It has not yet been two weeks since we arrived from Kawangware to GIWA, but already we are starting to feel at home. Margaret was so generous to make space for Grace and I in her mud home. Margaret is the single mother that I transported to the hospital the day I left Africa in January.
She was past her due date and her baby was not engaged in the pelvis at all and I was beginning to worry that her placenta could be low and be the cause. It is such an adjustment to assist women here where it is so rare to get an ultrasound in pregnancy. So, that morning, we rose early and headed to Nakuru. I asked her to bring a friend because I would have to move on to Nairobi to catch my flight that same day. It was quite an adventure getting there because neither of us knew exactly where the government hospital was located. We took the motorbikes to the highway (yes, an overdue pregnant mama on the back of a motorbike) then the matatu to Nakuru, then boarded another matatu that told us it was headed in the direction of the hospital. I will never forget my frustration when we realized that the matatu was not heading in the right direction. January is very hot here and I couldn’t believe the driver had taken advantage of our lack of knowledge. We lost precious time and money, plus had to walk in the heat. Unfortunately, you come to learn that it is common here for people to take advantage of others to gain profit. Luckily, just when I am at my wit’s end with this practice, someone who is generous and kind will come along.
We did make it to the hospital that day and I guess the car ride jiggled the baby into position. So, with the baby now engaged, there was no ultrasound ordered and Margaret was instructed to return when she was in labor. I have since found that it seems to be common for babies not to engage until even labor here, maybe it has something to do with all the lifting and physical labor they continue with until delivery. I treated them to a special lunch and then left her with enough money to cover the cost of a vaginal delivery in the hospital ($30). We both cried and I promised her that I would be back.
There is one thing for sure about Kenyan culture. They very much expect you to make good on your promises, they will not forget. Margaret had been waiting for me since July. I was not able to afford for Grace and I to stay in the volunteer house through the organization, so it was a great relief to know that we had a place to stay since I desperately wanted to return to the people of GIWA.
Our stay at Margaret’s actually ended up being very brief. The volunteer house completely burned just weeks before our arrival along with everything in it, including the boxes of medical supplies that I left. I decided that the best use of our money for accommodation would be to reconstruct part of the volunteer house. This would also provide us with security since the “Corporal” would share th
e house, plus privacy which was becoming a necessity for me. The volunteer house it located away from the main camps and between the two. It was humbling and gracious to be housed within the community, fed and fussed over. But on the other hand, Grace and I did not have a minute to ourselves and found there were constantly a group of woman and children asking for things, trying to talk to us in Swahili or just watching our every move.
The work was completed quickly thanks to David, the contractor who I worked with at FreMo. We made the least burned side of the house livable in just two and one-half days. The small 8×10 room that used to function as the volunteer kitchen and then housed the Corporal and family after the fire is to become my small clinic. I have had a bed made and am stocking it with medicines. Already people are coming by like the 9 month old with severe burns on the arm of which I am changing his dressings often. This week we will begin the prenatal and first aid clinic on Wednesdays and Fridays.
We will only plan to travel to town once a week for supplies. Unless something comes up. Like today. We are in Nakuru to meet a father who approached me about helping with his wife’s hospital bill. She started labor at the small local hospital in Rongai, where most women of GIWA go to deliver. That hospital is a one hour walk or you must hire a motor bike and they do not have facilities for surgery. I do not yet know the full story, but apparently this mother had to transfer for cesarean for her third delivery on August 9. Fortunately, she and the baby are well but they have not been allowed to leave the hospital until they can pay their bill. This is common practice. Sometimes, a woman is not given care at all unless they put down a deposit. So, she and the baby have been waiting in a ward until the family can raise the balance of equal to $150. That is a very large amount of money for them. I told them I would pay half of the bill if they could raise the other half and they have done so. Today Grace and I will meet them at the hospital and witness her release and happy reunion.
That is the type of thing that the donations are going towards. I am not paying children’s school fees or buying uniforms or any of the other many needs of the community. I am only spending the money on medical needs. Here is a general breakdown so far.
- Supplies and extra baggage cost from home $400
- Construction and supplies of second birth room at FreMo $800
- Cash donation to VICDA for ground breaking of hospital at GIWA $225
- Re-construction of Volunteer house and clinic room $1000
- Medicines and supplies $150
- Hospital bill for Virginia (above) $75
Total donated $4000. Total spent $2650. I have spent my own funds on our tickets, shots, accommodations, food and personal supplies totaling around $4800. I will continue to keep track and continue to ask for your support. I have many ideas that I hope to implement such as holding community health classes and community income projects for the HIV+ and single mothers of GIWA. Plus I will be traveling once a month to other IDP camps in the area for mobile clinic days.
Thank you again for being a part of this mission. Rest assured that your money is doing very good work for the people here in Kenya. Please spread the word and keep your thoughts, prayers and financial support coming. Thank you!
Midwife In Africa 