Nursery Day

Well today was a little bit more difficult than I thought. I went to the nursery today. Julie took me up there this morning and helped too. First off the nursery is really crowded not only are around 30 babies in one room but they also have to fit the mothers in too to help feed. When I got in there I was a little overwhelmed but as they told us what to do I got more comfortable. I had to wash the baby and then feed it. Now washing the baby is a lot more difficult than it sounds, especially here. The baby I cleaned was adorable, of course, but as I started washing him I noticed that it look like he hadn't been cleaned very well last time. He had his waste stuck on his legs and also all over his bottom and even some on his hands. I guess even if they go to the bath room they have to stay in it until the next feeding. Which is every two to three hours. So I was trying as hard as I could to get him clean and still not hurt him. Lucky me he didn't cry as much as the others, he was a good little boy. When I finished cleaning him I was starting to get a little light headed, but I thought it would pass as I started to get his milk. Also another thing is that I had to feed him because the mother was having psychiatric problems. So, back to getting the milk, while I was waiting for them to get the formula I got really dizzy and couldn't breath. I told Julie and she took me out in the hall. I went outside and laid down until I thought it passed. I hadn't had anything for breakfast and the nursery was quite hot and didn't have the most pleasant smell. I went back not really feeling any better but thought this is what I came here to do. So they had the formula cooled and ready to go. The baby was so cute he kept falling asleep while we were feeding him. So one of the nurses came over and saw that he wouldn't wake up so she started flicking him. He started to cry because she was doing it pretty hard I felt sorry for the poor thing but I couldn't really do anything. When he finally woke up crying she asked me if he was my baby. I guess she thought I was adopting him or something I have no idea, but I explained to her I was just helping. I started to get more light headed and worse so I passed the baby to the nurse and she took over and I went outside. When I got outside there was another girl a little older than me who was having the same problems. We talked and it was nice to know I wasn't the only one having problems. I stayed out there for the rest of the time until Julie was done helping the nurse. I didn't feel any better but we started home. I didn't make it far until I was about to go out, so we went and sat in a church on the hospital grounds until I felt better. We were there for few minutes and then I thought I would feel better if we got home so I said lets go. It didn't take long until I felt sick again, and we ended up on the other side of the church and Julie decided to go get me a glass of water. She couldn't get the water at the hospital because it wasn't as clean. She soon came back and so did another guy named Todd with a glass of water. (Todd is helping construct some dorms, he has just gotten out of college and is staying at Tenwek for a year or so to help.) I felt horrible but I was so glad that they were there. After I drank the water a sat there for awhile I started to feel much better. I was sad that I didn't get to help finish feeding and that I had just left the baby there so I am sad that it happened and I plan to go back and make it through the whole feeding next time. Hopefully I won't feel sick again and be able to finish what I started. As the day went on I felt better and we had Liam's birthday party. It was fun and a lot of the missionary doctors came and so did their kids and wifes. I had a lot of fun and every body was really nice. The day was good and was full of experiences. We are going to Masai Mara tomorrow so I better get to bed I will talk to you later, bye.

Entry From Dad

Hey. This is dad's turn to write a little. It has been amazing so far and we are just getting started. There is so much I would like to convey to everyone, but any words I come up with never seem to be enough. This is our second morning actually here at Tenwek. As Riley wrote earlier, we had a tour of the grounds and the hospital yesterday. I know that I've seen things like this on TV, but part of my brain wouldn't comprehend that it is real. At least until seeing it first hand. The conditions of the hospital are actually very good, compared to the government run hospitals. I really can't imagine it being a whole lot worse without being in some combat zone. They are all packed in as close as they can, and it is not uncommon to have to put more than one person in a bed. Usually kids together or mother and her newborn child. That is, if the child is healthy enough to go with her. Several children are taken to the "nursery" because they are very premature and need some help breathing or eating. Logan, my brother who is a doctor is helping at the hospital, says that it not uncommon to lose one or two babies a day. A few days back he had to pronounce 4 babies dead in the course of a half hour. There was a set of triplets that were born at 24 weeks, and a single that died shortly after birth. I know that some of this sinks in and some cannot without actually seeing it, but please take a minute to think about that a little bit. This sort of thing is really common around here. The really sad part is many of the babies that are born or seen here could at least have a better chance with better hospital conditions and supplies. I am amazed at what they call "sanitized". Most areas in the hospital have windows that can be closed, but a lot of areas are open to the outside. The workers at the hospital will take breathing tubes, vent tubes, and most other plastics and sterilize them the best they can, then hang them over these openings to let them dry. After that they are good to be used again. I hope to get some pictures of the conditions, so you can see more of what I'm talking about. Now, I don't want this to be Sally Struthers commercial, so I'll move on to something more positive. They are helping a lot of people that would not have had any other option before. They are doing the best they can with what they've got, and many Kenyan's are happy for that. Riley is going to take a stent in the nursery helping feed some of the babies. I think that this will be a great experience for her and I know that she will forever be changed by what she has, and will see on this mission trip. I probably won't write as often as Riley will, but I will try to get some more pictures that she can put on here to show everyone, and we will have many more when we get back. Signing off, Dad.

