For the last few weeks I’ve been settling into the world of Kenya Health Care which has been really interesting and a real eye opener! I spent a week with the Rotary Doctors. They employ mainly Kenyan nurses and dentists but also have Dutch doctors who come over for six weeks at a time. Every day they perform a clinic in a different area some of which were very beautiful places set amongst the mountains although very poor at the same time. We saw all kinds of patients but the biggest problem was Malaria. This killer disease is rampant here and is not choosey about its victims. We came across a few babies who were extremely sick with it and one day one poor little 1 ½ year old girl was so sick that we took her in the landrover to Kimilili government hospital, about ¾ hr drive from where the clinic was. If we hadn’t have been there that day she would have to have taken her on a buda buda the whole way (if she could find one that was willing to travel that far). Two of the nurses dropped her off at the hospital and we then went off for their usual “team building” end of the week drinks. Driving back from the hotel an hour later the driver noticed the mother walking down the road with the dying girl in her arms. We stopped the vehicle and when we questioned the mother as to why she wasn’t in the hospital we found out the appalling yet typical situation that had occurred. The hospital did not have the correct cannula to give the baby the treatment so they sent the mother away to see if she could get together the money to buy the needle from a pharmacy. This poor mother could not afford to buy the needle so she was making her way back home with the critically ill baby. We told her to get back in the vehicle and found the correct needle and medication in the rotary doctor’s supplies and took her back to the hospital.
A little later that afternoon myself and Paul (the Dutch doctor) had arranged for the 2nd time to have a tour of the hospital with medical officer (they don’t like us looking round by ourselves in case we are spying). However, having waited half an hour for our tour guide to appear we gave up and Paul showed me round. He told me that I would be shocked by what I would see but not to show it as the staff are very proud of their hospital. It was too difficult a task for me, it would seem, as Paul told me my face said it all. There were a few inches between each bed and every bed contained at least two people- the patient and their carer (everybody has a family member to care for them as there are few nurses and they do not got fed or watered in hospital). In the children’s ward, however, there were four to a bed, two patients and two mothers (great environment for spreading all those nasty viruses!)
Another patient who particularly stood out for me that week was a 14yr old boy who was very short of breath with signs and symptoms of congenital heart disease. He needed an ECG and an Echocardiogram (both of which I was eager to do) but the nearest place that has this equipment was a 2 ½ hours drive away in Eldoret. Discussions with the boy, who had come alone, were discouraging as he did not think he would be able to afford to travel to Eldoret for these tests let alone afford to see a Cardiologist and have these investigations. So all they could do was a write a letter to the boys father stressing how important it was for the boy to be seen in Eldoret.
It’s very frustrating to see such need, daily, and not be able to help due to the lack of equipment that we so easily take for granted in the UK.
One morning I sat in on the HIV testing and counselling which is offered free to anyone attending the clinic. One young mum tested positive that morning but it was upsetting to observe the lack of emotion shown by her as she was told the result. HIV sufferers, however, if caught early have much better prospects than they used to have and counselling and treatment is readily available here.
I thoroughly enjoyed my week with the rotary doctors learning lots and being made to feel part of the team. I was very impressed with their skills and eagerness to help people. On the bank holiday Paul and Geraldine (the Dutch couple) invited me and Jo to go to a sugar factory where they would be playing golf but where we could go for a swim. We were very excited about this even though it was an hour and a halves drive there. We had a fantastic day swimming and sunning ourselves by the pool with monkeys observing in the surrounding trees. We somehow managed to have the pool to ourselves and we had that holiday feeling for the day.
Dreamland Hospital:
This hospital is a world apart from that of Kimilili District Hospital but needs prayer as it is not as busy as it should be for the wonderful care it offers. This appears to be for two reasons, the main one being that because it is not a government hospital and that some Mzungus work there people think the treatment will cost a lot more (in fact, it usually ends up being cheaper than the mismanaged government hospital). The second reason is that the hospital is a bit far out of town for people to easily get to. Please pray that these issues can be resolved so that people of Kimilili can receive the kind of care and respect they deserve.
This week I taught the staff at Dreamland basic life support. They were quite nervous at first and scared by “Ivan” the Manikin but most of them managed to forget their inhibitions and were willing to embarrass themselves slightly in order to learn.
My attempts to get the archaic ECG machine at Dreamland Hospital working have so far failed and as the equipment is so old it is likely to take half an hour to perform an ECG if I do get it working, rather than the usual 5 minutes. I am hoping that when I get home I will be able to raise the money to provide them with a more modern “working” machine if I manage to train the clinical officer sufficiently on how to interpret them before I leave.
I was excited to find a second hand “talking” defibrillator one day at the hospital (which had come on a container from England) but then to my disappointment discovered that there was no charger for the battery. However, I managed to contact the company who made it and was delighted when they said they would send a charger free of charge so I am now eagerly awaiting its arrival.
We had a ceremony that closed with members of the community giving them small gifts that ranged from clothes, soap, bowls, and food along with the blanket and new mattress that we brought to replace the old ones, which were well overdue for a change.
