Malaria is really no fun!

Well, it's been 10 days since my last post and many of you may be wondering where I have been. As you can see by the title of this blog, I've been a bit under the weather. Even when I posted my last entry things were not good.

I must have been bit by the toughest little mosquito shortly after arriving in Kenya. Around the middle of October I was getting really tired and going to bed by 8 or 8:30PM. Now, I do go to be early, but even for me that is early. Then, while I was doing my class down in Kisumu/Yala area I got so week on the one day that even standing up for a minute or so left me so dizzy and ready to pass out. Off we went to St. Mary's hospital. It's a good private hospital. They put me on Corteum AL which is a 3 day treatment for malaria. I stayed in bed for several days and then was feeling good. It was about that time that I was able to think back and realize that I had been sick for quite a while.

So, on I went to teach the wonderful class that I've already blogged about. I had then had 3 days to rest and relax. But, on the day another class was to start I was feeling really bad and had Reuben drive us. I didn't get out of the car and returned to the farm with him. Three hours of sleep didn't do the trick. I kept jerking myself awake.

Once I woke up, I went out of the door long enough to ask Stallone to go and get Dr. Mohamed. He's finsihed 4 years of medical school. I guess that by the time he got there, I was going into my first seizure. That was followed by a second and then a wonderful third. They helped me to the restroom after a recovered a bit. Guess what? I don't remember coming out and I guess Stallone picked me up and got me back to the hut before I went into the 4th one. Off they took me to St. Mary's. They couldn't do much, other that say that I needed to be watched and for Mohamed to get some Valium to inject again.

They took care of me and Stallone slept in the hut on a mattress on the floor. The family is wonderful and were so concerned. Mohamed came each morning and evening over the weekend to do some muscle therapy and injections. Reuben called Hank, one of the US directors for ICODEI, who is part of the AMPATH program that does work here in Kenya. Monday morning qwe headed off to Eldoret and the Moi Teaching and Research Hospital. My CT Scan is fine. It cost me a whopping 4,000Ksh or about $60.

They are slowly weaning me back off the Valium injections and that will be over tomorrow. I'm doing my normal recovering and am stiff but fine. I'll be taking it quite easy for the next several weeks. I'll be able to to some manual updates each day and then get plenty of naps in between.

Many of you know that malaria was my one big dread, but what can I say... it happened. My volunteer work here is so rewarding and I wouldn't have it any other way. I guess that I qualify as a true Kenyan now that I've had malaria. I will keep people posted on how I'm doing, but don't worry. I've had good care and despite the experience will be fine. I would say some more thoughts, but should keep those to myself so as not to worry people. I'm fine, a bit tired, but in the wonderful care of a family that loves and cares for me.

A Busy Week Full of a Variety of Experiences

What a full week this has been. Two of my favorite volunteers left on schedule. Another one flaked out and left unexpectedly and is less than ideal circumstances. A new class of very intelligent young adults is winding down to an end. And, the craziest part has been the primary elections. Trust me when I say that Kenyans are definitely passionate about their elections. Some passion seems to be a bit, well... a bit different is about all i can say without going into the detail. I'm a little short on time so I may just get through some of the details and tantalize you with the rest to come tomorrow.

Kathy and Stephanie headed home on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Both were wonderful to spend time with and I will surely miss them. The day of Kathy's departure also brought about the departure of a young Case Western student that definitely didn't act in the most mature way. If I had done what he did, my mom and or dad, would have had a cow. He was scheduled to leave in a couple of weeks, but found out that if he left on Tuesday he could get home for Thanksgiving. He was trying to decide Monday night and I guess he made the final decision Tuesday morning. When I got the car keys from Reuben and said I was taking Kathy and Josh to Easy Coach, I realized that he had not spoken to Reuben or Mama Betty at all. I then went about loading the car with the stuff for my class while Josh and Kathy said goodbye to the other volunteers. By the time we left I had assumed that Josh had gone and said his goodbyes to the family. How wrong I was to assume that one.

