Things Laura's Mom doesn't want to know....

There is a myth that all bad things come in threes. In the last 3 days Meg saw three broken tibias in the clinic and there are three broken bolts on the bore-hole(water well) alternator that Northe is repairing. But, Laura's stories are the most exciting. Laura had three near death experiences today, each more exciting than the last. 

1. While working in the lab today Laura was about to draw a patient's blood when she and her colleage heard a woman screaming outside. They went to investigate and there was a woman blubbering nonsense and wandering around. She immediately set her sights on Laura and cornered her against the wall where she proceeded to scream incomprehensible words at first but then started yelling about slavery. Have no fear, the lab team came to the rescue and escorted the woman away. Unfortunately the woman and her story remain a mystery to us since the only explanation for the event was that the woman was "crazy," which was explained to us but multiple people whirling their finger next to the side of their head. 

Laura working in the lab. 

2. Laura and Meg decided to head out on an evening run today after work. As you may or may not know, the streets of Kenya are often filled with Boda-bodas (motor bikes used like taxis), which are laden with all manner of people and animals and things. We saw one today with two goats sandwiched between two men, and one with a full family of 4 on it, but the scariest are the ones that seem to be driving 100 miles an hour expecting that everyone and everything will move out of there way. This is also complicated by the fact that it is rainy season and the drivers swerve all over the road to find the flattest place to drive... unfortunately this is also the place Meg and Laura chose to run. It is pretty easy to imagine how this lead to a couple near misses for Laura.

3. This episode we call "The Tabasco Incident." Yes, that Tabasco. The one made in Louisana. Of course we found it here in Kenya and use on our food to spice things up. We were enjoying our delicious dinner of pigeon peas and green pumpkin, with just a splash or tobasco on top for flavor. Laura wanted to enjoy every last drop and used her finger to clean her plate. As we sat back to reminisce about our day Laura jumped up and ran to the bathroom saying her eye was burning. She was sure she would go blind from some exotic African disease, chemical or contaminant when Meg and Northe came to the rescue with clean water to wash her eye and the perfect explanation for the burning. All Laura could say was "thank god this was something that could have happened in the US." Don't worry her eye is fine and we went on to enjoy a beautiful star-filled night sky, albeit after washing our hands.

"Saving" Laura's eye from the tabasco.

Meanwhile, while Laura was having quite the exciting day, Meg and Northe went about their jobs.

Meg with a successfully treated patient.

Northe working on the 3 phase alternator for the bore-hole pump.

And here is a map of the different places that we visit around Mutomo. Click on the blue place markers to see what is what and drag the map around. 

View Mutomo Mzungus in a larger map

Sukuma Wiki (Push the Week)

We're now 2 full working days in and starting to get into the rhythm of day to day life in Mutomo. Our day normally starts at 5:00am with the local mosque's call to prayer. That's followed shortly by the weaver birds who've made their home in the tree right outside our windows and start their sweet melodies at 6:00am with the sunrise. Needless to say, we've been going to bed early.

As we mentioned before, each of us is working in different parts of the hospital.

The front of the hospital

Obviously Meg is working mostly in the pediatric wing, but she has seen her fair share of time in the "operating theatre" at all hours of the day and night.

Meg at work in the pediatric ward.

Laura has been helping in the lab drawing blood and running tests for Malaria, TB, etc, as well as helping with administrative work related to medical records. While she's very accustomed to phlebotomy work in her role back home, it's a big adjustment working here in Mutomo.

Northe has been meeting with some of the leadership staff to being work on grant writing and other fundraising related activities. He has also spending part of his afternoon with the maintenance department. So far, he's climbed trees to string telephone wire and is in the middle of a water pumping station alternator rebuild with the other maintenance staff. Most importantly to all of us, he helped install a replacement refrigerator and repaired the screens to help keep the bugs out at our house.

Our late afternoons and evenings bring a visit to the market to further make our house a home and pick up supplies for dinner. The food has been great, we've been cooking every day so far and it's worked out well. Read about some of what we're eating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukuma_wiki

Pasta with veggies from the market. Sukuma Wiki (collard greens), tomatos, onion and garlic

We've been fortunate that our neighbors are friendly and have invited us over a number of times to socialize. So far it's been an adjustment from life back home, but we're settling in very nicely.

