Clinic was at Kigama today. It started out very slow much to our surprise. However, it was a good thing as most of us were pretty tired with adapting to the time change among other things. Jean woke up at 3:00 and after trying to get back to sleep she headed down for breakfast thinking it was 6:00 am. When she arrived the kitchen was locked and dark and she realized it was 5:00 am, not 6:00 which is our usual breakfast time. Needless to say, she crawled back into bed until she was rudely awoken by us banging on her door one hour later! We had a consistent but not overwhelming flow throughout the day and ended up seeing 697 people plus one extra – as we were leaving a very ill malaria patient was lying on the ground outside so we stayed to assess and treat her. Thank God she made it before we left. Fourteen wounds were dressed and approximately 12 to 15 women attended a sexual health group. It’s hard to get a consistent account for sexual health education because, as we sit outside and talk, more and more women join in. A group of 8 often ends up as 50!…

Today’s clinic was at Wangulu. Where do I begin to describe this day? It started off with a sad case in which a young man carried his very ill father in. This man was barely conscious, dying from cancer. We all know death is a fact of life in every country but what impacted us all was how the son carried his father in gently, held him in his arms and requested care for him. The only thing we could do was transport him to the hospital where he was admitted to die in comfort and dignity. One nurse actually described this as the most touching experience she had seen since she has been here and I agree with her. We had two more hospital transports – a child with acute malaria and a diabetic with extremely high blood sugar. We also saw a young girl who came in with a caregiver due to second and third degree burns on both arms and scalp from a fire in March. When asked the reason for attending clinic today he stated “she jumps in the night” (through translation). We learned she had been burned in a house fire in which her sibling had died. The poor child…

Clinic today was at Mundungu, an obviously poorer community than yesterday although it’s hard to discern when everyone we see has so much less than us. What a great day with our fantastic new nurses, Becca and Monica and of course Gail, Jean, and I, older but not necessarily better! Today we were visited by our 3 children from 2 missions ago, in which we provided jiggers treatment for. The jiggers have improved so they are able to attend school which is a huge outcome since jiggers has such a stigma, those with the infection are often socially isolated and impoverished. Johnstone provided jiggers treatment alongside our clinic and we dewormed 175 children. A very, very sad case: A 6 year old boy came in very ill with an infection after being casted for a fracture. When changing his dressing, Becca found an infected pressure sore with some necrotic tissue. Monica took him to the hospital thinking he would require IV antibiotics, as would be done in Canada. Unfortunately they sent him home after charging him for a prescription which we had provided at our clinic. It is hard to accept the differences in healthcare priorities between Canada and Kenya especially with respect to children.…

Our first 2014 clinic at Budaywa! We had a great day with a steady flow of patients and a variety of needs. Becca did 10 wounds including a young girl (11) who did not have a parent but made it to the clinic. Childhood is very short here. She had a seriously infected wound which required prompt attention. Although we prefer to treat only if a parent is present at that age, we were concerned for health complications if not treated promptly. 10 people were assessed for wheelchairs. One young Mother carried her child to and from school each day due to spina bifida. We will follow up on these patients to purchase wheelchairs. Since school is out this week here, many children attended the clinic. Monica did a deworming program outside and treated 72 children for worms. We then did a sexual health group with young women enjoying the sunshine while the women sat in the shade! We appreciated sitting outside for this time while poor Jean was inside sweltering at triage but always with her infectious laugh. Other than that, we saw 619 people a the clinic today. We have a great group of Canadian and Kenyan nurses who work together and learn…

Hi Everyone:  Sorry for the delayed blogging - we have had some blogging issues which may be due more to my skills than the internet which is what I was blaming it on.  You may be wondering the outcome of yesterday - we set off from Nairobi and made our way to Kisumu arriving just before Bhavesh closed the pharmacy.  Our meds weren't as organized as usual as Bhavesh had been robbed that week so had to re-acquire our meds in a short period of time.  He reassured us this was not the first time he had been robbed - 3x so far.  However, we arrived late to Kakamega and because our Kenyan contacts had been notified of our issues, they had revised the clinic schedules so we could not start our first clinic today as planned.  Although we were disappointed and concerned for the community, our contact reassured us the revisions would cover their area and we would be able to provide for them as well.  We want to make sure we maintain our commitments once plans are made.  We had to admit we appreciated getting to bed under the mosquito nets (which seem to trap mosquitos in versus out for some!), knowing we…

Saturday, April 26 almost midnight and we are finally reunited after a 24 hour flight delay.  It seems like forever after  leaving Canada April 24th and reconnecting 2 days later.  You will understand why no picture is attached!  This delay has a big impact since we haven't completed the most significant part of our journey which is the long trek from Nairobi to Kisumu to pick up our meds then on to Kakamega, our final destination.  It can take 8 to 12 hours depending on the roads, the rain, and, as you know from previous years, the transportation.  We are fortunate to have a large muttatu as now it is illegal to pile supplies on the top of muttatus.  We have noticed changes like this since the first time we came.  It seems Kenyans may becoming more aware of health and safety issues.  We noticed frequent police stops along the way from the airport to our accommodation in Nairobi.  Jerry explained there is still heightened security due to the Westgate attack last year.  Since I was alone with our 2 Kenyan colleagues, a police officer questioned if I was okay, I assume ensuring I wasn't being abducted by them.  We hope these safety measures improve the health and welfare of the Kenyan people.  On the other…

In preparation for our upcoming mission we held an education day to learn about the experience we will be having in Kenya.  Six of us nurses will be travelling on April 24 to reach our destination on April 27th. We will be starting clinics daily until May 9th.  We have a great group of nurses who are super excited about this experience.  This is CNFA's sixth mission and we look forward to reconnecting with our Kenyan colleagues in Kakamega!