Wednesday 6 June 2012

I can't believe it's our last day in Kenya! :( Sorry for not having posted anything in so long, we had real trouble accessing any internet last week, due mainly to power cuts and also being really busy!! We had an amazing weekend just after my last post... On the Friday night we went for a wander to have a quiet ice cream, but bumped into some friends from the hospital and ended up doing shots in a bar and eventually going out for a few drinks and some dancing that night! Then on the Saturday we all did some shopping and went for a really lovely late lunch at an Italian restaurant on the beach :) After that we had quite a lazy afternoon, before heading out again that night... It was so much fun! There were 7 of us in the group... Me, Aby, the three lovely American girls, and Diana and Nelly, the fab girls we've been staying with - it was such a good group!! We went to a couple of clubs, somehow managing to start this massive dance-off thing at Pata Pata that took over the whole place! Then we were dancing on this wee island thing in the middle of a rainstorm, with people jumping in the pool and just having such a good time! It was crazy but lots of fun :) Then we went to another club, where we met some friends from the hospital and danced some more, before finally heading home at around 5am, they really party late here!!

The next day we all slept really late before going for another wee adventure around the town, watching some more football at the beach and getting some ice cream, yum :) We all had a nice wee girly night in after that, and a bit of an early night, ready for another week at the hospital...

Our last week at the hospital was another really good one. We saw some more surgery, including a young guy who was suffering from a really painful hernia. We also spent some time in occupational therapy which was interesting - we saw a lot of kids with cerebral palsy and other problems as a result of various infections, and helped with the rehabilitation exercises a bit. There was also a severe case of hydrocephaly, and one of microcephaly, as well as a three year old girl who suffered from tetanus as a result of her umbilical cord having been cut with a dirty knife when she was born at home... it was a really tragic situation that could have been so easily avoided, and to see all the difficulties she was having three years later (she couldn't hold herself to sit up, she couldn't speak or communicate, she had muscle spasms all over) was really sad. Some of the children had a better prognosis than others, but hopefully the occupational therapy brings some benefit to all of them.

I also enjoyed a major surgical ward round, which covered all men, women and children who were both pre- and post- operative. Some of the problems were really interesting, and there were quite a few young, otherwise fit and healthy guys who had suffered injuries either in traffic accidents or at work, as many of them worked as labourers. Many of the women needing surgery suffered from obstetric or gynaecological problems, although some suffered from other problems, such as thyroid problems or cancers. The majority of the children had suffered in accidents, such as stepping on glass on the way home from school (one of my special little girls had snapped her achillies tendon this way). I was a wee bit nervous about the surgery side of things before coming here, just because I hadn't really seen that much before. But I've actually really enjoyed it all, and managed to not faint or even feel dizzy at all once! :)

We also spent a fair amount of time in the ICU this week, where we were able to see an ultrasound being performed, and also where we have been able to cuddle lots of babies! The mothers of the babies in the newborn unit really need to get a break sometimes, and so are grateful for the chance to go for a wee walk or whatever to get some fresh air, and we're always really happy to step in! Almost all of the babies in there are premature, and so very very tiny... it's the loveliest feeling when a poor wee baby is crying and you are able to pick her up and cuddle her and she goes all peaceful and drops off to sleep again... All 5 of us felt our maternal instincts kicking in a wee bit at times! Haha there were a couple of slightly awkward moments though, as lots of the babies were clearly wanting breastfed, and unfortunately we were not able to oblige! One little guy I was cuddling was incredibly determined to have a go at it, and was very much unimpressed when he realised my top was not going to budge!

I also enjoyed spending some time in paediatrics again this last week... Most of the kids who were there when we first arrived have been discharged now which is good; it's funny having a completely new batch! A couple of the wee original ones are still there, but most of them are making progress :) we both have our wee favourites and it was really sad saying goodbye :( we've had fun playing with them though and the couple of older girls I gave wee bracelets to as presents were still treasuring them when we said bye to them on our last day! We've made some really great friends amongst the staff at the hospital too, especially in the paediatrics department. I'll really miss them all lots and lots, although at least with facebook and emails we can keep in touch pretty easily, and when we come back (which we're both really hoping to!) we will have lots of friends to see and catch up with!!

