KAPSOWAR HOSPITAL, KENYA.
Alex found being on call and decision making during the first two weeks difficult especially not knowing any obstetrics and gynaecology but was supported by the hospital missionary staff. He found it hard to watch a young mother with AIDS die but death seemed more a part of life than 'we let it be'. The church is said to be 'a mile wide and an inch deep' but this is not always so, the Easter Sunday service had been cancelled but a school third former greeted him and said "let us have a service together, I have some friends who would like to join us". We went into the church to pray and sing together. Their enthusiasm and sincerity spoke loudly of their faith and was a real encouragement to me-perhaps deep underground streams in an otherwise shallow sea.
KINANGO HOSPITAL,KENYA.
Clare was impressed by the poverty and harassment in Nairobi and Mombassa and the poverty and remoteness of Kinango two hours inland from Mombassa by bus. At the hospital there were one Kenyan doctor and four clinical assistants with three wards and two to three patients per bed. Malaria was responsible for 20 to 30 deaths from anaemia each week with little blood in the bank due to an HIV positive rate of 40%. ( One needs to be careful how one donates blood under such conditions ).Other serious problems were leprosy, rabies, malnutrition. Common problems were Burkitt's lymphoma, huge hernias, hydroceles and elephantiasis. Many patients and some staff believed that disease was a curse and all who were ill were sinners.
There was no running water and only occasional electricity. Patients had to buy almost every drug and piece of disposable equipment if it was in stock. The rainy season caused the river to swell and crocodiles made washing dangerous. Many local people had never seen a white person before but she was invited out to many meals and gained weight!
She climbed Kilimanjaro and visited Ngorongoro crater game park and three increasingly remote islands:- Zanzibar, and then Lamu with one vehicle and herds of donkeys, then Kiwaiyu where they slept in tree houses overlooking the sea with breathtaking scenery.
Alex found being on call and decision making during the first two weeks difficult especially not knowing any obstetrics and gynaecology but was supported by the hospital missionary staff. He found it hard to watch a young mother with AIDS die but death seemed more a part of life than 'we let it be'. The church is said to be 'a mile wide and an inch deep' but this is not always so, the Easter Sunday service had been cancelled but a school third former greeted him and said "let us have a service together, I have some friends who would like to join us". We went into the church to pray and sing together. Their enthusiasm and sincerity spoke loudly of their faith and was a real encouragement to me-perhaps deep underground streams in an otherwise shallow sea.
KINANGO HOSPITAL,KENYA.
Clare was impressed by the poverty and harassment in Nairobi and Mombassa and the poverty and remoteness of Kinango two hours inland from Mombassa by bus. At the hospital there were one Kenyan doctor and four clinical assistants with three wards and two to three patients per bed. Malaria was responsible for 20 to 30 deaths from anaemia each week with little blood in the bank due to an HIV positive rate of 40%. ( One needs to be careful how one donates blood under such conditions ).Other serious problems were leprosy, rabies, malnutrition. Common problems were Burkitt's lymphoma, huge hernias, hydroceles and elephantiasis. Many patients and some staff believed that disease was a curse and all who were ill were sinners.
There was no running water and only occasional electricity. Patients had to buy almost every drug and piece of disposable equipment if it was in stock. The rainy season caused the river to swell and crocodiles made washing dangerous. Many local people had never seen a white person before but she was invited out to many meals and gained weight!
She climbed Kilimanjaro and visited Ngorongoro crater game park and three increasingly remote islands:- Zanzibar, and then Lamu with one vehicle and herds of donkeys, then Kiwaiyu where they slept in tree houses overlooking the sea with breathtaking scenery.
