Tabitha Clinic A and B

Habari zenu!

Tuesday morning we had our first staff meeting, which helped me understand much more about what each of the programs and program officers were doing within CFK. After the meeting we ventured into Kibera to explore Tabitha Clinic A and B, both of which are free clinics set up by CFK. I was astounded in every way I know how to define the word. We visited clinic A first which is tucked into Soweto West, one of the villages in Kibera. A narrow pathway off the main road led us to a cement hall with open rooms off to one side and benches with waiting patients on the other. The first room on our right had benches lining the walls, full of patients waiting to have their medical history taken. The next room is what I would call a triage room, where patients present their symptoms to a medical professional and are then categorized by numbers which indicate the severity of their condition. Then they are called in order to one of the two doctors. The room had a small desk with a computer, and a simple bed with a white curtain around it. There is a small pharmacy (chemist) with a variety of drugs on an open shelf. The patient is separate from the pharmacist and the drugs by chicken fence and a wood door. There is a small refrigerator to keep medicines that need refrigeration. There is also a lab, which has one microscope, several samples, lots of paperwork and a sign on the door indicating prices of having labs processed:

Pregnancy test- 50 shillings (almost a dollar)
Urinalysis- 35 shillings
Stool analysis- 35 shillings
HIV test- 35 shillings

and a few more. If patients can't afford the small fee (which many cannot), they get there labs anyway. There is one final room where the doctors can get tea and where all the patient records are held (in paper form of course). The doctors often don't have time for lunch breaks, so they grab tea and keep seeing patients. There is very little privacy, almost all the rooms are open to the hallway. The HIPPA folks in the US would be pulling their hair out.

Tabitha B is about half a kilometer away. It is nearly the same, but there are rooms on both sides of the hall and there is no lab or refrigerator.

Child birth is all done in the home, no doctors, no drugs. There is one GYN doctor, who is a woman, but regular gyn care is not standard. All of the doctors are Kenyan (yay!).

Very interesting, I am hoping to meet with the director of the clinics in the next few days because seeing them has absolutely taken me. I have so many questions.

I am back at the office this morning, and we are about to take an extensive walk through Kibera. More soon, much love.

Alisa

Monkey pictures

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Incredible! The monkeys were amazing, it was like an American park (grass, pond, benches, etc) except for there were about 30 monkeys roaming around free. We bought some groundnuts and corn and monkeys came from all directions! Climbing our shoulders and heads, jumping to grab food, and catching mid air if we tossed something to them. Incredible. You could sit down and hold out groundnuts and immediately there would be a crowd of monkey company. There was even a couple moms with the baby tighty holding their underside. If you weren't careful, the monkeys would sneak attack and grab the whole bag of groundnuts from you hand and jet away before you can do a thing. We were suckers and it happen a few times. We had a blast.

Market, self-esteem and more

Yesterday the volunteers, two CFK administrators (Cantar and Ben) and I all went through the Toi market. We met at 11am and started at the top of the market and weaved our way through. There were hundreds and hundreds of booths selling mostly used clothes, bed sheets, shoes, and fruit. Apparently many of these items are leftovers from the US goodwill donations that get shipped out here. It was probably about one square mile of market. It was hard to look at everything because the dirt walkways are riddled with mud, garbage and big rocks so you can constantly looking up and down trying not to fall down but also trying to see the booths. Haha, it is a workout! Once we made it through, we stopped a little hole in the wall Kenyan restaurant. We ate beans (ndondo), chapati (tortilla-ish), and fresh avocado. Delicious! Then we walked about a mile to a primary school where some of our CFK boys were having a soccer tournament. Many of the boys played barefoot because they don't own cleats, it sure didn't slow then down though! After the game, I walked back with Ben and Blair down the railroad tracks toward CFK. We got a fantastic view of Kibera and beyond that I will take a picture of soon. (The railroad cuts through all of Kibera). Ben said that during the violence, people had put dynamite under the tracks and blown it up. It has just been reconstructed. Sure enough we peered over the edge of the walkway and say a rusted destroyed railing. We eventually got back to CFK and broke into small groups with the Binti girls and talked about self-esteem. What is self esteem? What are the advantages of self esteem? Do you have self-esteem? Are you proud of who you are? Many of the girls said self-esteem helped them make good choices, respect themselves, follow their values, say no when they mean no, etc. One of the leaders asked the girls who had their menses. A few scattered hands hesitantly were raised, followed by a few more. The leader then asked why they were embarrassed about a natural thing that made them women? She said we must be proud of our womanhood, and not be embarrassed of something that half the population experiences. Good advice I think.

