Week 6

Sunday 11th July

Hi All. My blog is a few days late this week due to a power cut in the centre where I access the net! We've had a few power cuts at home to but we made the most of it with music and flashing torches lol.

This has probably been our best week yet finished off my a belta weekend! The full week we were doing various community work.

On Monday we helped out at a local farm. We were introduces to the family first before helping to harvest the maize then after dinner we helped thrash it (take it off the cob) into bowls. It didn't take me long to get a blister on my thumbs! The maize can be dried and kept for up to 3 years to when there is drought they will always have food. They were a really nice family. There was Lucy and her son Daniel and Brother Peter who we mainly worked with. Lucy has four children, her youngest; peter is 12 and suffers from cerebral palsy. It was really sad, she can barely afford his 750Ksh weekly medication and definitely can't afford his necessary daily physio to help relax him so she can only manage to take him once a month which is a chore in itself as public transport is difficult to take him on and Peter needs it in Nairobi. I felt quite sad and uncomfortable as I'm not great any way with things like that. Some of the girls gave her some money to help her out but I didn't have any on me at the time. During the day we fell in love with their cow; Juney so we arranged to go back at 5pm to help milk her. That was an experience and good fun. None of us had milked a cow before! We were left on a high! …We had really enjoyed our day and were endeared by how nice the family was and we felt we had learnt a lot from them today.

On Tuesday in the morning we helped a blind neighbor by fetching water and filling up her water tanks in her home. It was pretty heavy and mucky but we worked in pairs going back and forth until we had done the job. One lady walking past showed us how it was done. She scooped up the huge container and placed it on here head. I thought it looked easy so tried it and couldn't get it past me shoulders lol. Was worth a try! The lady who we helped has been blind for 23 years after getting a infection that could of easily been treated with the right medical attention. You hear stories like these all the time here which are very sad and remind us at home how lucky we are to have free healthcare system. She was sop chuffed for the help and kept saying "god bless you". Bless her! After dinner it was going to be a free afternoon but we decided to go back to the farm to help them thrash more maize. It's a long process that would take them weeks so they were really pleased we were back. We feel really comfortable there, the family are so laid back and nice to talk to. Lucy made us some tea to warm us up as it had gone a bit chilly. I asked Daniel about coffee, he says he loves it but it is too expensive. I find this ludicrous how it is grown here but the locals have to pay sky high prices they cant afford. This is because it gets exported then imported again, the price is too high!

Wednesday was more community work, this time we were back at the health centre. We were meant to cut grass with machetes for them but as there weren't enough tools we were split into two groups and some of us helped out in the clinics before dinner then swapped after. I really enjoyed helping in the clinic and having a chance to chat to the nurses. Me and Roshan were in the Child Welfare Clinic, This is for children aged 0-5yrs where they come to get weighed monthly from newborn, and for their vaccinations etc. There were many babies, so cute! There was normally two mothers in at a time so as one was getting its vaccinations by the nurse we were weighing the other and logging on the forms. All mothers are given a form so there is no filing for the health centre. Everything gets logged plus dates given for their next visit. As well as weight we gave some their oral dose of Vitamin A. We were asked by nelly, who works as a public health nurse for the government what was lacking in Kenya. I said provisions for the disabled. She agreed. She also told her communication about the health centre and access is a big problem. Its has a maternity award but still only 20% of babies in the area are born here, the shocking 80% are born at home due to access or lack of knowledge which obviously can lead to a lot of birth complications for mother and baby. She said some come in on the back of a motorbike in labour, but when its dark they have no way of getting there or ringing as most don't have a phone. I was nicely suprised about what I learnt today as the centre is government ran and it does do a great job but it seems there are still some things missing! Nelly and the other nurse Ann invited us back to do some more work so we have their contacts now J

On Thursday morning we were fetching more water for a local "mentally retarded" family, as my supervisor put it!! In the afternoon we watched some DVDs about HIV. They were really good but quite intense! We finished at 2.30pm so we had plenty of time to go into Limuru. I went to the café and ate Eggy bread with smokey bacon, a coca cola and a pancake all for 200Ksh (1.80) score!

On Friday, after our weekly meeting we got a matatu to the next town to attend their HIV support group. I didn't have a clue what we were letting ourselves in for but it was actually quite a nice day. There were about 17 people there but there are 40 in the group usually. We all introduced ourself, I said mine in Kikuyu as I know some of them didn't speak very well English. They clapped, but I was called a show off from the others haha. The group comes together monthly so we helped them do their usual task of counting their medication to make sure they had enough until their next hospital visit. Me and Jas were helping Ester. She is on about $ types of ARV medication plus multi vitamins. She didn't have enough to last her until her next visit so we logged that for her. It was pretty sad but they all seemed really upbeat. We had a chance to swap information within the group about HIV in UK and Kenya. We explained we wouldn't be allowed to have this contact in the UK with HIV + people. They were pleased about being more open and welcoming us. Apparently HIV + people in Kenya wont be granted a visa so they can never leave the county. There is no stigma which I was surprised to hear and they normally have an urge to get tested as it overrides their fear of dying. They know there are so many others in the same boat. One young mother there had her baby, she was feeding it out of a bottle which is so the baby can remain HIV free. Babies can become HIV + through birth or breastfeeding so there is hope for HIV couples. We took the members some essential food such as bread, rice, maize as a gift as we know with ARV medications it requires to eat them with food and they cant always afford it. This is an other issue for HIV + people in Africa. We also chipped in 1300Ksh toward their 2000Ksh annual registration fee. They have to register their group. They were very happy indeed. They were really nice people and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all. It was a good day. We felt we have done more good which is what we are here for.

Saturday was the best day ever. I found out about a park near Nairobi called Paradise Lost so we decided to go there. It took 3 matatus to get there but it was sure worth it! We had to walk about 20minutes to get to the entrance. We also had to walk through a coffee field which was fun. We chatted to the workers and they showed us a few pieces of the plant and how they get the beans from them. We managed to blag the 250Ksh Kenyan resident admission too, they see white skin and try to have us but we weren't having any of it. We are used to it now! First we grabbed a coke at the lakeside bar before heading to the waterfall and stone age 2.5 million year old cave. The cave had history to do with the Mau Mau's and Kenya fight for independence! It was amazing. We had a camel ride and then a horse ride. The men let us have a gallop around the coffee plant it was soooo cool! Me and Millie are going back in 2 weeks to go on a proper hack. Cannit wait.

On Sunday we were invited for a hike with some of the local young kenyans. Some of them are host brothers to the others. They took us on a 3hr hike to an amazing viewpoint looking over the Rift valley. It was pretty hot and I tell you the kenyans proper speed walk! It was tough trying to keep up with them but it was worth it once we were there. I saw a humongous eagle fly past us and a Vulture circling above. Apart from that it was the usual cows, donkeys and insects!

Jules xx