Jambo Mambo Rafikis

Today is my last Monday and the rest of this week will be a bunch of lasts as well. Sad face. Time hasn't really flown by but it does seem like it wasn't enough time. That is for sure.

Today was full of rain and, because of this, the clinic was really slow. I decided to take this rare opportunity to walk across to the boys rehabilitation school where one of the other volunteers, Dennis, is placed. He was kind enough to walk me around and show me the school.

There are hardly any school supplies for these kids and the four teachers that teach the 87 boys are only Kenyan volunteers who haven't been able to find real teaching jobs. It was very evident that these volunteer teachers are doing the bare minimum due to the lack of pay. The boys were in their respective classes, grouped according to age, but the teachers, all of them, were just sitting in the staff room talking amongst themselves.

Dennis explained to me that this is how it normally is and he doesn't try to get involved in what they do because it would cause animosity between him and the staff. I walked around to the various classrooms and observed what some of the boys were doing. Some were actually studying their math, geography, agricultural studies, English and Swahili; however, the majority of the boys were just fooling around and playing games.

Near the end of my little walk about, Dennis introduced me to the principal of the school. Spontaneously, I decided to offer my services and asked if I could teach the boys about their health. It was very impromptu and now I am kind of kicking myself for 'volunteering' to teach. I will be fine. In fact, a student colleague of mine, Lise, and I once organized an elementary boys and girls group, at a local school, for our community health placement back in university. So I am going to follow our teaching format from that and teach the boys about: hand hygiene, safe sex and STDs, smoking, bacterial infections and proper antibiotic usage, as well as malaria and diarrhea, as those are two very common illnesses the boys come into the clinic with. This should be interesting.

Also, tomorrow I am doing my health talk on malaria at the clinic. I am making a poster for easy visuals and one of the other nurses will help translate in Swahili what is not understood in English. I will be working on that tonight.

I have to warn you of a picture I posted below. When I was approaching the lane to my clinic this morning, that branches off the main street, I came across a dying dog. I guess a car, or matatu, hit the dog - they drive ridiculously fast here and pass blindly all the time - and they must of left it on the side of the road to die. I nearly starting crying and it took everything in me to get close enough to take a picture. I wanted a picture because it quickly became quite metaphorical in a sense. It made me think of the dogma - it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. This country is a prime example of how this philosophy plays out and the evidence is quite fitting.

Many Kenyans are fighting for life. Fighting for food to put in their mouths and, seemingly, just scraping by at it. Hardly anyone is getting anything for free and only a very limited few are lucky to be born into some form of 'wealth' or 'privilege' - that is if you are lucky enough to not be born an orphan. Here, privilege and wealth mean a roof over your head, parents that are employed at anything, meals at meal times and an education - the bare necessities. Man, it is really hard to grasp this world. To think that a plane ride away you can live a life filled with luxuries and, to many, this leaves them feeling unsatisfied and hungry for more.

I wish everyone could come here, to Kenya, to the suburbs of Nairobi and take a look at what life is like. Then I would ask them to close their eyes and envision yourself being born into such a life. No choice. No alternative. No luck. Just having to make do with what you were given. Then, please, try to go back and complain about anything. I dare you to.

As for the dog today, his chance at life is over. So always look at what you have before wishing for something more. And think, at least I wasn't left to die on the side of the road.

Jake



The cows were grazing all over the clinic field today. It was weird to look out the windows while 'working' and see 25 cows chomping on grass.



Minutes after the next picture, I ran into these boys on their way home from school.
Boys: "Pic-cha mista....pic-cha mista"... too funny. They love getting their pic-cha taken.



This is what was awaiting me this morning at 0900am. The dog was dying at the beginning of the lane, leading into the clinic. It is a really graphic picture but I decided to post it because these are some of the vivid images you see on a daily basis here in Kenya. I cried for this dog. And as if once wasn't enough the dog was still there at 200pm when I left the clinic. Sad face.