Josh never said goodbye to the family. To top it off, he apparently still owed some money for room and board. Let's just say that I was raised to say thanks for what others did for me. If I had been the guest of a family (even a paying guest) for 2 1/2 months I would have at least said thanks. I'm not sure how much of it is lack of maturity, lack of a proper upbringing or what. Although Reuben sent an email to Josh's college advisor expressing that he felt it was rude and inconsiderate, I think his feelings were hurt more than anything else.

The bigger slap in the face is that he posted an entry on Facebook. For those of you that are above the age of 25 or so, Facebook is a sight where young people can post photos, blogs, etc. It was a bit of a ramble but discussed how he felt a bit odd looking back and has realized that he didn't say a proper goodbye to some of the other volunteers. He named 3 volunteers in particular. However, no where does he mention anything about the slap in the face he gave to the family. Enough of that as those of you who know me can probably see my blood pressure starting to build.

I've had a new class of post high school students this week. Additionally, one of the new volunteer that arrived is working on the program with me. She is a great 36 (read mature) women from Canada. The class is phenomenol and keeps us on or toes. This is by far the smartest class I've had. They are extremely proficient in English and ask both tough scientific and philosophical questions. I have no worries that they will all pass the exam with quite high scores.

I'm going to have to cut this short as I need to get back to the farm. I promise to post about some of the questions and the elections. Elections are a little crazed. People get fairly wound up and demonstrative. Politicians do a fair amount of campaigning and vote buying (literally). We were into the interior and I think some of the vote buying allows for some alcohol buying. Lots of fairly senior, senio citizens were straggling home from the town. An old woman danced for me and shimmied up against me. Let's just say it's a bit strange to have an old woman practically rubbing her breasts all up and down you. Especially when the breasts that are rubbing you are, never mind, I think you can put the picture in your mind. Another old man decide he wanted to try to rub the white off of me. I'm sure he'd seen an mzungu before, but when your that drunk it all looks new.

Week With The Luo's

Some of you have probably been wondering what happened to me, but I am back in Kabula after spending the bulk of the week south of here doing an EMPOWER class. Although we were only about an hour and fifteen minutes away, we stayed there because it was the first time venturing into that district and spending time with the family was important. We were in the Marenyo (Mah-RAIN-yo) area of the Nyanza District. This district borders Lake Victoria and is populated by the Luo's. If anyone is looking on Google Earth, then we were about 42 km west of Kisumu. The Luo's have been the hardest hit in Kenya in terms of HIV/AIDS. Depending on the area, the prevalence rate is anywhere from 15% to 40%. Overall in Kenya, 1 in 5 Luos are infected.

We stayed with the family of Canon Tobias. A Canon in the Evangelical Episcapol (Reuben's demonation) is not necessarily an ordained Reverend but serves as an advisor to the church. He is actually in an elevated position above even the Bishop. The homestead was quite traditional with the main house and then smaller out buildings that housed either grown sons, the elderly mother or other extended family members. The Canon has lost 2 brothers, a sister-in-law and a nephew to HIV. Addtionally, he has the widowed sister-in-law and another nephew living with HIV.

HIV in the Luo community is higher for a number of cultural reasons that are a bit different from the Luhya cultre where I am now. First, the Luo's are the only Kenyan tribe that do not get circumcised. That practice is VERY SLOWLY changing as people learn that circumcision can reduce transmission by up to 60%. Also, the practice of wife inheritance is much stronger. If a male sibling dies the children and any subsequent children to the widow are still considered the children of the deceased father. By "inheriting" the widow, the family unit all stays together and is cared for by the brother of the deceased. As you can see, this creates a problem when HIV is in the equation. I guess, finally, the other main difference is the role that Christianity and tribal culture are intertwined. People can fluctuate between the two beliefs more so than maybe other tribes.

The class started out with 21 participants. By the end though, we only had 8 people that sat for the exam and 7 of which passed. Language was, by far, the biggest problem. When the participants were recruited, the Canon should have made sure that they all spoke at least Kiswahili. Normally, everyone must be ablle to read and write in either English or Kiswahili so that they can take the exam. Many of the individuals were only able to understand Luo. That resulted in us having to, at times, translate from English to Kiswahili to Luo. Also, it ruled out the ability to take notes when many of them were illiterate. This was the first class that had so many people that both new their sttus and were open about it. In fact, 7 of the 8 that sat for the exam were living with HIV. Some of the older women that did not take the exam but attended the course were women caring for grandchildren.

