A Time and a Season

Four years ago today, I was deciding whether or not to go on my first trip to Iraq on a medical team. I decided yes, and I went. A few months after that, I left my beloved job working as a PICU Respiratory Therapist, and took a "one-year" leave-of-absence to volunteer full time in Kenya.

Today, I have spent the morning writing e-mails to people who have been sponsoring me in Kenya, to let them know they can stop donating because I have enough funds to see me through to March. Now I'm thinking of what to say to the girls Bible study group when I meet with them this evening. A season of my life is ending. I have been crying all morning long.

Yes, they are tears of sadness, because I will desperately miss this place, the people here, my friends, and especially the kids. Preparing to leave and thinking of saying goodbye is the worst. I will be doing a lot of reflecting over the next 2 1/2 months.

This is not to say that I have nothing to look forward to! I know God has great plans, because of all I have experienced up to this point. I won't pretend to know that lies ahead of me for the next four years, because I could never have imagined what I have just experienced over the past four. I'm starting a new course, and God will change it and mold it as usual.

I am coming to terms and coping with the stress of drastically changing course again, and starting a whole new scary, challenging, journey into the unknown. This is going to be a cake walk! And when I say cake walk, I mean there will be a lot of cake-eating, followed by a lot of walking to undo the consequences of this epic cake-eating.

To everyone else who is facing great changes this year - my advice is to cling tight to God, and eat more cake. =)

Do I still have a blog?

Today I remembered I still have a blog, that I should be updating more often than I do. I remember how easy it was to blog during the first year in Kenya - I was so excited when I could get online, and I seemed to always have photos to post a story with. Every year since then, I have vowed to blog more frequently or at least more consistently, and every year since I have posted fewer and fewer stories and blogs. Why is this? Well, sometimes I start writing about my day or a story, and halfway through I think, "does anyone really care about what I did on a typical day like this?" Often I end up deleting it because I decided it was too long or too boring! But while I was home the question I was asked most often is "what is your typical day?"

So today I will just tell you about my regular, boring day. =)

Today I woke up early, thinking I would try to leave the house before 7am to visit Michael in the hospital, anticipating that he would probably go to surgery this morning and I wanted to see him first. Mety insisted that he probably wouldn't be operated on until later in the day, so I stopped rushing and had chai and left the house when she did - about 7:45. We walked to the end of our road and I caught a matatu to town while she headed to the village. I was in town by 8am, and stopped by a phone shop to buy a SIM card for a temporary phone I wanted to give to Michael so he could use it while he is admitted. After standing in a line that did not move at all for 20 minutes, I walked to a different shop and bought a SIM card for 50 shillings (about 60 cents) and minutes (for $1.25). I sat for about 10 minutes while the phone guy registered the phone and loaded it with minutes, then I walked down the hill and got a motorbike ride to the hospital. Michael was still sleeping when I arrived at his bed, but he was excited to get the phone so he didn't mind me waking him! He told me his surgery would be in the evening. I gave him the phone, then told him I would come later and he should go back to sleep! I got another motorbike to a cafe in town where I know the staff, so that I could drop off medicines for a child in Kambi Teso, which would be picked later by a co-worker who is going to the slum today. I then walked to the matatu stage to go to the village. A man grabbed my arm as I was crossing the street to the stage, and tried to take a coffee cup out of my hand. I pushed his hand away with my other arm and told him very firmly in Swahili to leave me alone. The shopkeepers behind him laughed and rebuked him for harassing a mzungu who "knows Swahili."
After a 20 minute matatu ride, I reached the village road just as a motorbike with a passenger was starting down the road towards the village. I hesitated, thinking of calling another one, then decided to just walk to the village. But the motorbike guy and his passenger stopped and backed up to pick me, so I got a quick ride down the dirt road!
Two sick kids were waiting for me, one with an eye infection and another with asthma. I treated both of them, then did some cleaning in pharmacy, then met with one of our high-school girls who came home for half-term break. It's only 12:00pm, so most of the day is still ahead of me. I'll go to baby home next to follow-up with some development education and do paperwork. This evening I will visit Michael and hopefully see his mom who is traveling to see him today. Then I am meeting Peter at a clinic in town to change the bandage on his leg, and afterwards Mety and I are going to a friend's house to cook popcorn chicken for dinner.

That's a typical day. =)

What a difference a day makes!

