After being here a couple of weeks, I've picked up on a few things about life in Kenya (particularly Tenwek) that are very different from life in the states. Overall, the pace of life is much slower. People walk slow, talk slow, move slow and act slow. It's been quite an adjustment from the hustle and bustle of America. That can be nice at times, especially at night and on the weekends where you can truly sit back and relax. But, it can also be frustrating during the day when you're trying to get through a busy surgery schedule. But, overall, I've welcomed the change of pace.
Tenwek is a great place for kids. There are many missionary families here with probably 20 or so kids from ages 2-18 running around. The older kids are off at boarding school but the younger ones are home schooled and are always around, playing and exploring. There are no TVs, no malls, no texting and none of the others things that distract our kids in the US. There's nothing to do at night as a family but eat together, play a game and hang out. It's so refreshing to see, and I'd love to have my family experience this in some way in the future. Life is simple and that fosters relationships within and outside of the family. If you go knock on some one's door, they naturally invite you in and you oblige. In the states, IF you're even invited in, it's likely not sincere and rarely will you accept the invitation because you've got to go run to do this and that. Here, personal interaction is unavoidable and precious.
Below is an aerial shot of Tenwek just to give you an idea of the layout. The buildings with the green roof are the operating rooms and some of the administration. It's a pretty big compound and offers most of what is offered back home, just in a little different way. Surrounding the hospital are houses and neighborhoods where many of the local staff live. What's nice about it though is that everything is within walking distance. It takes me about 3 minutes to get from my apartment to the orthopedic ward. That makes getting up at night and going in to the hospital for a consult much easier to bear.
Here is a pic from the guesthouse where many of the short-term visitors stay. It's made up of a few apartments and "dorm" rooms. On the bottom floor is the kitchen where we eat many meals and congregate in the evenings. You can see that we all have still managed to remain dorky, having "fellowship" over our laptops! That's obviously me on the left. The couple in the back is David and Cheryl. They're Med/Peds residents from Cincinnati. The other guy is Lyle, a medical student from South Carolina and then the girl is Stephanie, a PA student from Kentucky. It's been fun getting to know these folks and having some people around that understand your stage of life.
I couldn't help but to take and include this picture! This lady came to clinic and she had a fake Louis Vuitton purse! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it was a little strange to see it in rural Kenya. She was sportin' it though!
Don't worry, this is not a mass casualty situation like it appears. This is simply a grassy hill in front of the hospital in the late morning. . . . .inevitably nap time for many Kenyans. Hey, I like to take a good nap as much as anybody, but on the grass. . . . . . .come on! It's funny, you'll see people sprawled out all over the placing catching a snooze.
The pic below represents probably the biggest Kenyan tradition, tea time. Everyday at 10:30, Chai tea is served all over the hospital. Work stops, patients wait, and the staff takes Chai. Although is sounds frustrating, I have grown to love it and look forward to Chai time every morning. Chai is a locally grown tea and it's served hot with a lot of milk and brown sugar. It's sweet and oh so good. One funny story regarding tea happened during my first days here. I was in clinic, sitting in an exam room with a patient. The door to the hall was open. All of the sudden I hear commotion and I look up and people are briskly walking towards the end of the hall with their eyes intently fixed on an object. Naturally, my heart rate quickened as I assumed that someone had fallen, or even worse, died. It looked as though people were purposefully hurrying to someone's aid. I got up and looked down the hall, ready for CPR or whatever was needed. No, there was no one on the floor or anybody dying. . . . . .only a thermos of tea that had just been delivered! I quickly learned that in this culture, tea is one of the few things that will make people hurry!
Here is Lyle again, enjoying some Chai with Dr. Bob Greene, the orthopedist here.
Just in case you were thinking that this relaxing life with tea breaks and nap time was sounding good, I wanted to bring you back to the reality that this is truly a 3rd world area and is very primitive. Tenwek hospital is very advanced but the surrounding areas are still a century behind.
So, there. Just a little insight into what daily life is like here. Thanks for reading.
I really enjoyed this one :) I've gotten mad at Jeremiah because every night we get in bed, and he's immediately on his phone checking your blog :) Proud of and excited for you! Thanks for taking the time to share.
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