Boating to Island Camp

Here's the pier and us boating to the island.

Morning rounds

It's Saturday morning. The docs walked to the ward and checked on the surgery patients that haven't been discharged yet. Some others walked to town to stretch their legs. Now we are on our way out of town for our weekend getaway.

Young patient

How cute is this little boy? He's not an ENT patient but Susan spotted him and snapped this photo. He was in the post-op critical care area and has since been discharged; at least from that area.

Irish Pub

Friday night we had dinner at "The Well", Eldoret's Irish Pub. It was packed, tables were hard to come by, and the kitchen was backed up. But it was fun all the same.

Top picture: Our remaining group. Deb has left to go back to the US as scheduled, so eight of us remain for the duration.

Bottom photos: Joel and I ordered the fish and chips. We were quite surprised when we received, well, fish and chips.

building a house

My friend Nicholas (front) drove me and Francis (rear) to show me where Francis has purchased 1/2 an acre of land and will build a house. It's a long process here. He will get construction loans and build the house in stages. He has had foundation stones and sand delivered. He hopes to have it complete enough to live in a year from now.

postage

I run errands for the medical team. One request today was to go to the post office and buy stamps to send some mail. I had to lick the stamps. I forgot what that was like. It seems like we've had self-adhesive stamps forever in the US. I appreciate them more today. Yuck.

game of chicken

It may be hard to see, but theres's a luggage rack on top of this bus in the center. It's full of live chickens. They are bound so they can't fly away.

sporting goods store

Kip Keino won Olympic gold medals in 1968 and 1972 as a distance runner.  He's from the area and one of his ventures is this sporting goods store in Eldoret.  My friend Francis (2nd photo) took me here today to buy a volleyball.  

Why am I buying a volleyball?  Last year we visited the local school on the island in Lake Baringo.  We played volleyball with girls who board at the school.  Diana wants to bring them a gift of a new volleyball and net, so that's how I ended up at the sporting goods store.  We will go to Lake Baringo tomorrow for our weekend getaway and Diana will deliver her gifts. Don't tell anyone on the island as it's a surprise ;-)

The Eldoret area is at a high elevation, 7,000'+ above sea level, so distance runners train here to build their endurance by running in the thin air.  Kip Keino was the forerunner (get it?) of Kenyan runners.  Learn more at http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipchoge_Keino or http://m.search.eb.com/topic/314227.

Sent from Kyle's AT&T iPhone

poinsetta

They grow'em big in Kenya! This one is over 10' tall.

market, Friday

I went to the market again Friday, this time with Theresa. Here she is buying some mangos and oranges.

market

Deb and I visited the vegetable market Wednesday. Photos can't convey scope and size of the market, the chaos, colors, and smells. Many homemakers shop for fresh foods every day because refrigeration is a luxury and uncommon in most homes.

Imani workshop

Surgeries ended a little early on Wednesday afternoon due to a couple of cancelations, so some stayed at the hospital to finish post-op rounds while others went to visit the Imani workshop. Rather than me trying to explain what it is, their website does a better job than I can. http://www.ampathkenya.org/our-programs/family-preservation-initiative/imani-workshop/.

In the 3rd photo, Naomi, our tour guide, is talking to Bruce, Kathi, and Joel.

The fourth photo shows an artisan slicing pages from an Oprah magazine. These are rolled in an adhesive and become colorful beads for jewelry. Finished beads are sorted by color and shown in the last photo. Oprah magazines are preferred as the pages are typically very colorful. Donated magazines are shipped from Indiana to the workshop in Eldoret.

Blooms everywhere

There are blooms everywhere. This photo shows the entry street to IU House. These remind me of Rose of Sharon, only bigger.

Sent from Kyle's AT&T iPhone

Chilly morning

The rain cooled things off yesterday. It's a chilly 48 this morning. But the sun is out and this afternoon it will be in the 80's again.

great neighbors!

