Wow!

It’s May 2 and I have less than 3 months left!

The past couple of weeks have been busy orienting a new Community Health Nurse and getting ready for two new Group Coordinators to start tomorrow! Somehow I got the task of developing the orientations. I guess it has a lot to do with knowing what I missed when I started and wanting to make the transition easier for everyone else. I just hope I’m up to the task…

So unfortunately I never relocated my camera. L But at least VHI has been kind enough to let me use the office camera and I’ve included some pictures here.

As you can see (and imagine) support for Obama is strong here. I even found this small restaurant aka hotel far off the beaten path. I wonder how many Americans know Obama is their 44^th President? Impressive… Also the baby I’m holding was named Michelle by her big brother in honor of our 1^st Lady. J

All this support for Americans aside I have to say I am not so happy about what some American politicians are doing here in Kenya today. Currently Kenyans are registering to vote on a new draft of their Constitution. As always in politics there are people who are against change and with so many controversial aspects, people begin to nit-pick rather than look at the document as a whole. What gets me is when certain groups use their influence to sway the populace when their role should be anything but political. All in all I don’t have the right to judge as I am not a Kenyan and morally I should not try to influence anyone by giving my opinion. However, it would appear that some political groups from the US are pouring money into the debate and meddling in affairs where they have no business. Perhaps I am naïve and I know this is how politics have been done for time in memoriam. Nevertheless, it still grates my nerves.

So on a lighter note…

For the Community Health Nurse’s first week we did our Home Health Visits in pretty mountainous terrain. It was lovely as you can see from my pictures. I also fell in love. His name is Lenny Muchui! He’s an 8-year-old orphan whose grandmother was our guide for the day. Muchui accompanied his grandmother and sat in the front seat of the Land Rover next to me. Needless to say he got lots of sweets that day from yours truly.J Muchui sang his ABCs and was engaged with us all day when most other 8 year olds would have been bored out of their minds. He also provided an excellent segue for our nurse and what her role with our organization will be. Apparently Muchui has some hearing problems. Fortunately it is caused by impacted earwax and can be relieved by a very simple and inexpensive procedure. However, if Muchui doesn’t have this taken care of soon, he could sustain permanent damage.

Like so many hospitals and doctor’s offices, the hospital here in Chogoria deals with a lot of patients and has a few doctors and nurses to deal with their needs. This causes for problems like Muchui’s impacted earwax to go untreated. Fortunately Muchui has a scheduled visit coming up and our nurse will connect with he and his grandmother to advocate and guide them to get the treatment he needs. I hope to see him again soon too!