After the small group discussions, I watched the girls rehearse their skits again, then we went home. Blair and I came home to a wonderful Kenyan meal; ugali (boiled water and flour which forms a dense cake like starch) some sort of boiled greens, and beef with tomatoes/onions/spices. I tried some of the sauce from the meat which was delicious. Eventually I'll tell Jane I am vegetarian, but I don't want to be picky. We squished the ugali in our hands and flattened a small ball so we could pinch some greens with it and eat it together. YUM. The power was out so we ate by candlelight. After dinner blair and I made coffee improv style. The coffee maker didn't work so we boiled water, added coffee grinds and poured it through a hand held coffee filter into our cups. It was messy, but tasted good. Then we went to our room and watched "Something's gotta give" on my laptop. A few ginger snaps later we fell asleep.

Blair, Yaniv and I woke up this morning at met at Java, which is a local restaurant with wireless internet. We treated ourselves to banana pancakes, french toast, and fish and chips (Yaniv doesn't like b-fast food!). I am still here at Java, but at 2:00 James (our FAVORITE taxi driver) is taking us to a monkey park. We have our cameras and I will post pictures soon! James said last time he went the monkeys jumped in the car, took all their fruit, and then jumped out and ate it right in from of them. Haha, I can't wait.

much love.

The beginning

Jambo! Hope you are all well. Things are off to a good start here. We arrived late Weds. night and the airplane lost 6 of our bags (3 of which were soccer equipment for CFK). We got 4 of them back yesterday and a still waiting on the last two. On thurs we rested and visited nearby internet cafes. Later in the afternoon we went into Kibera for the first time. It is incredible to say the least. It is crammed full of shacks built out of sheet metal, like on an airplane hanger. Many of them are rusted and worn, but a noticeable percentage are made of brand new metal. These are the homes and shops that were burnt down during January's election violence. In between the shacks are dirt walkways which are lined with trenches of sewage, old shoes, animals, and garbage. The people are friendly, but surprised that 'mzungus' (white folks) are in this part of town. When we walk past children they yell 'mzungu! mzungu!' and then reach out their tiny hands to touch you. The more shy kids will just stare with a wide grin and turn their heads as you pass. To me, Kibera is best represented by one word: lively. Everywhere there is laughter, random animals (like goats and baby chicks), music, and foot traffic. Kenyans greet Kenyans (and us) with a simple hand slap (maybe a mix between high fivin and a hand shake!).

I am staying with another volunteer with a woman named Jane. We practically live in a fortress of gates, padlocks, and bars so no need to worry about me; I am very safe. Blair and I are still getting adjusted to the time change, one night we both woke up wide away at 2 in the morning. We giggled, made peanut butter and jam sandwiches and told each other stories about home. Blair and Yaniv ( the other two summer volunteers) are wonderful, we all get along really well. We are hoping to go on a safari, see the coast (Mbosa), and spend some time in downtown Nairobi. In the meanwhile we spend the early evening hanging out at Adam's Arcade or Nakumatt which have free wireless internet, food, and coffee.

I met the Binti Pamoja girls for the first time today. Lucky for me, today was a field trip! Wahoo! We all squished into a bus (at least 3 or 4 girls to a bench) and traveled across town to another girls school. The whole bus ride there the girls sang at the top of their lungs. There were no breaks between songs, someone would just decided to change the song and sing it loudly until everyone caught on and switched. We toured the school, played games, and the girls performed some of their poems and skits. The performances were great; one was about rape, another:HIV-Aids, another: the African Child. The games were also lots of fun, although it was all conducted in kiswahili so I often found myself copying the girls and just skipping with them. My favorite game was Mingle; where the leader yells "mingle, mingle" and then all the girls yell "MINGLE" which continues as we walk amongst each other. Then the leader yells "back to back" or "elbow to elbow" etc and all the girls frantically find someone to connect to. My personal favorite was "nose to nose" when all the girls shrieked with laughter and a young girl ran up to me, closed her eyes, and stuck her nose high in the air. I, of course, bent over and touched my nose to hers, while everyone laughed.

Throughout the day the girls would try to sneak a touch of my hair, which was in a low ponytail. they tried to do it so I wouldn't notice, and when I turned around they would pretend nothing had happened. Finally on the bus ride home, this happened again with the girl who I did "nose to nose" with and I just took down my hair and let her play with it. Soon enough, everyone within reach ran their fingers through my mzungu hair. we all laughed. hard.

It has been good. I miss you all. please email me when you can.

Alisa

prep

Hello friends and family! I am setting up this blog to keep you all in touch with my experiences in Kibera, Kenya this summer. I leave May 20th and will return August 5th. Check back soon!

I am working with Carolina for Kibera in the Binti Pamoja program.

http://carolinaforkibera.com/