Charlie and Nellie

At this time of the year it rains often in this area . . . in fact almost every afternoon at 3PM. On one occasion we asked our driver if today we would see rain and his answer as he looked up at the sky was ‘yes, the clouds are very pregnant’.

Today was a carbon copy of Tuesday. We left early so we could see as many patients as possible. We have a different driver today who somehow knew of a short cut . . . we avoided much of the worst part of the road, cut thirty minutes off the drive time and arrived at the clinic before 9am. Don’t know why we didn’t do this yesterday . . . but at least we were able to take that same route out again followed by everyone else.

There were not too many people here when we started so we thought it might be an easier day . . . but boy were we wrong. They started coming about 10am and the throng grew as the day went on.

Lineups for the doctors, eye clinic, and dentist.

Inside the Eye Clinic

We had to leave by 3:30pm because of the threatening rain and the dangers of driving in the dark so about 1pm the security people determined the number of patients that could be treated and asked the rest to leave. We did not want anyone standing in line for an extra two hours and then be told they would not see a doctor.

These areas may see a free clinic only once or twice a year and those told to leave were not happy at all. We were never really in danger but there was some pushing and shoving with security and the aggressive ones were the women. When things started to settle down some still tried to get in the back door which we had to padlock, they were trying to negotiate through the windows and there were a number of people just milling about and all that made us a little uneasy. Those in the group who have been on previous trips or have experience running clinics here and in other countries say this is always the case. It is just not humanly possible to see everyone, often people just accept it and go home but sometimes things don’t end well and today was one of those days. We hear complaints about long waits for medical care in Canada but at least we usually receive treatment eventually.

The best item on the breakfast buffet these days is beans on toast and that has become my morning staple at the Tea Tree Hotel. It’s not as bad as it sounds as I loved it when camping and it tends to hold me through the long days working at the clinic.

After breakfast we start a two hour journey to the remote location of the clinics to be held in this area. The group splits up again today . . . some to the opening of the girls dorms at Ndenai Small Home for the Physically Challenged, sponsored by Laebon Homes and the Bontje family of Red Deer. They will also conduct a medical clinic there afterwards. We carried on to the clinic we’ve been assigned to, at Kaplambloi Medical facility which is 5 km further up the road. The first hour is on good paved roads and the last hour is on one of the worst roads we have ever been on so far.

We’ve been told that if it starts raining heavily while we’re there, we need to be prepared to pack up and leave within 10 minutes or we might not get back out for days.

There are around 35 people working on the medical team including doctors, nurses, paediatrician, pharmacist, radiologist, dentist, ophthalmologist, physiotherapist, and lay people. Nellie and I will be working with the ophthalmologist, Dr Jamie Bhamra who specializes in cornea work in Calgary, and his wife Lisa, a nurse specializing in tissue repairs and wound healing.

We’re a team of six . . . Jamie, Lisa, Lane Tomalty of Red Deer who will help Lisa with gathering the patient info and conducting the initial vision tests, Lane’s father Neil who will be in charge of the door and crowd control, Nellie and I who will fit and dispense glasses as ordered by Jamie. We have brought with us from Canada around 700 pairs of donated glasses, both readers and for distance; as well as a large number of sunglasses which will go to anyone who needs or wants them.

As we arrived we saw a large crowd of people to greet us. It was a little overwhelming, to say the least.

They’re all waiting for various services and each team gets started at setting up their assigned rooms. A very important part of the whole operation is the security people who help to keep order and prevent people from jumping the queue in front of others.

After we set up we began seeing patients at about 10am and we worked straight thru to 5:30pm taking only an 8 minute break for lunch . . . such as it was. Since our days are long and the journey to and from the clinics makes it impossible to come back for lunch it has been pre-arranged that the hotels provided us with a boxed lunch. We have become accustomed to eating primarily two meals a day because these box lunches are basically inedible. We often get a juice box with no straw, half a cheese sandwich (sometimes with no cheese), half a carrot, yoghurt with no spoon and obviously unrefrigerated . . . so we try to find something else in our backpacks or go without. . . we share the boxes with the locals . . . they love them (anything for free, I think).

Many of our patients require only drops for allergies, or for dry, itchy eyes and almost all of them need sunglasses. The older they are, the more need for reading glasses just like at home. Some referrals to local doctors are need as Jamie sees a number of patients requiring cataract surgery. We’ve been told that the surgery costs about $100 here and can sometimes be paid for by grants. It seems doubtful however, that all of them will follow thru . . . they have no means of travel other than walking and no money. The sad part of our day were those who have suffered eye injuries or previous botched surgery as these are people who cannot be helped further. We treated over 200 patients the first day.

There were some very pleasant surprises. One lady in her 70’s needed help with seeing distances and when we put her new glasses on she started laughing and jumped about as high as anyone of her age could. The glasses helped her seeing many things she had not seen since she was a younger woman. She gave us a great big smile and was still laughing when she left.

We also fitted a 12 year old girl with new specs . . . we had to try several pairs before we got it right but now she will be able to see the blackboard.

The schools we’ve seen so far feature dirt floors and very small windows so there is only small amounts of natural light entering these dark and dingy rooms. Hers is no doubt the same.

In order to return to the hotel before dark we were told we should leave by 3pm. We worked later then we should have but there were so many more patients to see that we couldn’t just walk away. We finished up at 5:30 and it took us until 8pm to arrive back at the Tea Tree Hotel. The challenge with driving here is not only the unpaved roads but the large number of cows, sheep and goats that graze at the side of the road. As well, many people here walk everywhere and often when you pass them they are closer to the vehicles than safety should allow. Along the unpaved part of our drive we saw many walkers with dark clothing and no light source . . . how they find their way escapes me.

