Routine…for Kenya - Wednesday February 23, 2011

What a cutie!

Our translators are completely awesome! Last year many of them were good, but some had problems being on time and took long lunches. This year, the local MCOH team (Francis and Antony) has done a fantastic job of organizing the patients and volunteers. Things have runs so smoothly all week due to their efforts. The translators arrive before we do, stay until the end, work very hard all day long, and have fantastic translating abilities. You can tell they’re proud to help their community. The patients have  been coming in an organized fashion, with little of the bedlam from previous years, so I have to applaud the fantastic efforts of Antony and Frances, because logistically, this clinic has been so smooth!



Keloid on ear



We had a few hospital runs today, with two little babies covered in burns, a man with suspected TB, though it turns out he was a preacher and had been fasting for two weeks, and a few more minor cases. Luckily, it was a benign day! Today was one of those days where you get to see a big difference made in someone’s life, for very little time and money. In an effort to best utilize the doctors’ time, as it is most demanded during the clinics, we have tried to keep cosmetic surgeries to a minimum as they can be quite time consuming and are not for life threatening conditions. However today, Greg and I intervened for a 15 year old girl that melted my heart. We saw her at the end of Monday’s clinics and she had a keloid on her ear. This is a growth of scar tissue that had grown after getting her ears pierced. There’s no pain associated with it, but this girl was so embarrassed, she kept a sweater draped over her head at all times. She had seen the doctor before but could never afford the surgery. We told this girl to come to the clinic the next day and gave her a referral form. On Tuesday she was referred to the local hospital, since we were minimizing surgeries. On Wednesday she came back. Quite often persistence at the clinics is seen as time consuming and frustrating, but with her it was touching. Dr Jurgen performed the surgery for her within 15 minutes in a room lit only by the window.



Girl without keloid!



 Afterwards, she had the biggest smile! It was fantastic to be able to help her and make a big difference in one person’s life, especially since we had to turn so many people with similar problems away. People often ask what’s the biggest impact of the clinics for me, and the answer is always for the one or two people who’s lives we’ve been able to change in a big way. We see thousands of people that we can help in a small way, but for the few we can help more, it feels fantastic knowing their lives are better because the clinics are there.

In the dental tent today, Nancy mentioned that there was one little boy that was called in for the Kenyan dentist, but he requested to have the ‘mazungo doctorie’ instead. The Kenyan dentist was happy to comply and the boy sat there patiently waiting for Bill’s chair to open up, with a big smile on his face even with all of the screams and cries of those around him. He was just thrilled and Bill was pleased to be able to make the little boy’s day!

When we got back to our hotel, a local merchant had set up wares inside the hotel, so we were able to shop on the ground floor in pajamas if we wanted! It was great and everyone got to see the local crafts and art. During dinner that night, many of us realized that the trip was quickly coming to a close, and while we’re all anxious to go home and see our families, we’re quite sad to leave Mikinduri and the friends we’ve made here. One woman found out via email that her grandchild is telling everyone that ‘her Grammie and Grampie live in Africa’. It must be time to go back! Only a half day of clinics on Thursday, followed by inventory of the supplies for next year, putting everything in storage, then closing with a big celebration with the translators!