Sunday afternoon, Michael was sitting in his sister's house in Kipkaren slum, with no idea that I was going to show up that evening to invite him for a school interview. The next morning, we both woke up very early to meet in town so I could bring him to Open Arms.

He spent Monday morning taking tests to determine what grade he could be placed into. By the end of the day he had a school uniform, and an invitation to stay at the head teacher's home during the week, to save him from long daily commutes from Kipkaren! Michael took all of this news in quietly. That evening, he was given transport money to return to Kipkaren - this time to pack his clothes and return the next morning to Open Arms.

Tuesday, Michael sat at his own desk in a classroom for the first time in 3 years! Tuesday night would be his first night staying with his new host family. During the day I had gone to town and bought him some basic things - a backpack, blankets, sheets, wash basin, soap, and some shoe polish for his brand new black school shoes!

I posted about Michael's needs on Facebook on Monday, and by Wednesday morning he had a school sponsor and some other donations to help cover his additional costs! Thank you so much for caring for Michael and for your quick response to his need!! He has a lot of catching up to do, but his future has changed because of the opportunity your generosity is giving him!

In Loving Memory...

I visited my Grandma this Christmas, and while I was there she bought some new clothes for Asha - her sponsored child. I was so excited to bring them back and send her photos of Asha trying them on! But, my Grandma went to be with the Lord on January 5th, 2014, just one day before I was due to come back to Kenya. I stayed longer in the U.S to attend her memorial and spend time with family, and just arrived back in Kenya this week.Today, Asha tried on her new clothes. She absolutely loved them, and was so excited to try them all on! Now I am sending these photos to my Aunt, Uncle, and my mom, who are continuing Asha's sponsorship for my Grandma. But as Asha was trying on the clothes, I was wondering if just maybe my Grandma can see her, too. I'm sure Asha's joy in these pictures is just a tiny glimpse of the joy we will someday share in Heaven!

In loving memory of Josephine Magrogan

May 9, 1923 - January 5, 2014

Wisdom from Baby Home!

Life lessons from a few of our babies.....

If someone lets you out, take off running! And don't be afraid to take a few falls....

The cuter you are, the more you can get away with. And it's ok to dance in the middle of the road, as long as no cars are coming.

Be sure to point out interesting scenery, to anyone who might not be noticing it.

Get a stick,

or two....or three!

 and don't be afraid to use it!

If someone takes your stick, don't waste time - move on and find something better!

So little, but so wise! =)

Michael's progress...

Michael is continuing to heal and improve. He is very happy to be bearing full weight on his leg, and these days when I go to his house to do dressing changes, I never find him sitting down! 

I have been taking occasional photos of his leg, and it's nice to see the progress! He's really come a long way. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Knit two!

Update on the girls knitting: They are finishing lots of scarves. =)

Debora and Grace - two of the youngest who have learned and actually kept going! Both of them have finished scarves!

Naomi - Last week she got the hugest pile of tangled yarn I have EVER seen. Three girls spent over an hour trying to detangle it and ended up taking it all home still in a mess. She brought it back this week, cut into pieces and tied back together - she's still going! Love this girl.

Mercy

Rachael has finished 8 scarves in the last month. She knits SO fast! =)

Grace and Mercy Chumba, having fun!

Phylis

Risper

Marion

Purity

Sheila - showing off all her finished scarves!

Meet Michael

(This story is a bit graphic....)

Meet Michael.

Michael remembers the exact date his leg started hurting over 2 years ago - February 25th, 2011. He lives in a very rural part of Kenya. When his lower right leg swelled and began hurting, his parents took him to a district hospital for treatment. Doctors performed a surgery to cut around the swelling, but found no cause. He was given oral medication and "something like sugar" (his words) to put on his wound. The wound dried but never healed. After only one day of finishing the prescribed medication, the wound began to worsen again. He was taken to a different hospital, where x-rays were taken. Doctors there said they could find nothing wrong and sent him home again, with no treatment.
The wound continued to worsen. His family bought a traditional medicine made from herbs that are burned to make an ash which is then applied to the wound. He said this treatment helped for a while and he used it for about one week. By April 2011, two months after his leg began to hurt, his family could afford no further treatment, even the traditional ashes. Michael's wound continued to affect his lower leg, an area about the size of his palm. Through the rest of that year and all of 2012, the wound continued, slowly spreading, but he received no medical care. At some point, he stopped attending school.

