Wednesday and Thursday continued much like the other days – so very well. Each day has the morning and afternoon Uber hassle, the various patients, and mandazi for lunch. Faith has continued to involve me. I’ve given injections, pushed IV drugs, palpated a pregnant belly, and more. I have also enjoyed some good conversations with Faith and Arafa. It is good to get to know a little about their lives. It is also interesting to observe people doing good medicine in very restricted places. The voices of my program teachers echo in my ears occasionally. I think they might find things to be concerned about. For example, the needles have no safety cap to pop right after the injection or whatever. Just a little more care is needed. I haven’t seen any sticks. Pushing IV drugs is often used.
I also had some time with Darius, in the lab, observing how many tests he can run with what he has.
On Wednesday, the time in the slums really began to get me down. Each day, I have walked through various streets which are really stony, rutty dirt roads. Life is lived on the edges. The contrast between this kind of life and mine is an almost unfathomable gulf. I know I have said this before, but when God was deciding what kind of life to give me, why did I get this one? That will never be resolved on this side. On Thursday, Halloween, it was Faith’s birthday. All of 25! We celebrated a little so that was fun. It was hard to say good-bye, and I will always be thankful for my time with them.
I decided to make Thursday my last day with them, as I wanted to see some people on Friday. A little background. Quite a few years ago, my cousins, Rob and Meredith Joss and their young family came to Kenya for a year. Rob taught at a local Christian college, Daystar University. Their neighbors, Noah and Stella, became very good friends so when I was coming here, Meredith put me in touch with them. Friday was the day I could see them.

So, this morning, I headed over to see them at their church, right by Daystar. Surprise – no Uber hassle! We spent about 3 hours together, and it was just delightful. Such a treat to chat with like-minded people. I’m very grateful for the time. A bit of quick shopping and back to the hotel. Tomorrow will be a little more sight-seeing and then Sunday I fly to Zanzibar for a few days of just being a tourist. Rough life!