So long, farwell......

Dear Kitale,

Today is the dreadful day we must part ways. I made so many memories with you and I feel as though my heart will burst when I think about all of the wonderful people I have come to love this summer. I cannot imagine any better way to spend my summer. Kitale- thank you for your people. Thank you for their generous hearts. Thank you for all of the lessons and skills you taught me, like how to make ugali and suma wiki. I will miss you. I will miss many of the people that live in your borders. They are wonderful people; take care of them.


Adorable Elea on our last swimming playdate. This kid LOVES Ashley(Aleeti, as he calls her)

Could anything in the world get any cuter? I love you, Adoti.

All of the kids making their mark at Oasis

Finished product!

Kitale, I will miss you. Your people will always be in heart. Forever.

Love,

Ky

The last weeks are full!

This was taken at a crusade in Shimo La Tewa. Chris organized a youth activities in the morning and adult festivities at night. These children had the worst jigger infestation I have ever seen. The oldest seen holding her young sister is now at Sister Freda's being treated thanks to Torie Fields' big heart. Thank you Torie! Lucy loves you!


We also did our last craft day at Oasis of Hope. Each child and staff member had their left hand painted and placed in a hallway with their name written next to it. We made Oasis a little bluer that day!



On a sad note, we also had to say goodbye to Pat, Steve, Torie, Delia, and Sammy. We miss them all very much.

Swimming with Discover to Recover Boys

These boys had never been swimming and we convinced them all to jump off the diving board into the deep end. Very brave boys!



Meeshack was first to jump! Can you see his hernia? Poor kid.





Good thing they loved being in the baby pool or this could have been a lifeguards nightmare! They were great kids!

Episode 3: Introducing you to some great kids that I have been spending some time with

Meet Calvin, also known as Calvo. He is 6 years old and knows he's cute. You know he is really laughing when he crinkles his nose, like like baby Ann! Calvo goes to school at Purpose Driven Academy. He lives with Pastor Joel and his wife Margaret. They have a 3 bedroom house that is very tiny.....and they have 19 children living with them. No, that isn't a typo-19 children plus 2 adults in a 3 bedroom house. Needless to say, the living areas are very cramped and they don't have much. The 19 children are not genetically Pastor Joel and Margaret's but they have taken many of the young orphaned children that attend Purpose Driven Academy into their home to provide them with some sort of a family life.

Calvo is a great kid and loves to be swung around and tickled. I hope you enjoyed meeting this adorable little boy!

Sorry the pictures are small. They take a very long time to upload on kenyan internet. You may be able to click on them to enlarge them....?

We love bath time!

We weighed Adoti the other day AFTER she ate lunch and she weighs 7kgs. That's about 15 lbs. She about 4 years old and 15lbs. I love those 15lbs of little girl more than you'll ever know.

Look who is now a chunker! Yay for Anna!

Life on the Compound

We welcomed many new babies onto our compound this summer. And enjoyed an awesome hailstorm!

Lamb #1
Calf #1
Kid
Lamb #2
Calf #2
Trying to fill up a mug of hail
Torie and Delia in the hailstorm!

Pokot Clinic

We did the 3 hour drive to Pokot in the Land Cruiser and ended up driving in a "direction" for about an hour to reach our destination. Rugged, right? No road or landmarks, just a general direction with no compass. Needless to say it was a beautiful drive...Don't take my word for it. Check out these pictures!


We were able to treat over 500 patients in this little church.


We treated mainly women and children.
One of those "I am in the middle of no where" moments
There are so many moments here that I am reminded I am so blessed to be here and doing all that I am. God is here in Kenya and working through His servants. It is incredible to be able to witness Him at work in so many areas. We cannot escape God, He is everywhere, even in the middle of nowhere in the desert!

gauze and tape

Adoti is getting her eye corrected with a piece of gauze and tape. Just a few hours a day and her eye will be as good as new. Praise God!

Episode 2: Introducing you to some great kids that I have been spending some time with

Meet little Ann-

She is about 9 months old and still getting over tuberculosis. The past 3 weeks she improved immensely and it has been so exciting seeing her learn to hold her head up and develop the muscles to sit up on her own. I love caring for little Ann and she is the sweetest thing! She loves to laugh! Please pray she continues to improve and for her family.

Mount Elgon Medical Clinic and Relief Distribution

People impacted by the tribal clashes last year...they were very happy to see us and very welcoming!

Medical clinic in full swing!

Beautiful view! It was incredible up there.
Can you imagine trying to produce a harvest on these steep hills? They use every square foot.Back:Anne Baxter and Steve Rutenbar
Front: Page Price, Ashley Campos, and Matt Gillen
It has rained a bunch this week so we kept getting stuck in the mud. Thankfully, we are all buff and we pushed our van numerous times up the hills...Good thing we don't mind getting sweaty and dirty! God protected us!

Kipsongo Round 3!