By March 2013, the wound had grown to affect a large surface down the front of his right leg and extended down either side. It had a very bad smell, drained blood and pus, and was so deep that bone was exposed. One day in March, a piece of bone fell out of the lower part of the wound. He showed me the indentation on his leg where this happened, which is now healed over with skin. Later that same month, a hard swelling began on the front of his leg until finally a shard of bone broke through the top of the wound. He says this was very painful. Thankfully, after that he felt very little pain from the wound. As he tells me this story, a few inches of this bone is still exposed and sticks out the front of his leg a few inches below his knee, catching the hem of his trousers when he rolls them up to show me his leg. He still received no treatment and tells me he has taken no medications, but washes the wound with warm salt water three times a day.
In May of this year, still with no money for treatment, his family sent Michael to Eldoret to be prayed for. Since that time, he has been living with his older sister in Kipkaren slum. On Monday August 14th, he walked, alone, to our free medical clinic in Kipkaren, hoping to get help. The photo below is a photo of part of Michael's wound the day he walked to our clinic.

After many days of waiting, and two admissions to the hospital, Michael was finally operated on last Sunday to remove dead tissue and bone from his leg. The first few days after surgery were rough, as he was in a lot of pain. I tried to encourage him in my basic Swahili, but mostly I just brought him anything he asked for - juice, cake, fruit, soda, potatoes, chapati, hot dogs, a hat (and also his more humble requests for soap and bottled water.)

After a few days, his pain was well controlled with medication and he really cheered up. He was able to get out of bed and stroll around the ward in a wheelchair, and walk with assistance and a walker.
This past Friday when I visited, they measured him for crutches but the hospital workshop had no wood to make crutches. I bought him a pair of adjustable, aluminum crutches from a pharmacy in town.

The hospital staff had said if I brought crutches back by 5pm, a therapist would teach him how to use them. He was very happy to get his own crutches!


Michael was told after he learned to use crutches he could go home in a few days. But, over the weekend, it was discovered that the infection in his leg is not improving as hoped, so he will remain admitted for some time so the wound can be managed.

Please keep praying for his quick and complete recovery!!!!


Want to help Michael?

- We are in need of donations to cover the costs of his medical expenses. You can donate through Open Arms website - be sure to put Michael in the comments section to designate that your donation will go towards his care! http://openarmsinternational.com/donate-now/

- Want to send him a card? E-mail me a scanned Get Well card or other encouraging note and I will print them and take them to the hospital! (Keep it simple! He mostly speaks Swahili!)

- Please keep him in your prayers!

Dairy Goats!

Mety and Elliot, professional goat wranglers!

Last month, we got two dairy goats for Open Arms village, thanks to a donation from my sister Lexie!

The lady who sold us the dairy goats, demonstrating how she milks them. A little different than the way I know, but it works!

 The day we purchased the dairy goats, our work team volunteers were traveling back from town on a bus.  So the bus stopped and picked the goats on the way back to the village! Getting them on was actually a little easier than getting them off....

Loading our four-legged passengers....

Elliot trying his hand at convincing a goat off the bus.....the goat refused.

Solomon, one of our house parents who helps in the farm, helping our new goat off the bus!

My sisters and I grew up with dairy goats, and we loved raising goats! Our dairy goat always gave birth to triplets so we each had a baby to care for. Fun times!

Knit one...

The older girls are learning how to knit! I brought back some yarn and a few knitting needles from the US, and then bought some here locally, and the Thursday night Bible study became the "Thursday Night Knitting Club" for a few weeks! Now we are alternating with Bible study some weeks, and knitting other weeks. We also had a Bible study on how to relate our new knitting skills to living a Christian life. The girls were given the needles and yarn for free, even before they knew they wanted them - which is like God's love for us, and also a picture of salvation and God's grace! We are also given tools and abilities (like knitting needles and yarn) and it is up to us to use them for a good purpose! You could just take the needles and carry them around and do nothing with them, or you can put them to good use.



I told the story of the friend who taught me to knit, and shared examples of all the people who have learned to knit because of her willingness to teach  me! We talked about how this is like sharing the gospel and discipling others - and how many people you can influence just by being willing to share! You don't need to be an expert knitter, you can share what you know and start from there. Don't be afraid to share your faith, even if you don't know all the answers yet! Even if you just know how to "cast on" stitches, that's a start! I shared how when I was first teaching a friend how to knit a scarf, I didn't remember how to finish the ends. In my researching so I could show my friend, we both learned something! (As iron sharpens iron...)

