It has been a long week and I am glad for the chance to sleep in
Saturday. I went to the mduka (shops) after a late breakfast. A pineapple, large papaya, onions, field
peas, avocado, jam, milk, bread and sugar rounded out my shopping list and just
about filled my day-pack. I looked out
on the Rift Valley, the dark Ngong Hills, the clouds and distant rain showers making
it a very dramatic scene. It was marred
by myriad power lines, however, and I walked to the far side of Kijabe town to
see if I could find the “right spot.” I
came to a road and started down it, toward the distant valley.
Having hiked alone since I was 11, one learns a certain calculus as to
when to go on and when to turn around.
Losing altitude is never good but the road was fair, the surroundings
placid. I passed the local airstrip with
massive concrete posts and barbed wire to prevent people from running onto the
field, I surmised. This conclusion was
somewhat confounded as a mother cow and calf were placidly grazing the runway
as I crested a hill.
I had finally done the last “If I don’t see a road back to Kijabe at
the next turn, I go back,” when I met a man with his wife. I greeted him with an “Habari” and got the
expected “ya Nzuri” when the man spun off a long interrogation in Kiswahili and
I had to admit I did not know enough to follow more than half what he
said. His response was typical Kenyan “How
is it you are a Kenyan now and you don’t speak Kiswahili?” he said with a
laugh. I had to admit I studied hard but
was a poor student and he told me to study harder and I would be speaking well
within the month. We three parted smiling
foolishly. It was a long climb back to the Kijabe town road, about 500 feet,
and I was hot and sweaty despite the cold blustery weather when I arrived back
at Heron house.
Kijabe is a place of comings and goings. People are always just arriving for a tour of
duty or just preparing to leave. This
has its advantages if you play your cards right.
Saturday, I was invited to my second “we-have-to-empty-the-refrigerator-before-we-leave-dinner.” Dr. Adrianna Shirk and her photographer
husband invited me over …and about a dozen others. This, at least in part, is due to the metric
system. Jack had done the shopping and
apparently ordered ‘mince’ (i.e. hamburger) in pounds and was served in
kilograms (1kg=2.2lbs). When he
discovered he had more than twice what he needed, he called for back-up…and we
were glad to come for a feed. Since
early days of my mission trips I have made it a habit to carry toy balloons
with me. Most everywhere I go, the sight
of a colorful balloon dissolves any pediatric reticence. My supply of balloons
rapidly vanished among the gaggle of children and the adults started a pool to
see how long between the loud pops and one more sheepish child would come
asking for a replacement. I always
seemed to guess too long. The record was
30 seconds.
Adrianna is a resident at AUB and will shortly finish her
training. She shared with me tonight
that she and her husband have applied to be full-time missionaries in Kijabe.
A few snapshots:
Faith is a three year-old little girl who was found abandoned on the
streets of Eldoret about two months ago.
She was taken into a Christian orphanage and named Faith Kutamaini
(literally Hope). She was found to have
a heart defect (PDA) and was sent to Kijabe for her repair which happened this
Tuesday. It was a rocky post-op course
as Faith’s condition had been neglected for so long that her lungs had been
damaged. She is still on oxygen now but
doing much better. Please pray for Faith’s
continued convalescence and her life in an orphanage.
Since I arrived we have had three babies born weighing from less than
two lbs to a little less than 3 lbs 3 oz.
These are small even by USA standards.
Since I was last in Kijabe, artificial surfactant has been added to the pharmacopoeia. Our littlest one had a tube inserted into her
windpipe as a part of resuscitating her at birth. The surfactant was injected down the tube about
an hour later and she was extubated and placed on nasal pressure CPAP. She has done well for three days and fair for
the last two. We placed my first
umbilical line in Kenya (a routine in NICU’s in the USA since early 1950’s)
here on day two and so far have not had any complications. Please pray for Lydia’s baby girl.
I was called to Casualty (i.e. Emergency Dept.) on Monday to see a
boy sent in with “measles” from an outlying health clinic. Other than having no signs consistent with
measles, the diagnosis was spot on. The
18 month-old boy’s tongue was obscured
by a dirty-green fetid and friable coating. The health center had based its diagnosis on
a few spots which might happen with measles but had ignored the fact
that he had none of the usual signs (cough, runny nose, typical rash). I brought a working flashlight and encouraged
the staff to look before accepting the story they were handed. He had a history more consistent with another
viral infection and was admitted for two days.
His mother has AIDS but he is unaffected. Please pray for Joshua.
Please note again that funds may be sent to the “Needy Children’s
Fund” to help these sick and very precious babies.
Please include “Gessner/Kijabe Needy
Children Fund” on the memo line
Checks should be mailed to:
Bay Leaf Baptist Church
12200 Bayleaf Church Rd.
Raleigh NC 27614
USA
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