Our Day of Rest, but not really.

Sunday was a busy day for us, we had only been in Mutomo for 1 full day, but there was still plenty for us to do. 

Sunday Morning:

Meg and Laura got up for 8 am mass with the rest of Mutomo, although many go to various churches in the town. There was lots of singing, clapping, and swaying – the music was beautiful! They even had a bird flying around inside for special effects (really though, he was either stuck or eating the bugs on the ceiling). After they were invited to tea at the Sister’s convent.

Northe went for a 2 hour long walk with a doctor and dentist through the bush and mountains of Mutomo. The views were incredible, and many small children followed them as they walked past their farms. They also saw some safari ants, which move together in a large group all at one time. 

Safari Ants

Walking, notice the baobab tree on the right. 

First Laundry Attempt:

Overall, it went great. Hand washing all your laundry on the back porch is not as easy as it sounds. After 2 hours, we finally hung up our clothes on the line, just as it started to rain. And then pour. In a place that had gone 13 months without rain we certainly have seen our fair share already. 

Doing Laundry

Sunday Night Dinner:

We had homemade guacamole with fried rice. The market strangely has all the ingredients for guac; avocados, chilis, tomatos, onion, garlic, cilantro, and limes. The four avocados we used were huge and the equivalent of about 8 Hass avocados. We decided it was going to go bad if we didn’t eat it all so we decided to finish it all in one sitting. Fortunately we didn’t get sick! This is our first time eating raw vegetables from the Market and so we washed them in water with a drop of bleach to clean the outsides. 

Mzungu, How are you?

Our first real day was amazing. We had a tour of the hospital and visited the weekly market in town. After lunch we jumped right into work around the hospital and in the evening we had a visit from our driver's family along with some drinks with some of the staff and visiting doctors. 

Market Day:

Saturday in Mutomo is market day and the streets are packed with a variety of people selling their wares under make-shift tents of plastic strung on ropes run across the streets. We opted to buy produce including some giant avocados and hand towels but mostly we attracted a lot of attention. We certainly got quoted elevated "mzungu" prices and many stares.  Some of the children were more adventurous and chased us down the street jumping up and down and yelling: "Mzungu, how-are-you?".  Laura and Meg stopped to take some pictures with them, which thrilled them to no end. 

Donkey Bite, Medical Records and Telephone Lines: 

Meg spent most of her first day with the surgeons and helped them with everything from reducing fractures to an emergency appendectomy, to debriding a woman's hand where a donkey had nearly bitten off her whole hand.... not your average day for a pediatrician. 

Laura donated her veno-puncture supplies to the lab and was assigned to work with the administrative team to help with their new medical records system. 

Northe will be helping with grant writing but is also now the tallest member of the Mutomo maintenance crew. He helped run telephone wires to some hospital staff houses and moved 2 refrigerators. 

Visit from our Driver's Family:
We had invited our driver, Titus, to bring his family over for a visit in the evening. His wife Evelyn works in the hospital lab. We had a very nice time, they asked us all about America and told us about their lives in Mutomo. They were very interested in the climate and what life was like back home. Below is a picture from their visit.

“Smashing” Good Time:

The day ended with snacks with a group of other doctors and staff on a back patio in the cool evening breeze. We enjoyed getting to know everyone better and there were lots of jokes about the number of glasses that were accidentally broken (3 to be exact, but not by us!).  

More to come, we're trying to keep up with work and adjusting to life in Africa.

Jambo, Mutomo

After 24 hours of a multitude of international airports, we arrived in Nairobi. Our bags didn't. Fortunately, we had made prior arrangements to reschedule our pickup, and we were able to make our way to our very comfortable hotel.

Our bags were due to arrive the next day at 2:00 am, which gave us plenty of time to pickup supplies and last minute essentials. Mostly peanut butter and toilet paper. Fortunately we also had time to enjoy the hotel's finer beverage selections.

This morning started at 2:00 am with a trip to the airport. After a series of prior missteps on the trip so far, everything was in order and our bags returned with us.

We embarked on the final leg of our journey to Mutomo. It proved to be a cornucopia Kenya's overland travel experiences. Diesel fumes, traffic jams of multiples species, a tasty lunch and a heavy dusting of the most beautiful red Kenyan soil. Oh, and the joyous shouts of young children shouting "mzungu!"