proved to be quite an adventure, especially with female type anatomy.... Brooke and I feel we are batting about 50% currently.... let's just say that we are very glad of the wet grass to walk thru when we are done with our business.....



Each morning during breakfast this chicken walked into Joshua's house where we were eating, looked at everyone, then pushed open the door to Teresa and Nate's room (which was right next to the room we were eating in), closed the door behind it, and proceeded to lay an egg on their bed.....

We did three main projects while at Common Ground:
1) Teaching basic health educaton to the school children at Pathfinder Academy (Foundations of health are: good food, good air, good water, good sleep, good community, good work, exercise) as well as a talk on infectous diseases.
2) We also volunteered at the Sister Frida hospital for one day and then the next day the Sister Frida clinic staff came to Path Finder and held a mobile clinic at the unfininshed Chris Halperin Memorial Clinic with us.
3) Health education outreach to the Imbwaka family and surrounding community

Walking to the next province to visit the Imbwaka family. Posing with school children along the way... (mzungu, mzungu.....)



We spent one day with the Imbwaka family. They are a family that has become a hub for a group of families. Joshua has connected with them and periodically works with them doing various outreach and educational things with them so that they can improve their overall quality of life and sustainability. Our job was to go and teach them about health and answer their questions about health. We were only told about this trip the night before and were told that we were supposed to plan on talking for 4-6 hours.... not really possible to prepare that much lecture material, so I started with questions and answers. That ended up taking nearly the whole time, and we just summarized our general health talk and infectious disease talk for them at the end of our time together. They had questions about all sorts of stuff. Everything from diabetes to diet, and head rushes to memory loss. Several of the women pulled me aside to ask about "women's" problems that they were not comfortable talking about in front of the men. At the end of the day they brought us some food to share with them, and then Brooke and Teresa taught them some yoga stretches. That will make a very funny video.... At the end of the day I am proud to say that we were paid / thanked with a chicken.... somehow I feel that I have now truly arrived as a physician now that I have exchanged my services for a chicken....

The Imbwaka Family Homestead

Kenya day 2: Bus to Kitale and Common Ground

OK, here are some pictures of the scenery in Kenya between Nairobi and Kitale (on the western border with Uganda). First was the Great Rift Valley, currently suspected to be the beginnings of human life. This is where the famous anthropologists (the Leaky's - not sure of that spelling) found the oldest existing human remains. As we were leaving the area where we could see into the rift valley, there was a really cool old volcano. Notice that it is missing nearly 1/4 of it's top. That must have been some serious explosion....




Periodically we would come across small, roadside towns. They really reminded me of the old west where they just set up a single row of buildings, bars and shops along the road....



After 8 extremely bumpy and jarring hours of breathing deisel and dust (including several hours of off roading it in the bus because the road was washed out), we finally arrived in Kitale. We were met there by Joshua, the coordinator of the Common Ground project and the founder of the Pathfinder Academy (and also the treasurer for all of the 7th day Adventists churches in that reigon of Kenya, and a lot of other things as well.... we think he has a few clones).... After a quick meal in Kitale, we were loaded into a matatu (minivan that is used as a small public transit bus) and driven thru the small town of Kiminini to the Pathfinder Academy where Joshua lives and where we were staying. This is also the site of Common Ground (which is a program to encourage and teach sustainable buisiness and agriculture practices to anyone in Kenya that will listen), and the Chris Halperin Memorial Clinic.

Kiminini:

Pictures of Kenya!

Hullo. London is still fabulous. I am thinking of moving here, with global warming I think the climate will turn out just about right... The Billy Elliot show was really wonderful last night. We laughed, we cried, we wanted to get up and dance....

Natalie is trying to help me improve my diction so I am not such a conspicuous American.... "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain, the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain...."

After hitting 3 more internet cafes and the public library with no luck finding a functional wireless network, I have FINALLY found an internet cafe that can let me on.... Apparently I am just far enough into South London to be off the edge of the earth as far as technology goes...

Anyhow. I thought I'd start posting some pictures for you....

So, let's see where were we.....

I believe we had made it as far as Wendy's house in Nairobbery....

the next morning she took us to the bus station and put us all on busses to different volunteer sites in different parts of western Kenya.

Here are some pictures of Nairobbery, I mean Nairobi:

Tuesday Sept 26

London

It is a fabulous, beautiful, sunny warm day. I had a 2 hour bath today, plus a scrub and a shower. I am not nearly as tan as I had appeared now that all the dirt and dead skin is gone... but hey, I am CLEAN! I think I am going to get a manicure and pedicure today as well. I also stumbled upon an osteopath here in the neighborhood and made an appointment for some physical medicine (massage and adjustment).... yippie. We saw Nat's beau Jeoff off today, he is driving down to Morocco, Nat is following on Monday, flying out a few hours earlier than me. I can't tell you how tempting it is to run off to Morocco with them.... how cool.