We have great neighbors. Ann and Larry gave us (and a ton of luggage) a ride to the airport for our trip. Peyton is letting our dogs out for a break during days when our house/dog sitter is working. Steve cleared our driveway for our house/dog sitter after a recent heavy snow. Photo compliments of Larry. Thank you all!

Termite video

In case the previous post video can't be viewed by your device, here's another version to try.

Rain followed by flying termites

There was a brief thunderstorm again this afternoon. The rains will cause big, flying termites to come out of the ground. These aren't like house-eating termites back home. These are giant, with a body at least a half an inch long and double sets of wings that must span a good two inches. Some Kenyans will capture them and quickly fry them in a very hot pan for an awesome snack. No thanks! Attached is a very brief video of one fluttering on the ground.

Schedule

Here's Eric in the ENT clinic finalizing tomorrow's surgery schedule. Looks like 7 cases, same as completed today.

Traffic

The usual traffic in front of IU House. Twice a day. Once in the morning out to graze and once in the afternoon back to where they came from.

theatre

Diana hijacked my phone and took a couple pictures in the "theatre". In the second picture, all eyes are on something. Either they are watching a great ballgame or they are performing endoscopic sinus surgery and are watching progress on the monitor.

Supply area

Diana and others are regularly unloading the suitcases of supplies we brought and organizing them. In the interim, it's a mess. If a surgeon needs something, I hope someone knows where to look!

I had to go back to the airport to pick up one more piece of luggage this morning that didn't arrive with the others yesterday. Regarding luggage, this has been our most difficult trip by far! Dr. Coleman arrived yesterday morning and his luggage still isn't here...

patient lanudry

I'm always amazed at the site. There are clotheslines between patient ward buildings at the hospital. Patients and families use tubs of water, wash clothes, and hang them to dry - or lay them on the hedgerows when there's no room on the lines.

snowflakes in Kenya

Lauryn is a young girl back home. She's the daughter of Susan's assistant, Twila. Lauryn wanted Susan to have some snow in Kenya, so she made her some snowflakes. We have them prominently displayed on our closet door so we will have snowflakes and remember our friend Lauryn.

IU House bedroom

Here's a photo of our bedroom, with mosquito netting pulled away during the daytime. We drop it around the bed at night, just in case of mosquitos carrying malaria.

IU House

Here are some photos of IU House (or Indiana House). The first photo is of the entrance gate into the compound. The next two photos show part of the exterior of two of the buildings. The core of the complex is two large duplexes, so they essentially total four buildings. They are numbered 1 - 4. Each has common areas on the first floor and 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on the second floor. The common areas are as follows: House 1, library (reading room) and laundry. House 2, kitchen and dining areas. House 3. Admin offices. House 4, computer room and laundry. This core of buildings makes up most of the guest housing. There are other houses in the gated estate (subdivision) where long term people stay.

And of course, since it is IU House, there's a basketball goal.

Quiz time

Here's a quiz intended for our neighbor school girls, Sarah Peyton and Caroline Hart.  This case (24) of Cokes cost 720 Kenyan Shillings.  About how much does a single Coke cost in US dollars or cents?

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More Clinic

Here's Dr. Coleman examining a patient with Dr. Henry Nono. The ENT team left clinic at 2:00pm, grabbed lunch in the cafeteria, and then headed to the "theatre"(operating rooms) as they are supposed to have 6 surgeries scheduled today. I'll be surprised if they are able to complete half. The first day is always especially slow as they get all their supplies and equipment organized.

Clinic

Here are Dr. Jack Coleman (foreground) and Dr. Bruce Campbell (background) talking with a patient sitting in the exam chair. Actually, I think the patient is the baby and they're talking with the mom. Medical students observe (right of patient).

clinic waiting area

Oh boy... This is what I'll call the overflow waiting area outside the normal waiting area outside the ENT clinic. Way too many patients to be seen this morning.