MY MUMS COMING TO KENYA!!!!!

Oh my gosh, I still can’t believe it. I am so damn excited 3 weeks from now feels like a year. Mum will be flying into Nairobi on Friday 18th of June. By then all her shots will be done! She has never been outside of Australia and collected her very first passport less than 2 weeks ago! Mum will be with me for 5 weeks then we will be travelling back to Australia together. Yeah that’s right I’m coming home. After a great deal of thought, I decided I am not done with Kenya yet and find it very hard to justify helping another country when there is so much I can do here, so I’ve decided to postpone South America. I will make it there. That is a said promise to myself. This will be a massive cultural experience all at once for mum, but I know she is ready.

Following my last instalment, I was due to go to the Maasai Mara, but that night it poured down and all roads to Maasai Camps were impassable. We had a new intake of volunteers and as they were due to start their placements the following day, so staff took them out, only to get stuck in heavy mud late afternoon and with being so isolated, they were trapped there all night and didn’t get towed out until mid morning – what a tough first day for the volunteers, welcome to Kenya!!

It continued to rain steadily for 3 more days, so I (and 2 other volunteers already stationed out there waiting to get back) didn’t risk it and stayed in Nairobi where I dragged them around to my placements. The first visit we made was to Judy and Mary and it was the first time I had managed to see them since returning from Tanzania. It was hard. They thought I had left without saying goodbye, even thought I promised I wouldn't. I learnt that in the short time I had not been to visit them, the gorgeous 9 year old boy from across the yard died 2 weeks before of severe diarreah and Angel (18 month girl next to him) sustained horrific burns to 70% of her body from boiling tea. She has been in hospital for almost 3 weeks with no sign of getting out in the near future. I know I cannot always be there, but I was completely gutted to know I have the exact medication the boy needed to help prevent his death.

Another young boy I have mentioned before, Obamah (who hated white people) sounded like he had a bad chest cold, so I brought back some medication for him (and to share with others in the compound) – his mum (Lillian) was so grateful she was almost in tears. During my visits, Lillian and I have spent time talking and sharing stories which has slowly encouraged Obamah in getting to know me better – he doesn’t scream anymore and we play chasing games, the biggest breakthrough though was this day when he allowed me to catch and tickle him, he has the cutest laugh ever! Perhaps it shouldn’t’ have been, but it was quite a shock when Lillian asked me if I could take Obamah home with me to Australia – Chantelle and Eric (the other 2 volunteers) were as floored as I was. How to respond to that… Close your eyes for a moment and picture a good mother with a sick child who is desperately in love with her family but even more desperate for her child to have a better future than she can offer. It was hard for me; it must have been literally unbearable for her. Even with his cough, he is well cared for, has food almost every day, have people that love him and a roof over his head. I smiled politely and she knew the answer was no.

After a weekend at IDP in early May, I have been floating between Fremo’s and the HIV ladies homes. Another Aussie volunteer, Simone, is working at a boy’s orphanage not too far from my clinic. At only 20 she is far mature beyond her years and has been faced with many challenges including runaways and those who fake illness just to get out for a trip to the clinic (even when it involves an injection one didn't need!). Simone helped Cim and I out for the free 3 day medical camp we did in April. From this expereince, she too did a free medical camp last Wednesday. It was solely dedicated to the boys of the orphanage – it was established on the orphanage grounds and she asked me to look over the HIV tent – there were 3 of us testing for the best part of the day. For most of the volunteers this was their first week in Kenya and certainly first time testing. Even with most thorough instructions and practice, accidents can happen. Unfortunately it was a very tense 2 minutes after one of the female volunteers pricked herself with the same needle she used to prick test a child – he freaked out and pulled away hard at the wrong time. Thankfully he and all the boys were negative. Unfortunately this volunteer will need a furhter test in 3 months just to be sure.

The day after the camp, a bunch of 9 other volunteers and me took a trip down to Mombasa (Diani). It’s simply incredible how much fun you can have with a bunch of people you barely know. Most of them were new, under the age of 20 but well grounded, have enormous hearts and damn they know how to have good time. We rented this mini mansion very close to the beach and the weather was excellent which also meant there were some pretty burnt bodies.

The goats here are seriously amazing, they live off garbage and you will find them literally anywhere, anytime. Eric, Chantelle and I stood there for a while wondering how on earth they managed to get up there? It remains a mystery. It was a long way from the other end.

Since my last post, I have visited the IDP camps twice. First was with Eric, a guy from Canada who brought with him a bunch of tooth brushes, toothpaste and sanitary pads donated by his dentist. You should have seen the camps, it was like christmas! The first type of dental hygene for most of them. One boy, pictured, was so excited, he forgot to swallow - priceless!!

Yesterday was a magical day, I went with a small bunch of people dedicating their time to the IDP camps and started profiling children between the ages of 4 and 8 in anticipation of opening the school early next week. It was fantastic getting to know each of them that little bit better. We interviewed 29 children which is a great start. One of the young boys (I'm holding) is adorable and lucky to be alive. His entire body burnt beyond recognition. He is healing well.

Tomorrow (26 May) I am heading to Egypt and Greece. I am looking forward to it, but it’s going to be tough to say cheerio to most of the volunteers who will have left before I return in early June.