Day of Tours

Today we went on a tour of Tenwek. First off in the morning Julie took us around town and showed us how to get to the hospital and where most of the long term missionaries live. She also took us over to the water fall and it was flowing pretty heavy because of all the rain we have been getting. We also went to where the local Kenyan's live which is pretty much right beside where we are staying and she showed us the path they take to wash clothes and bathe. It was a pretty rocky and muddy and Julie said most kids just run down there with no shoes and here I was having problems with shoes on. We also walked past some of the local schools and some of the kids playing outside and Julie said if they go to school both the boys and girls have to shave their heads and most of them have to have uniforms too. After our tour we went back to the house and had lunch and after lunch some of the little kids were outside and when they saw us they would start to dance past the window and then turn around and dance in front of the window some more. It was adorable! So after a few times of watching them and giggling I went and got some jump ropes some one had given me and went and played outside with them and it was funny to watch them because they were pretty little and would trip quit a few times but would laugh and get right back up and do it again. Then we also went and got my volleyball and pumped it up. We ended up playing where I hit it and then we try to see who can catch it first. It was so funny because sometimes I would hit up pretty high and they would just stand there with their hands in the air until it fell in to their arms or on the ground and they laughed even harder when they missed it. After that Logan gave us a tour of the hospital which was interesting. They do keep more than one person in the rooms there are about 6-10 people in one room. Also we saw where some of the tubes and things that they use they wash and then put them outside to dry then use.It made me even more grateful for the things that we have and sometimes I can get scared of hospitals I am really glad with what we have because what I saw today was a little scary and more real than I thought and Logan said that was even the better part of the day so I can only imagine what it will be like tomorrow when I go to the nursery to help feed the babies. Also most of the babies are preemies which is kind of making me nervous because I don't want to hurt them. Pray that I will get over that and that every thing will be ok even though I now it will but its kind of hard knowing that now. After that tour we came home and later on we had some of Logan and Julies friends that are 20 and 21 come over for dinner. They are going to the orphanage next week and I will be going there and maybe staying a couple of nights there with them. They have been here for about a month but they have been all over the world. One of the girls has been to Vietnam 12 times because her parents started a non-profit organization there. They were super sweet and I can't wait to go to the orphanage with them it will be fun. Well I am getting ready to go to bed but I will blog some more tomorrow, bye. :)

Here we are at the Great Rift Valley. Its was beautiful view and so was the scenery!

Made It!

Well we made it to Tenwek today. I am so glad we are finally here its felt like forever to get here but we made it. The day we got to Nairobi we stayed at the Mennonite Guest House which was beautiful. We went grocery shopping with Logan and Julie and they had to get three months of food so it was fun to see how much they had to buy. They ended up buying three cart fulls of food. We also went to an open air market and that was quiet an eye opener to see how some peoples daily lives are spent and how they make money. You never buy anything for the price they offer and I wasn't good at bartering so I let dad do most of it. Then we went back to the Mennonite House and had dinner and called it a day. So now today we got to Tenwek and unpacked I talked ( tried to understand ) to the little kids. While I was unpacking my window was open and they all ( about 6 ) came and stared at me while I unpacked. We were trying to talk but it was hard to understand kipsigis but it was fun to hear them speak. Over all its been great. Its beautiful and so green I cant believe it. Well I better get to bed I will blog some more tomorrow bye.