Time Flies When You’re Having Fun...Kenya Week 16: January 17-23

Rabare Primary School Jigger Removal Day.

It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun.

And when you’re staying busy.

And when you’re removing Jiggers.

It’s really just amazing that time can fly in Kenya...I guess there’s a first for everything.

After firmly establishing myself as the local “Jiggers Expert”, I spent all week organizing to remove jiggers, removing jiggers, or writing reports about removing jiggers. I’ve learned some great lessons. For starters, I’ve learned that for every hour you spend “in the field”, you have to spend 2 hours researching, coordinating, and fundraising beforehand, then 2 hours writing reports and following up. For the first time in four months, the week passed quickly and I finally felt like I was really gettin’ in the groove of things here in Kenya.

Thankfully, I love what I’m doing. Well...blood curdling screams from small children having live insects extracted from their toes isn’t so fun. But knowing that in ten minutes their feet will be jigger free and they’ll have long forgotten the pain makes it all worth it.

On Thursday teams from St. Camillus and the District Public Health Office met at Rabare Primary School to remove jiggers from 50+ students. We’re becoming much more organized and efficient and by 2 pm, all hands and feet in Rabare Primary were jigger free.

The teachers and community were incredibly grateful for the assistance and receptive to the health education and instructions we gave concerning jiggers prevention. Unfortunately six of the nine classrooms have a dirt floor, which explains why so many students have jiggers. I talked to the Head Teacher and we’re going to work to see if we can find a way to cement the floors.

While we waited to go back to St. Camillus, the kids invited us to jump rope and play soccer with them! I guess their feet weren’t too sore after being de-jiggered!!

Now I’m back in the office writing reports and getting ready for our next step. And I can’t believe it’s already time for lunch.

Goodbye, Hello, See You Soon... Kenya Week 15: January 10- 16, 2010

After having their jiggers removed at Otati Removal Day II, everyone lined up for a pair of brand new tennis shoes! This kills the proverbial two birds with one stone: protect their feet from infection after removing the fleas AND prevent new fleas from entering!

This week, besides spending four days in a row patiently removing jiggers from children and adults around Karungu, was filled with hellos and goodbyes to some of the most amazing women I’ve ever met. I said a sad goodbye to my beloved fellow American volunteers. Lauren and Christy faithfully finished their year and waved goodbye to St. Camillus, to Karungu, and to all the lives they’ve saved and people they’ve touched. I’m deeply saddened to see them go. In the three quick months we shared in Kenya, they were my neighbor, teacher, role model, trainer, cook, psychotherapist, and most importantly, dear friend.

Lauren and Christy: so close to being the exact same person we shortened their names to simply LandC. The tall, skinny, always running, non-coffee drinking, adventure loving, poverty fighting, X-ray taking/baby saving Americans. The happiest cynics you’ll ever meet. The first Americans to live in the St. Camillus Staff Compound. The first Americans to embrace, perfect, and teach me to cook Kenyan cuisine.

I’ll miss you dearly and I’ll do my best to keep your Kenyan legacy alive. When the children yell “Ciao!” while I’m out on my morning run, I’ll remind them we’re Americans and not Italians by consistently responding, “Obama!!” I’ll cook ugali and green grams and chapatti and sukuma wiki. I’ll always show up a few minutes late, but still way earlier than the Kenyans. I’ll play Spoons, drink the occasional Tusker, and dance like a mzungu every chance I get!! Thanks for being my trailblazers, my big sisters, and my heroes!
Lauren and Christy bequeathing their beloved propane stove to Amanda and I the night before they left Karungu.

Speaking of heroes, after saying goodbye to Lauren and Christy, I got to say hello to one of my hometown heroes, Brooks Zitzman! Despite being my boss for two years when I was a Resident Assistant at Tulane University, Brooks has become one of my biggest role models and dearest friends. She graduated from Tulane with her Masters of Social Work in December (p.s. that’s her second Masters degree...she’s a genius...and maybe an overachiever!). But instead of getting a job, she decided to spend 2 weeks travelling in Africa with her friend Michelle, a former Peace Corp Volunteer. Brooks and Michelle are staying near Kampala, Uganda, only a few hours from the Kenyan border. So we arranged to hang out in Kisumu, Kenya for the weekend!

