On Friday, we left they idyllic Castle Forest Lodge, climbed into four combies for the 3 hour drive, and arrived in Mikinduri. Along the way we passed the equator and stopped a few times to get necessary supplies from the equivalent of Walmart here called ‘Nakematt’. Necessary supplies include a pillow (as the pillows at our accommodations are very similar to the green foam that is used to help arrange flowers), sodas, other beverages, and snacks.
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| The Longdrop and shower |
We then went on to Mikinduri to check into the Limo Guest House. It is a 3 story building with 6 rooms on each floor. There is no Canadian chain equivalent and it can only be called Kenyan! The rooms are square 10 ft by 10 ft concrete, with a giant steel blue door. There is a small square of a shower and toilet that both fit in a 3 ft by 3 ft area. Some of the rooms do not have toilets and instead have a hole in the floor called a ‘longdrop’. It’s a ceramic hole in the floor and it’s interesting because you have to avoid stepping in it while trying to take your shower, because the shower head is directly above the drain. The rooms with long drops unfortunately don’t have heated showers either. This means that you don’t stand under the drain for long periods as the water is cold cold! You just put an arm in to get wet, soap it up, then rinse it off. To do your hair is a bit trickier and it requires yoga backbends to prevent getting anything wet but your hair while avoiding the hole. I dropped my soap down the hole today. That’s gone. Most of the rooms have a heated showerhead though, so it’s only a few that are learning this dance.
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| The rooms, mosquito nets, & Shawna |
The beds are a double and I’m not sure what’s in the mattress, it might be hay as it is pretty solid. The beds are covered with a mosquito net for sleeping, to help us avoid malaria, and have the resemblance of a princess bed. (The men might think differently). Luckily, we are all so tired we sleep very hard so I’m pretty sure we could sleep on the floor! There are no tables or closets and instead a few nails in the wall. Oh, and did I mention it’s only $6 a night? Maybe that explains it.
We spent the evening moving all the supplies to some storage rooms across the street from the hotel at a church called St Massimo’s. Father Bernard is the priest there and is very kind to us while we’re here, offering anything we need. This time, it was three rooms to separate the medical, dental, and vision supplies. We split up into our groups, took inventory of the supplies, and started sorting them into different bags for the clinic sites.
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| Karen McKenna and the Bags! |
We drove up in the combis to NoName Hotel. It is a brand new hotel near the Mikinduri clinic site where we will have our meals, and has yet to be named so we coined it ‘NoName’ and this seems to have stuck. There’s a tent put up where we all sit and socialize while eating and unfortunately there are not enough rooms here for the whole team, otherwise we would have stayed here at NoName. The tent is on a slope and we all sit in plastic chairs. Some people fall when they lean just a little too far one way. We use the phrase ‘TIA’ – ‘This is Africa’ to describe a situation like that where it’s really perfect…except.
In the evening, we can hang out on the third floor in a room we designate ‘the Tusker Room’, which is named after the Kenyan beer Tusker. We can relax, talk, and unwind. This is a great way to end a very busy day and now that we’re all settled in we’re ready to work!
Summary: A very busy day getting settled and ready for the clinics!
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