We got back to the hotel and straight into our evening meeting. Everyone has a chance to discuss their day, discuss any problems, talk about their successes and learn about tomorrow’s schedule. This was followed by the buffet surprise which at this particular hotel often forced us to eat only rice or potatoes with a few vegetables.

Shortly after leaving the area of the refuge camps we stopped at Simotwet School where new classrooms and dorms are being built. Jim and Gloria Stenhouse, our van mates have contributed towards this project and the locals have been notified that we are coming to have a look. The other contributors are the students of a high school in Yellowknife who are planning a trip here in March 2012 for the official grand opening.

We were astounded!! as all the children of Simotwet School as well as those from a neighbouring school along with local politicians, local dignitaries and many parents were lining the road to the school and singing when we arrived. We were paraded from the front gate to the open field beside the school where we were regaled by the childrens’ songs and dance.

We had not expected any ceremony as we were on a tight schedule. Africans, however, love speeches and ceremony so after some negotiating the leaders of the school and the community agreed to keeping things to only 10% of the usual. This was joked about during many of the speeches.

After an hour or so all the officials had their say and the children had sung more songs. This was followed by a grand show of thanks and appreciation for the contribution made by the Stenhouses.

We were then given a tour of the school . . . old and new buildings.

Eric was itching to get us packed back into the vans and get on our way. The children however were not quite ready to see us leave, they have seen white people before but never as many as the 40 or so that were travelling that day. So we all walked and held hands and sang some more and the visit ended on a very happy note.

One can only imagine what the level of celebrations will be when the Yellowknife students arrive in March for the Grand Opening!

Kenya, like many countries, has a small wealthy class and a very large poor one. However, as we travel we see many examples of the dignity these people possess.

One day we pulled into a gas station and while we were filling up a passenger bus stopped beside us. The best comparison I can give you is a greyhound bus packed with both sitting and standing passengers. As I watched the passengers get off and head to the washrooms I noticed a well dressed young women who was walking very carefully. She had a nice black outfit and her hair was beautifully done. As I watched her walking gingerly on I noticed that it was because one of her (well worn) sandals was missing the back strap but despite this problem she walked upright, straight backed, and was still showing the world her best.

In Kenya the rural areas are lush and friendly to the eye; the urban areas are dirty and chaotic. When it rains there is mud . . . a lot of it. Passing through a town one morning we saw a man sitting on an upturned pop crate, in the mud, getting his shoes shined. It might not make sense to us but he too was putting his best foot forward.

Although most of the vehicles here are older and well broken in they are often clean. There are car washes everywhere . . . not like we’re used to, but anywhere there is standing water there is a car wash. In fact one day we saw a semi with it’s trailer parked in a stream getting cleaned along with three other cars . . . it was a BIG water hole . . . if we didn’t already say so, when it rains it pours.

We missed the truck photo cuz Nellie was too slow with the camera and everyone in the van was so shocked and laughing with amazement.

On the days we work in the clinics, Nellie and I spend our time as part of the Eye Care team. The access roads alone tell us that we are setting up these free clinics in some very remote and poor communities in this area . . yet the people come from all around, some walking great distances to get here . . . yet well groomed and dressed in what is probably their very best.

One man stands out in my mind. He looked to be in his 80’s but we don’t know for sure as he didn’t know himself. He was wearing an old dirty baseball cap, old pants, flip flops and an old shirt under a double breasted suit coat that was definitely from another time. Do you remember when you were a kid seeing pictures of Africa and all the men had plates in their ear lobes and lower lips that were progressively bigger until they were the most outstanding features of their face? Well, he was from that era and as it is now no longer the fashion he has looped his earlobes minus the plates up over the top of his ears so they didn’t hang so loosely.

When I was fitting him with glasses he stood facing me with all the dignity of royalty. That memory keeps popping back in my mind. The women are almost always in very colourful dresses with their hair done beautifully and sometimes adding a beautifully coloured shawl or head covering that just naturally draws your eyes.

This morning we departed from Lake Nakuru National Park and headed toward Kericho.

On our way we passed by two refuge and displaced persons camps. We stopped and gave the children some sweets and took pictures.

There are two main tribes in Kenya and they often clash before and after elections because the ruling party favours their own tribe. If you remember the election violence here in 2008, you may have heard of people leaving their homes in fear for their safety. Many of them ended up in camps like these. They may have escaped the violence in their home territories but now they are stuck . . . they do not belong here, they cannot return home. They cannot work and the living conditions are not good. These camps are basically slums and have no sanitation. The end result is devastating and some have been here for many years.

Kericho is the centre of the tea industry in Kenya. It is lush and there are tea plantations for miles ands miles.

Each plantation provides housing for the pickers and on some hillsides there are upwards of 50 cabins. Some tea producing countries allow pickers to use power shears and other tools to harvest the crop. Kenya, however, wanting to provide more jobs and keep more people employed, requires the tea to be picked by hand. The tea must be picked in the right manner . . . two leaves and one bud. Any variation and they don’t get paid. For those of you tea drinkers at home . . . if you purchase tea bags, you’re getting third rate tea, the quality teas are always in the loose form. The process is very efficient and tea is picked, dried, and packed for export all in one day.

We checked into the Tea Hotel in Kericho which was probably very regal when it was built in the 1940’s but it has fallen into disrepair in recent years.

When you sit in the great room you can envision plantation owners taking high tea in the 40’s and 50’s but now people stay there only because there are no alternatives in this area. Unfortunately for the hotel owners, this is not a tourist area and they attract few guests. The keys to the rooms are those old skeleton affairs that I often saw as a boy, the hot showers feature on demand hot water . . . but despite lots of demanding, many of our group had only cold water. The paper thin walls are a problem . . . you can hear the snoring in the next room.