Day 26 – Wednesday, February 24, 2010
It is hot here. Very sticky, wet and disgusting. It’s due to the humidity, and yes…Nancy, we’re drinking lots of water. A lot has happened, as it has every other day. The pace we have consistently moved at has been truly incredible and should have been quite draining, but miraculously, we have all pulled through with energy and enthusiasm. (Especially after this week with the addition of severe humidity). To describe how gross this feels, you feel wet…all the time. During the day, you are hot and wet, and actually sweating. It didn’t seem that we sweat in Mikinduri or Mwengi because it was so dry. Here, we cut up a few of the large t-shirts to pass out small handkerchiefs to each person. It’s awesome how much of an improvement a 4” by 4” cloth makes to wipe away the sweat!
Anyway, Wednesday was another fantastic day. We aided many in the clinics, and in the afternoon went to perform walking clinics in the slums. About 10 of us, with a few guards, went to the slums, a mere 15 feet from the clinic, and walked around looking for people. When we saw someone, our translator/local Kenyan nurse jumped in and asked if they had anything that ailed them. Like the previous week we gave out albendazole (de-worming) and vitamin A (for eyes) to every person that would accept it. We also distributed different cremes (for scabies, ringworm, etc), pain medicine (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc), or other simple medicines we brought with us. The slums were hard to describe. Had I seen them directly from Mikinduri or Mwengi, I probably would have been shocked. However, after having been absorbed in the urban poverty all over Mombasa, I was definitely desensitized a bit. The shacks were long rows with wood covered n mud for walls. A few places had windows or electricity, but that was very seldom. Most of the places didn’t have beds and a 6 by 6 room would be the kitchen, living room, washroom, and bedroom for many. The huts did drop the temperature significantly. One hut had a bunch of couches in it that looked so dilapidated, I’m not sure there were cushions or a frame left. I can’t imagine sitting on it let alone sharing it with someone as a bed. The worst part was, there wasn’t a good sewer system, so apparently in the corner of the ‘house’ there was a hole that lead to an open ditch that ran to one part of the slum, were all waste went down. This smelled awful! There was no running water to flush it anywhere and the chickens and goats were all around the ditch. Somehow though, it wasn’t as sad as I thought it would be, or as dangerous, but then we had guards with us. We walked to a slightly busier area of the slum, or ghetto as they call it, and arrived at a school. It couldn’t have been bigger than 20 ft by 50 ft, and there were 80 primary students in it, divided into 6 classes, with 3 teachers to share the load. The students all looked very happy and had books to read, but it was a bit of a surprise to see how many of them were in there! After helping around 60 people, we headed back to the clinic. (On Thursday, Theresa went back to the slums to distribute a large bag of school supplies and posters for the children. They were thrilled!)
Afterwards went to a senior citizens home run by nuns. It was beautiful and the 30+ guests there seemed very happy. Ryan, Jenny, and Dr Joseph even had the opportunity to converse with a 110 year old man! While we were there, a woman was begging through the gates. I truly believe God spoke to us so she was allowed in the gates so we could converse further. As most of the women here do, she had her child on her back, attached to her with a beautiful large scarf. As Greg McKenna, Lawrence (our driver) and I were talking to her, hearing about her story of living on the streets, I asked to hold her child. She took her off her back and handed her to me. The girl weighed about 10 lbs and though I originally thought she was about 9 months old, I soon realized due to the length of her limbs, she was much older. Her mother confirmed that she was 27 months! This broke my heart. This little child had the eyes of a wise 60 year old woman, and she looked beaten down by life. She didn’t smile, couldn’t walk because she was too weak, and looked like her life held no hope in it whatsoever. She was wearing a filthy t-shirt and nothing on the bottom. I couldn’t believe it. Ann Josiah (the local coordinator for Chalice) came over and arranged for the girl and her mother to stay with the nuns and come to our clinic the next morning. Their story will continue later, but let me assure you, she stayed in Greg’s and my thoughts all night.
After the senior citizen home, we went to an amazing Italian restaurant over by the tourist side of town. The food was incredible and everyone had a chance to let their hair down. It was a bit of a change after everything we’d witnessed that day, but the relaxation allowed us to have one more day of helping people.
Summary: I met a girl that broke my heart in two, one who I won’t be able to forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment