May 4, 2011
Today we set up a clinic at Kigama. We arrived at the church, another Friend Church, and they had forgotten we were coming. It didn’t take long to set up the church for our clinic, right after the minister prayed for forgiveness as he was only human. In addition to our regular clinic, we had made arrangements with a local school to do a deworming program, sexual health teachings, and a tooth cleaning clinic. Well, we were at the right clinic but as luck would have it, someone made a wrong turn at 10:00 am, and arrived at a school who had never heard of us. You would think a light would have gone off but we were already in the process of setting up a clinic in a church who had forgotten. Gail, Lynn, Dawn and Sara (one of our Kenyan nursing partners) treated 507 very lucky boys and girls for worms and head sores in addition to 12 teaching staff. As the head master said when he found out that we were supposed to be elsewhere “God smiled on us today”. Tomorrow, we will make things right and attend the school that was expecting us.
Our clinic was huge today…we treated 704 persons and we could have kept going all night. The crowd was upset when we had to finally shut the doors. As we closed one door, they were coming in another one. It was a sad day as there were so many very sick people, and some with some serious wounds. I have some sad stories today for you. We had an 18 month old baby who had been burnt 4 days ago. Our nurses managed to revive the baby and he was sent to hospital at our expense. He is not expected to survive. Can you imagine this at home? Keeping a child who had been burnt that badly without seeking medical care. The baby was past crying. We actually sent and paid for four other persons to hospital for treatment today, very very sick people with one being a 9 year old child. Thanks to you and your generosity, this child should recover. And thanks to you and your generosity, we have treated about 2400 persons to date. Thank you!
We have handed out sanitary pads as we go along and the Kenyan girls and women are so thankful. For all those who sew these pads, thank you to you. I have one last story for you. Sherry, who was also with us last year, was approached by a Kenyan woman with a small girl about four years old. Sherry commented on the child’s appearance, and the mother asked Sherry if she would take the girl back to Canada with her so she could have a chance at a good life. I still tear up when I tell this story. So, I will try to post photos with this. If you don’t see them, be patient. I am a victim of cyber space. Hug your families tonight and be grateful for all your blessings.