Now that almost all of the older girls are becoming accomplished knitters, some of our young girls are starting to learn as well! They are picking it up surprisingly quickly, so I'll update you on their progress soon!

Would you like to help support this project? We could use more knitting looms like the "Knifty Knitter" that make it really easy for kids to knit hats and other projects. We can also use the larger sizes of aluminum knitting needles (US size 9 and up!). Also, the yarn available to purchase here in Kenya is only solid colors. If you see a sale of any "fun" yarns - thick, chunky, striped, etc - the girls would love it! (Bright or dark colors are best!) Any donations sent to the Open Arms office can be brought over by visitors on this summer's teams! E-mail me if you have any questions, or leave a comment on this post and I will reply! Thanks for your help!

Fun in the Sun!

Last week I started taking all the "walkers" in the Baby Home out once or twice a day, for a chance to walk around in the glorious sunshine we have been enjoying since the rains let up!

Stop taking our picture, hurry up just open the door!

And they're off! The short one in front is Faith, she's small but she's fast!

 

Three out of four will come running when they're called. The fourth one...still in training!

Yes, let's do this everyday!

Kikopey....

Since about a month ago, when Mety and I were first making plans to go to Nakuru, I think she's been craving roasted goat! After we finished touring the park in Nakuru, we still had many hours left on our rental car, so we got directions to Java House, Menengai Crater, and a place called "Kikopey".
Java House served us a very yummy lunch of chicken quesadillas and then we drove about 20 minutes to the top of a viewpoint overlooking Menengai Crater. The fact that our rental car was nearly out of gas (and also had some sort of electrical problem that caused it to frequently shut off while braking) made the steep drive a little bit more fun!
When we reached the top of the ridge, we were greeted by a sparkling view of the crater. The weather was completely perfect!

Menengai Crater - One of the largest volcano depressions in the world!

The black rock on the floor of the crater is the lava path!

Warning! Do not go beyond this point! (it's a long way down!)

A beautiful view of Lake Nakuru from the other side of the ridge.

The road.... which Mety coasted down in neutral, as we were very low on fuel.....ha

After viewing the crater, we coasted into a gas station and added a little fuel to the car. Not very much, because we didn't want to waste money - our rental car came with no gas and we were set on returning it in the same condition. Then we set off for Kikopey - a cluster of open-air "restaurants" on the side of the road between Nakuru and Nairobi. I've never been before but Mety visited once and said it was a haven of nyama choma. We were told it was a 10km drive from Nakuru town. By the 20km point, I was glad that we had put a little extra gas in the car. By 30km, I was wishing we had put more! 40km later, we finally reached Kikopey!

This is real Kenyan barbecue! From Left to Right: Goat intestines (yeah those aren't curly fries!), whole flayed chicken, some kind of sausage?,  then leg of goat. You choose your portion, then they finish roasting it and serve it to you on a wooden platter garnished with a pile of salt. This guy happily agreed to let me take this picture, and then really grossed me out when he started piling the finished chickens on top of the platter of intestines. Mety saw my face and quickly told him in speedy Swahili to bring me some chicken that hadn't touched intestines!

We were shown to the fanciest table in the joint, which was polished wood instead of plastic. There wasn't another Mzungu in sight! Much to my dismay, our table backed up to the "kitchen" where the dishes were cleaned. The "cleaning" bucket is out of sight in this photo, the green and blue buckets are 1st rinse and 2nd rinse. You really can't appreciate the murkiness of the water from this picture! After I took this, Mety made me turn around and stop looking so I couldn't photograph the wash water.

Mety's goat leg and my chicken, after it was chopped up table side by the chef. I was thankful for the generous pile of salt! (Salt kills bacteria right?) 

My friend Mety - that's one very happy Kenyan!

Mety finished her goat, and I made a small dent in my chicken before I realized the terrible smell I kept getting whiffs of was coming from my own platter! Mety concurred that some of mine had a smell, but her response was "just don't eat the smelly pieces!" No amount of salt could keep me eating, because all I could picture was intestines and the brown water behind me. But it was a good experience, and after we got back to our Nakuru hotel, Mety surprised me with flowers and chocolate! Definitely the most unique, memorable birthday I've ever had!