Sunday night was my last night at my slum location. Rather ironically, some tiny flying gnats and a mosquito or two kept me up much of the night. With great relief, morning came, and I packed up all my stuff and grabbed an Uber to the clinic I’d been at on Friday. Now this clinic is in the Kibera slum without any clear address so it is always a challenge to get there and to get picked up at the end of the day. But, so far, so good.
The people at the clinic are great – Arafa, the clinic manager, Faith, a nurse partitioner, and Darius, the lab tech. At this clinic, there was a steady stream of patients and Faith let me do anything I was capable of. There were still blood pressures but I used my stethoscope to take them, instead of the auto ones. Felt good. I got to help push meds into a port on this girl with serious peptic ulcers disease. I also hung a bag of antibiotics, set the drip, and capped off the port when done! There was actually some blood! What a difference! I was soooo grateful. And Faith made a real effort to include me, introduced me to each patient, and explained the conversations she had with them.
At lunch time, we just headed out to places in the neighborhood. At a little mart ( the Kenyan equivalent of a 7/11) she would only allow me to buy soda and chips as she was still concerned about my system. She went to a street vendor who sold mandazi, cassava, and yams slices, all deep fried. Back to the clinic to eat. I tried the mandazi and I’m hooked. They are sometimes called Kenyan donuts and are very yummy.
After lunch, a doctor who is a wound care specialist came to see four of his patients. All of them had sores on their feet, mainly from diabetes. Now this may sound gross, but I really like wound care, tending to something obvious. I’m not going to describe the sores, but they were quite serious. The last patient, a dear older man, had feet issues I doubt many Western doctors have ever seen. The doctor was so kind to me, explaining the procedures and letting me be involved. It was fascinating. As the day ended, I, with the help of my friends, finally got an Uber car to the gate and we headed to my new lodgings. It is quite close to the clinic so the drive didn’t take long. I unloaded all my stuff and checked into a guesthouse with a garden and set amidst large trees. It is behind a gate and the car park looks like a courtyard. My room is up two flights of stairs – no elevator – but the exercise is good for me. The room is lovely and even has a real bathroom! Rags to riches! After supper, I went to bed early as the lack of sleep was catching up with me.

After 10! hours of sleep, I awoke a new woman and so grateful for a good night unbothered by bugs or street noise. This place has breakfast as part of the deal, so coffee and an omelet got me off to a good start. Back to the clinic with what is becoming the usual Uber hassle. Another good day.
One of the things I love seeing is how much time patients are given. They are listened to, even when they go off topic. Today, Faith, listened to a woman who has a very hard life and just needed someone to hear her. I love that. Now that also means the patients often wait a long time, but most of the Africans I’ve been around do not rush about like we do. Life is lived at a much slower pace and waiting is part of life. I’ve never heard anyone complaining about it.
After a long morning filled with patients, Faith and I headed out to get more mandazi – happy me! We buy it from Fanny, who is delightful.

Most of the buildings here are small shacks made of wood poles, sheets of corrugated metal, and rather ratty plastic tarps. That also includes most of the shops. Cages of chickens dot the “sidewalks” and little charcoal fires heat the oil as so much is fried. I am taking few pictures. In the last few years, I have felt the pictures are intrusive and, at least for me, it is like the well off white woman is taking our pictures to show how terrible our lives are. Yes, life is very hard here, but these are also still people scraping out lives for themselves and their children, who still laugh and play games. And most of the people still are decently dressed and clean and the women have their wonderful braids. Grabbing dignity where they can. It is very moving.

The day ended, Uber hassle, and back to the hotel. There is a large mall right beside the hotel so a tiny walk took me there for supper. I actually had Chinese cashew nut chicken and it was very good! I particularly enjoy the COLD bottle of water. And now, in praise of cold water.

Cold water is one of my absolute favorite things, especially when I’m overseas. Here, actually getting a bottle of cold water is a little bit of heaven! You may think I exaggerate, but I don’t! It’s particularly appreciated on a day like today when I spent most of the day at the clinic and limited my fluid intake as I fervently wanted to avoid the toilet. The only one here is a squatcho – basically a hole in the ground in a little shed. I will not go into details, but this one is particularly nasty. So far, so good. Now I am rehydrating.
And now the day is done. God has redeemed the time, using those first few days to make this time shine out more. Thank you for your prayers. They really matter!
Love to all