Nat and I are going to the theater tonight. We have tickets to see the musical "Billy Elliot". I have not yet ventured into central London, so it will be good to get into the city proper. Nat's flat is in south London. The neighborhood is really lovely. I past the Beatrix Potter primary school on my run this morning... hysterical.

Believe it or not, I am still having trouble with internet access. The two internet cafes in this neighborhood are both having trouble with thier wireless networks, which means that I can not use my own computer, which means that I still can not post pictures.... sigh...

I'll try again tomorrow.

Love to you all!

Becky

Kenya trip Day 0-1

Arrived in Amsterdam the morning of Sept 3. The Amsterdam airport is much like an ultramodern mall, complete with massages, museums, cafe's and pubs, food courts, internet spots, sleeping and showering facilities, and lord knows what else. It would be a good place to have to spend a lot of time...

We had a chance to wander around and sample a couple of Dutch specialties at a cafe before catching the next 8 hr flight to Nairobi.

Both flights were long and uneventful. We were well fed and kept well hydrated. Interestingly they had no problem with us carrying water bottles on in Amsterdam.

We (and miraculously all our luggage) arrived in Nariobi. No problems with customs or meeting up with our coordinator, Wendy.

Went to Wendy's to have dinner and some sleep, here's a picture from her house:

Greetings from London! Backtracking to Beginning of Trip:

This is not how I had hoped to post, but we were simply too far off the beaten track in Kenya to have access to internet...

So... let's start at the beginning.
Flash back to 2 Sept...

Met Brooke, Teresa and Nathan at the airport. Since none of us had slept in nearly 48 hours, and since we had 16 hours of flights, plus layovers and an 8 hour bus ride a head of us, and since my stove caught fire just as we should have been leaving for the airport... We decided that bloody mary's for breakfast were in order.

Kenya Update 2

Hi,
Today is September 18 (or so I'm told). We have left the sweltering heat and dubious living conditions of Muhuru Bay and are now on our way to the Massai Mara. So far our experience in Kenya has been varied, and certainly culturally enriching. Travel and communications are really, really difficult. In contrast to the lush greenery of the Kitale / Common Ground area, Muhuru Bay (the far southwestern corner of Kenya at the border with Tanzania) is very hot and dry. We had a 4 mile walk to and from the clinic each day down a busy (read dangerous) dusty road. Life has been generally much harder the past 8 days. But we have learned a lot and made some really good new friends both in the clinic staff and with the other volunteers that were working and staying with us. We are also enjoying the grand luxury of brand new pit latrines....it's probably hard to imagnine why that would be exciting, but trust me, we feel like kings and queens! (the last latrine had bats living in it that flew out when you were trying to go....) Our skill in using pit latrines has also improved greatly, life is good.

At Muhuru Bay we have worked at the Mama Maria clinic. They have been really open to learning about preventive medicine and have been happy to work with us prescribing probiotics, homeopathics, herbs and acupuncture. The patients are enjoying it as well. We have all learned to identify malaria both by its clinical symptoms and under the microscope, and have successfully treated it with both homeopathics and conventional drugs. I have had the pleasure of introducing many people to the wonders of acupuncure for pain relief and created quite a spectacle by giving adjustments in the waiting room. I got to cross the border into Tanzania yesterday, which was a fun adventure.

The parts of Kenya we have been to so far are much more westernized than we had imagined. We have been sorry to see that people do not work as communities as much, very few people still know the traditional songs or dances. They actually listen to pop music and Carribean / Reggae. Nearly everyone is very christian (7th day adventist) or they are muslim. I am not sure that these religions have done the communities any favors....

We are very excited to see the Massai today. They are supposed to be one of the last tribes left in Kenya to have held onto their traditional way of life. They have been marginalized much as the native north americans and have been put on a reserve with very poor land that does not support thier traditional nomadic pastural way of life. So they are being forced to change as well.....

We will not have internet access again until we leave the Massai on Saturday.

I think my phone will work at the Massai.

to call me from the states dial:

011-254-733-243-488

I will post pictures and a much more detailed diary once I get to london (Sept 24th) and have more consistent access to electricity and internet....

Until then, blessings!
I miss you all!

Saturday September 9 (I think)

Kenya post #1

Jambo!

Kenya is wonderful. We are having a great time. The people, the landscape and the weather are all kind and beautiful. Access to communication technology, however, is not going to be possible. It was quite an ordeal to get access today. So, I will not post until I get to London. And will see you all in the US in October!

Habari!

Becky

Testing, Testing

Ok, This is a test entry to see if this thing really works...
It is late tuesday night, Sept 29th, 3 days to departure!
Lots still to do.
Wish I had taken pictures of the piles of supplements, and medical supplies that had to be sorted through this past weekend. Would have made a good start to the entries...