Final day in Kijabe

Final Day in Kijabe and travel home

I finished work just in time on Tuesday to get home and change in time to go to dinner with Rhett and Megan at Mama Chiku's.  Rhett, Megan and their kids drove to our apartment, then we all walked from there to the restaurant.  As usual, it was a pleasantly cool, breezy evening and we had a nice conversation as we walked.  With my clinical responsibilities behind me, the evening was nice and relaxing.  We arrived at the restaurant and worked on getting tables set up.  The ten of us took up about 2/3 of the space in the restaurant.

Mama Chiku's

We ordered a family style meal that included chipatis (thick tortilla-like bread), ugali, beef, potatoes, carrots, and something like collard greens or cabbage.  The kids mostly liked the chipatis and tasted a few of the other things.  We tried everything they brought and we liked the chipatis best, too.

Ugali with cabbage

Chipatis

We finished dinner and walked back to the apartment to pass on our leftover groceries to the Shirleys.  After a little more time of fellowship, we said our good-byes and returned to the apartment to work on packing to go.  It had been a great blessing to have the Shirleys there to help us get settled and involved in the Kijabe community.  I am still amazed by the greatness of their faith that led them to take their 3 small children halfway around the world to serve God in Kenya.  Megan and Rhett would soon be visiting the U.S. and Megan would have to travel from Atlanta to Amsterdam on her own with the children since Rhett had to return to Kijabe earlier.  They will continue to serve at Kijabe for another year, please keep them in your prayers.

We spent our last night in the apartment with mixed feelings.  There were many things we were looking forward to about returning home: 

• not having to remember to turn on the hot water heater on before dinner, off before bed, on upon awakening, and off again after everyone had showered in the morning
• not having to shake our shoes to make sure no spiders had taken up residence during the night
• not having to remember not to wet our toothbrushes with water from the sink and to rinse our mouths with water bottles rather than sink water
• no longer dealing with very unreliable dial-up internet access
• not wondering what animal was the source of the meat in the rather tasty samoosas (we hoped it was beef, but who knows?)
• not wondering why the samoosas started turning red once they were in the fridge for a few days
• not having as many "OC!" moments while I take care of patients ("Oh, crud!")
• sleeping in my own bed with my own pillows
• we were all looking forward to having a little Chick-fil-A when we got back
• college football (never mind what was actually happening with UGA's season)
• worship services at WFBC

Samoosas

There were, however, many things we would miss about Kijabe.  There was a greater simplicity to life there, and I can't say that I really missed much of the electronic aspect of our lives here (Amy will be shocked by that statement since she likes to call me Mr. Technology).  I greatly enjoyed watching how the children played creatively with each other and how they really had a great time together.  We would certainly miss the graciousness of the Kenyan people.  I had greatly enjoyed going to chapel at the hospital and working with people at a place whose purpose was to glorify God in what they did.  It was fun to see Rhett singing at chapel as the only white face in the choir.  Despite the stress that came with taking care of much sicker kids than I take care of here, I would miss the expanded use of my training there.  The easy access to specialists here and time pressure of running the office here leads to earlier referral of patients than I would like.  Although I should be dependent on God on a daily basis in my work here, the fact is that the lower severity of most illnesses here does not often push me to depend on Him like I should.  I spent more time on medical reading in the 4 weeks there than I have in the last 3 years here in the U.S.  Nothing inspires you to read like a patient you can't figure out.  


I would also miss the opportunity to work with some of the most talented physicians I have ever been around.  I have not been more impressed by any two physicians I have ever worked with (and I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn from some of the best in their fields in the U.S.) than I was by Dr. Steve Letchford and  Dr. Paul Jaster.  The breadth and depth of their knowledge and skill is, in my opinion, unmatched by anyone I have ever worked with here in the U.S.  I had the pleasure also of working with Dr. Bert Lee, Dr. Leland Albright, and Dr. Joshua Tjong during my time at Kijabe Hospital.

Wednesday morning was spent finishing packing and distributing the remaining medical items we had brought with us.  We went to the nursery, pediatrics, and to the chaplain, Mercy, to say good-bye and then I stopped into the ICU to talk with Dr. Letchford and check on the girl who had surgery for her enormous encephalocele the day before.  I was pleased to find her doing well in the ICU without a ventilator and to find the other baby stable on the ventilator.

We returned to the apartment, finished packing, and waited for our driver to pick us up to go to the airport.  The trip to the airport took us through Nairobi at rush hour and included some portions that took us through some of the infamous Nairobi slums.  The poverty was really quite shocking, even though I have been exposed to extreme poverty in Mexico and Venezuela in the past.  We were instructed not to have our windows open (or even cracked) as we drove through these areas.  This was the only time during our trip that I felt any concerns about safety.

We arrived at the Nairobi airport and had to kill a couple of hours before boarding the plane to Amsterdam.  Personal space is apparently a concept that is lost when one is standing in line in Kenya and our progression through the security check was unpleasant for someone with a tendency to claustrophobia.  The kids nearly got arrested (joking, a little) for having scissors in their bags for crocheting.  The same scissors were perfectly acceptable in the U.S. airport and the Amsterdam airport.  The kids were made to throw the scissors away before they could enter the holding area at the gate.  The waiting area was packed full of passengers and we moved to an open area at the front so the kids could sit on the floor.  We chatted with a guy who was married to a Kenyan girl and visited periodically.  Though they were married, neither could get a permanent visa into the other's country and they were forced to make periodic trips to visit each other in each country.

The airport staff once again showed kindness to those of us with kids and allowed us to board the plane before other passengers.  I was happy to be out of the overcrowded gate and into the plane to begin the long journey home.