Angela, the young Italian working at the hospital, and I travelled to Kisumu by “Public Means”. i.e. crammed into an over packed “mini-bus” trundling along the so-called Kenyan “roads”. We made it alive and spent a lovely weekend with Brooks visiting the Kakamega Forest (the only forest in Kenya last remaining section of the ancient jungle stretching from the Congo all the way to Kenya) and enjoying the pleasant but sparse town of Kisumu.
Brooks and Me with Angela, Coath, and the two Peace Corp volunteers we met on the way. We had a lovely afternoon exploring the beautiful Kakamega Forest

It was such a treat to visit with Brooks. We stayed up late discussing Africa, poverty, politics, faith, education, love, etc. We share similar world views and she helped me think about many of the questions and struggles I’ve had in a new light. Brooks is one of the most incredible women I’ve been blessed to know and love. If only Brooks and Lauren and Christy could have met. Maybe we’ll all have to rendezvous in New Orleans for Mardi Gras 2011!

What I learned in 2009...Kenya Week 13: Dec 27, 2009 -Jan 2, 2010

What I learned (and re-learned) in 2009:
o There is no place like home for the holidays.
o Celebrating New Years Eve with countless Italian priests (all over the age of 55), Kenyan Seminarians, and 3 other Americans can actually be a blast. As long as you dance the night away and don’t care who’s laughing.
o Poverty is without a doubt the most complicated and heartbreaking reality in the world.
o HIV is the most devastating tragedy in our world today. It is real and people are dying.
o Cold showers aren’t that bad if it’s warm outside.
o Writing a good letter takes a long time.
o Swimming in Lake Victoria isn’t as appealing as it sounds.
o There is no such thing as a childhood in Africa.
o Everyone should get to know their neighbors. They’ll be there for you when you need them.
o It’s the small things that count.
o Coffee with warm milk is the best start to the day.
o I talk too fast and I mumble.
o I love (and miss) great live music.
o Hard work is much more rewarding than figuring out the easy way out.
o Sometimes good things come to those who wait. But usually good things only come to those who are brave enough to go out there and work for it.
o There is something incredibly therapeutic about watching a sunset over a beautiful body of water. I think it is the closest we can come to experiencing infinity.
o Slow down.
o Language barriers can be one of the most frustrating obstacles. Curse you Tower of Babel.
o Good books are underrated.
o There is nothing more beautiful or priceless than a child.
o I love knowing I made someone smile. Especially if they are sick or in pain.
o Traveling is a priceless luxury.
o My education is the greatest gift I’ve ever received.
o The solution to America’s obesity problem is simple. Come spend a few months living like an African. Between dodging cars and donkeys while walking to the market, fetching (and carrying) your own water, washing your laundry by hand, grinding your own corn meal, and eating the same food every single day, you’ll shed those pounds in no time!
o Being a white person in rural Africa is kind of like being a celebrity: people watch your every move, everyone wants to be your friend, and most people want something from you. Believe me, its overrated.
o I’m a naïve 22 year old mzungu who has had everything she ever needed handed to her on a silver platter and who has no idea what suffering or pain really is.
o I love good conversation.
o I’m a very friendly person.
o I’m going to be a great medical doctor…eventually.
o I love living and working in the developing world.
o It’s not about what you have or where you are or what you are doing. It’s about who you are with.

What I am looking forward to in 2010:
o Removing Jiggers from 60+ people in Otati on Friday.
o Helping kids go to school that otherwise wouldn’t graduate because they can’t pay their school fees
o My sister and Casey getting married in February, Amy and Chase getting married in July
o Having visitors in April/May
o Jamie going to Tulane in August
o Moving back to New Orleans
o Starting Medical School
o Making a snowman
o Living simply and slowly
o Warm showers