Road trip to Tenwek

This is my front yard. However, it is not quite laundry day for me yet.

Today is my 4th day at the hospital. The staff continue to overwhelm me with their friendly greetings. Not just greeting me, but the way they greet each other all throughout the day. Laughter and endless smiles are a constant occurrences. Handshakes are practically mandatory around here :)

Yesterday I spent most of the morning in rounds with a team of physicians. Then I spent a few hours in their NICU (new born unit for sick babies). It certainly looks a lot different then the NICU I work in at home. One thing that is so nice to see is all the mom's at the bedsides with each baby of their babies. One of the babies has been here for 48 days and her mom has been here night and day to look after her with the help of the nurses. All the mom's have beds in an adjoining unit to get as much rest as possible.

I got to see how they have made their own bubble CPAP machine to assist babies who are having difficulty breathing. Here we are testing it on a baby doll. It is very simplistic but I am sure it does the trick to help out the tiny babies in their unit.

Last night Gloria and I were invited to celebrate a birthday with some of her doctor friends. Here they are participating in a lovely birthday tradition of dumping water on the birthday boy.

It was a pot luck dinner so it was a great chance to try many of their local dishes. My favourite was the goat meat, with the tomato salad coming in a close second.

Today I had the opportunity to visit a neighbouring town called Tenwek. It was just over an hour away by car. The road trip was stunning with lush green tea fields. 



Sorry to bore you with so many tea field photos but I found the scenery breathtaking.

The church inside Tenwek hospital

Tenwek has a larger missions hospital. I was given a tour of their ICU and NICU. This is the hospital where another RT from Canada has spent many many months working side by side with the staff. She is currently back at home raising money to be able to return to Kenya in the new year. Feel free to check out her page Annette's blog . I can certainly see why she wants to come back. It is a beautiful country with some clear needs.I take my hat off to her to dedicating her life to this work.

Two kids just playing around

I am so thankful that I finally found a decent internet connection. I have finally been able to update my blog.