We also spent quite a bit of time at the children's home we have been helping out at during our last week. There are some really great kids there, with big ambitions to be pilots and doctors and engineers. They're just great. The 5 of us thought it would be a great idea to take them all to the beach for the day on Friday, as it was a public holiday here celebrating independence from Britain (awkward) so we weren't at the hospital and they had the day off school. We wondered if we had been a bit mad to suggest taking 40 crazy kids to the beach, just the 5 of us, when we were making 80 sandwiches, buying 200 biscuits and getting 30 litres of water in big tanks the day before! But it turned out to be such a fun fun day! Each of us took a tuk tuk, with loads of the kids piled into each one! Ours on the way there had 14 people in it which was just madness, all sitting on top of each other, with some of the smaller kids in the wee boot bit at the back! We played games and football on the sand, swam and played in the sea, and just had an amazing time jumping in the waves and splashing about, with the bigger ones swimming further out, and the little ones enjoying paddling about the shallows. At any given moment the 5 of us each had between 2 and 3 kids clinging round our necks, to our legs and up on our backs, but it was just so much fun. We even taught a couple of them how to swim! The most tricky part was getting everyone ready to go home at the end! We had been there for just over 6 hours, so the 5 of us were absolutely shattered. But every time we managed to get everyone out of the water and up to get dressed and ready to go, we would turn our backs for one moment, before looking round to see them all sprinting en masse back to the sea! Eventually we got everyone dried off and dressed, and after attempting yet another dodgy head count and asking everyone to make sure all their friends were there, we piled everyone back into the tuk tuks and headed home. Phew! All 5 of us were aching from carrying so many children at once, dehydrated, starving and really pretty burnt by the time we got home, but it was so so worth it! After showering we headed straight for some food and a drink and felt much much better!

Then our last weekend was good too, although sad as two of the American girls (Steph and Aubrey) left on Saturday morning to climb Mount Kilmanjaro in Tanzania. We had a good last night with them on Friday though, before saying bye on Saturday morning, which was so sad! :( Rather a lot of drama followed on Saturday afternoon, which included 3 armed men in uniforms arriving in a big van, banging at our really high and spiky gate, and one of them attempting to climb over it! I was the only one awake at this point and had to run around raising the alarm, thinking we were about to get deported or something! It's a rather long story but all was well in the end, and it certainly provided some chat for all of us! It was a lovely wee crew because Nelly and Diana's other sister, Sylvia, arrived, who is also so lovely, so the six of us chatted away about it all and went for one last big night out on Saturday! Sunday was another girly day with some drinks out with friends in the evening, before our last day at the hospital on Monday! It was just so sad saying bye to everyone, there were lots of hugs and swapping of contact details so we can all keep in touch :) The hospital staff really are such a great bunch of people, and we've made some really good friendships there, so saying bye was sad. After a final visit to the children's home, we had one last girly date, the 6 of us, for coffees and hot chocolates at a really nice local cafe, before getting some sleep.

Aby and I both cried after saying goodbye to Nelly yesterday morning - she, Diana and Sylvia really have been like our amazing big sisters during our times here, and I will never forget all the laughs and girly chats till 3 or 4 in the morning, in candlelight because the power was out! And some of the dancing, from Nelly in particular, was just top class!! It was so so sad saying bye to them, and to Aubrey and Steph, and then to Michelle too yesterday morning.... those girls are just awesome, and we all had so much fun and happy times together! Aby and I won't be forgetting percentages in a hurry ;) Yesterday was our second big bus trip, another 12 hours or so back to Nairobi! We made it though with the help of our ipods and some snacks, and so now here we are, waiting for our flight home tonight! It's such a crazy thought that in less than 12 hours we'll be in the air, and in less than 24 hours I'll be back in Jordanhill! It honestly feels like a different world, and although I can't imagine being home just now, I know that once I'm back my Kenyan adventure will probably feel like a crazy wonderful dream! I've met some truly great people out here, and it's sad that this blog has honestly only just scraped the very surface of the last month... There are a million other things to write about - things I've done, seen, felt! But it's something at least, and it's hopefully given a wee bit of an insight into life in Malindi!

Thanks so much to everyone for all the wonderful times I've had on this trip... Without you, it would have been nothing like the experience it has been. I can't wait to come back some day! I'd best be off, check I'm packed, and I think we might have one last wee wander around Nairobi before home time tonight!

With lots of love and hugs from Kenya :) xxx

3 comments:

  1. Pheeew! What a wonderful wonderful experience for you! I could not keep up with all these activities, day and night! Thanks for sharing it with us. I have enjoyed your blog and Welcome Home!
    Auntie Laura

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi,


    Please provide me the email id of webmaster of your website: http://po-in-kenya.blogspot.com/

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. https://worldsadvisor.com/

    https://worldsadvisor.com/bitcoin-inactive-supply-nears-record-as-over-60-of-btc-stays-unspent-for-at-least-1-year/

    https://worldsadvisor.com/2022-nba-all-star-weekend-predicting-the-winners/

    ReplyDelete