If you haven't read any of my previous posts(I'm not offended) then you don't know what or where Kipsongo is. Kipsongo is a slum in Kitale where living circumstances are very grim and horrendous. We did a medical clinic with Sister Freda in Kipsongo today. First, we were given a tour of the area of Kipsongo. We were escorted by a few young men that live in Kipsongo and Sister Freda trusts. Ashley and I were accompanied by Candice, a med school student who is from Village Volunteers, and Sara a woman from the UK. All four of us stuck together while children pulled at our hands and we witnessed Kipsongo. Many people live in huts constructed of twigs and plastic bags. More and more homes made of wood and cow dung are being made, but the majority of the people live in the poorly constructed huts. We saw numerous people making the local brew, a form of moonshine. The tour lasted about an hour and then we headed back to the church where Freda and her staff were already operating the clinic. I was able to assist Freda with injections for the first time today. I feel so blessed that she trusted me to be gentle and efficient. I guess I learned from the best! I was able to give shots to a young baby and an older man. I was also able to give an intravenous injection to a young mama. Despite what you might think, I didn't miss the vein and I very slowly pushed the fluid out of the syringe. I feel so greatful to be able to do something that most medical students never have the chance to do. I was also able to assist with bandaging and cleaning numerous wounds. I'll shut up and show you the pictures, which I'm sure is what you really want to see!

Episode 1: Introducing you to some great kids that I have been spending some time with

Meet Jacquline Adoti!

Affectionately known as "Adoti" or "Dot" this little girl lives at Sister Freda's Cottage Hospital. She has the sweetest smile that lights up her face and she is the most gorgeous little girl. She doesn't speak much, but as she feels accepted and comfortable she opens up.

The exact details of her life story before living at the hospital aren't known but we do know that she lived in Kipsongo with her mother. Her mother is an alcoholic and severely neglected Adoti. She is smaller than a 2-year old child but in reality she is around the age of 4. Sister Freda first saw Adoti when she was doing a medical clinic at Kipsongo. Many times Sister Freda had to take Adoti to the hospital to treat her for numerous illnesses. About a year ago Sister Freda found Adoti laying in the mud, abandoned by her mother. Freda did not think that Adoti would survive the 15 minute drive to the hospital. By the grace of God, Adoti has been recovering for the past year and getting healthier. She is very far behind developmentally but she is making so much progress.

I alsolutely love this little girl and you will be seeing many pictures of her and I in future posts!

1 month down and 2 more to savor!

The past month that I have been in Kitale has been quite an experience! I have seen some of the most beautiful landscape and not 10 minutes later witnessed some of the most terrible living circumstances.

As I look back at the past month, I am overjoyed at the experiences that God has blessed me with. Day to day, we go out and serve at our chosen places of ministry but at night we come back to Pastor Steve’s compound and eat dinner and share about events that happened throughout the day and enjoy each others company! We have a great group out here that seems like it is constantly adding and subtracting members but still seems to get along great!

As most of you know I love medical missions!  Last week we were able to conduct 4 medical clinics in Kitale and the surrounding areas.  It’s incredible to see Sister Freda work- she inspires me to be a kind and caring medical professional. The other day Sister Freda and I spent some time together with a little baby named Anna.  I met little 9-month old Anna my first day at the hospital.  Then she was suffering from severe tuberculosis. Anna was incredibly emaciated and about the size of a newborn baby. My heart broke watching this little baby struggling to breathe. A month and a half later she is recovering and finally putting on some weight.  Its been incredible seeing the changes in her personality and body.  She has no teeth but her huge smile of just gums is contagious!  Sister Freda and I worked with her on holding her head up and sitting up.  Yes, she is 9-months old and cannot hold up her own head. Developmentally she is very behind but already Freda can tell that she has a very high IQ.  

Many of the things I see here are very hard to rationalize and process. Sometimes it’s the medical emergencies at the clinics that impact me but overall it’s the tragedies that are the realities of these people’s lives. My worldview is changing and I hope that I don’t lose any of the insight that I have gained thus far.

You can also check out kitaleleadershipinstitute.blogspot.com to follow some of us crazy kids out here!

Day 21 (Already?)

I have been in Kitale for 3 weekes as of today! I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? I feel as if I have only been here a few days, but when I think back to the flight from LAX it seems like ages ago. My week currently consists of working at Sister Freda's Medical center Monday-Wednesday. I help out in the pharmacy, caring for patients, and when there is nothing to do at the hospital I hang out with the children that live there full time under the care of 2 women that were hired by Sister Freda. Those children light up my day and I care for all of them so much already! On thursday, Ashley and I conduct art classes for the Street kid drop-in center where they have 3 levels of classes. We love spending time with those kids, they are all so sweet! Fridays are pool days! Richard(Freda's husband) picks up the 6 kids that stay at Freda's Center and we teach swim lessons and play in the pool for hours with the kids. We enjoy that so much and the kids do as well!
I am having the time of my life here and I am so glad that I can share it with you! More posts will be coming soon-hopefully!

AFRICAN SUMMER!

Kenya is awesome! I love Kitale and I am having a great time serving here. I can't wait until I can post some pictures and more stories(This will happen once we get internet at the compound)