Good morning from Kijabe Kenya! Some things in life are universal and one of them is that medical rounds are always very early in the morning. The same is true here. What is different is that we are not always awakened to the sound of roosters!
Since this is essentially my first entry in the blog I want you to know that these are my random thoughts and not meant for publication. Marv and I simply want to share our journey half way around the world with our children and grandchildren as well as our many friends who may be following this blog . Now where do I start?
We left Wilmington on Sunday afternoon, Jan 2, 2011 for Philadelphia, then London and finally Nairobi, Kenya. We landed at about 9 PM, but did not arrive at the Mennonite House until after 11PM. The airport experience is your first realization that you are in a third world country. The lines for an entry visa are very long and the paper work all done by hand with countless duplicates. Fortunately all of our bags arrived safely and we found our driver, Jonathon from Samaritan’s Purse waiting outside holding our names high amongst the throngs. Driving in Kenya is not for the faint hearted, especially at 10PM, another realization that you are a long way from I 40. We arrived safely to the comfort of the Mennonite House, a respite for many NGO workers throughout Africa, and happily crawled into bed.
Breakfast is served family style and our biological clocks were on western time so we were up early. It is fascinating and actually awe inspiring to hear the stories of people giving their lives to serve the poor on this continent. The Mennonite House serves as a haven from the rigors of their daily life as they often travel to Nairobi to resupply and restock their pantries as well as their spirits and share experiences from other countries. Interestingly, we shared breakfast with a young woman from Canada, Jackie Kosters, who works for an organization we are very familiar with, CRWRC(Christian Reformed World Relief) as our niece Kate Kooyman has also worked there. Talk about a small world!
At 9AM, Jonathon was there to pick us up and we were off to the Nakamutt or the Kenyan version of WalMart! We stocked up on enough groceries to last us for the month and spent 31 thousand shillings doing so! That amount is a bit shocking when you see it on the register, but never fear it was about 388 US dollars! We were surprised that they are carrying a lot more of the food stuffs that we did not see a couple of years ago. We loaded up the Toyota van and we were off to Kijabe, about an hour outside of Nairobi which is vast and stretches out at least a half hour of that time. One of the first things that strikes you is the number of people and the second thing is how many of them are walking. There is energy and activity everywhere.
We arrived at our new home in the early afternoon and settled into #1B of an apartment complex near the hospital. Our quarters are beautiful and leave nothing to be desired. We have three bedrooms so if anyone wants to make a quick trip over there is more than enough room for guests. We stocked our pantry and then walked over to the hospital so that Marv could check in with the Obstetrics department. That evening we were invited to a Bible Study comprised mostly of pediatric surgeons and their spouses. It was a small United Nations with Canada, the US, Madagascar, and Ethiopia being represented amongst 12 people!
But enough said for one blog.....we are so blessed to be here safely and will continue this adventure with you tomorrow.
Love to you all and miss you already,
Mom and Dad, Nana and Poppy, Micki and Marv
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