I guess the final thing to note was the amount of times we prayed. ALthough the organization is not faith based, we typically begin and end classes with prayer because the members are usually recruited from church groups. But, in staying with the Canon, prayer developed a whole new meaning. Reuben had to come down a couple of days so we would pray because he arrived safely. Then, we prayed when he left to go back home so that he would make it safely. We prayed before we ate and after the meal. We prayed when I left the room to take a nap so that I would sleep well. It is not a bad thing, but it just seemd as if we were doing it every time I blinked.

An Emotional Wreck

I am an emotional wreck today. I think I wrote about Stephanie, one of the volunteers, that is helping to get two young boys moved into an orphanage and enrolled at Epico-Johns which is the grade school run by Mama Betty. They were orphaned about two years ago and their uncle has been caring for them. He was one of the people enrolled in my first EMPOWER class. The parents died within about a year of each other. The boys are 10 and 6. The youngest was burned on various parts of his body, including his face. The burns, although a bit disfiguring, aren’t quite as bad as I anticipated.

I offered to take Stephanie and the social worker to pick the boys up. The social worker had to do a final interview to see that the children were truly orphaned and that the extended family was unable to support them. It was a no brainer. The father had even mentioned that he tries to make sure they eat at least once a day. Their home was very modest and housed an extended family of 8 including the boys.

Humphreys, the uncle, has tried to care for the boys but he just can’t afford it. Although he was happy for the opportunity, I could tell that it was a bittersweet experience for him. His eyes seemed a bit watery at times but he maintained his composure. Stephanie had some donated clothes that were good for Moses and Joseph. In addition, she had new t-shirts for Humphreys’ biological children.

After about an hour interview with the social worker it was time to leave. Humphreys polished a pair of black shoes and put on a suit that was a bit too big and a bit tattered if you looked closely. In Kenya , both men and women tend to have at least one formal outfit that they can wear for church or special occasions. I’m sure that this was the one outfit that served that function.

The drive back to the main road was a bit quiet. I knew how I was feeling, but I wondered what was going through the heads of each of 6 other people in the car with me. I had already shed some tears as we walked to the car. It was the first time that Moses, the 6 year old, had ever been in a car. The dirt road back to the main road was 12 miles long. They definitely live in the interior.

The trip from the main road back to the orphanage is about another 18-20 miles. The orphanage is very clean and bright. Each bedroom has 4 beds. We made the children’s beds and they both had smiles on their faces. I didn’t see any beds when we were at their home so my guess is that they just slept on mats. Stephanie took them outside to the water pump where they brushed their teeth with a toothbrush for the first time. The uncle will be able to visit on the first weekend of each month so there is still a guardian right maintained.

As we left the uncle gave the boys a little talk. The case worker was explaining that he was telling the boys to be strong and study hard. He explained that it was a wonderful opportunity and that they were in good hands while he would be away. I had to get in the car as I was having the tears roll. Fortunately, I didn’t break down into loud sobbing.

We took the uncle by the school so he could see it and then we took him into Bungoma so that we could have lunch together before he caught a matatu home. We went to Coffee Garden which is one of the popular restaurants that are safe for the stomachs of mzungus (Caucasians). It’s not extravagant. For instance, I get beef and chips (beef and fries) for 120 shillings or about $1.80. He said that he’s never been in a restaurant like it before. Mama Betty was in town and she joined us. It was good because she was able to tell him more about the school and how she would be able to look after the children as well.

I am still a bundle of emotions as I think back to both today and my time here in Kenya . We, as Americans, are privileged beyond our wildest dreams. That is not to say that we do not have poverty because we certainly do. However, I don’t think it is ever to the degree it is here. I think I’m going to just end here for now. I’m on the verge of breaking down again and don’t feel like doing it in a room full of people typing on computers. Just make sure that each of you reading this counts your blessings for the day and not your woes. Do something good for someone less deserving as you reap great reap untold rewards. And finally, tell those near you how much they matter because they may not be there for you tomorrow or the day after or a year or ten years from now.