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Thursday, November 20, 2008
Back at Bethany
I spent most of the day today at Bethany touring the wards with Mercy, the Chaplain at Bethany Kids. Mercy graciously allowed Dr. Patey and I to join her on her rounds as we had the opportunity to meet and speak with every child and parent throughout the hospital. We were originally going to do the rounds with a physician, but the opportunity to go with Mercy seemed much more appealing as were would be able to stop and spend time rather than the sometimes clinical way in which a physician can interact with patients, especially in a hospital as busy as Bethany.
Mercy conducts each visit by saying hello and greeting the child and parent. Many of the children and mothers (called ‘Mamas’) she knows well as they have been at Bethany for a while recovering, but many of the children were admitted as recently as last night so she is just getting to know them. Each visit starts with a greeting, an introduction of Dr. Patey and I, a conversation about the child – their condition and progress - and then Mercy would read some scripture from the bible in Swahili, selecting various passages depending on the situation in each ward. Dr. Patey and I were also invited to pray, and often the Mama would pray as well, more often than not in Swahili.
Each ward was very different, depending on who was in the room. In some rooms where there are Somali refugees, the prayer was very difficult because of their strong Muslim faith. I will write more about that in another post. Mercy persists with her message and prayer regardless, and we found that most people were so grateful for the message of faith during what is a difficult time for them.
Generally, the children in the hospital are there with their mothers, but there are also some fathers who are there with their children which is really encouraging. Parents wear pink hospital smocks and sleep in the same bed with their child.
Many of the children suffer from spina bifida and hydrocephalus, but there are a wide variety of reasons why the children are at Bethany. I met a one month old little girl with hydracephalus who was waiting to have a shunt surgically placed in her brain to drain the fluid there. I met a Masi man (the Masi are a traditional tribe who live in the Masi Mari area of Kenya in mud huts, wear jewelry and elaborate clothing, and are a traditional hunter and warrior tribe of Kenya) with his young daughter. She had been admitted with severe burns to her feet from stepping in a fire and subsequently had to have both feet amputated. He is holding his daughter in one of the pictures above and if you look closely, you can see the stretched skin from his ear lobes where they had been elongated over time with various instruments as it is a sign of beauty in their tribe. I met another young man and his mother who had just had his nose surgically repaired after an incident with a machete.
For the most part though, the boys and girls at Bethany were being treated for clef palette, hydrocephalus, spina bifida, and club foot. The young babies with their heads severely swollen from fluid build up on the brain with tubes coming out of their heads, noses, and arms is heartbreaking. Their little bodies and tiny arms dwarf in comparison to their heads as they await the implanting of a shunt to drain the fluid. When addressed early, this young boys and girls can recover entirely and go on to lead quite happy and productive lives. Untreated, however, they would have a difficult time walking, would have developmental difficulties, and here in Africa, could quite possibly end up abandoned in the current culture. Despite the condition of the boys and girls, the blessing is that they are in the hospital receiving the treatment they need and will hopefully go on to lead full lives because of the work taking place at Bethany.
The most remarkable part of our visit was the strength, courage, and resilience of these young mothers who had sought the medical attention for their children, despite society’s views of disabilities, and were in the hospital with them full of hope and optimism for the most part. We met some parents who were frustrated, defeated, feeling overwhelmed and hopeless in regards to their children’s future, but we were introduced to many more by Mercy who had been similarly depressed and hopeless, but had come to embrace the optimism of the hospital and of their faith as Mercy shared the gospel and prayer with them each day.
One of the most wonderful moments I experienced was the mothers in the cramped hydrocephalus ward who lifted their hearts and voices in song together. Holding their child and rocking them back in forth in their arms, or joining their fellow mothers, they sang songs of praise and worship to God in Swahili as a group united in their struggles, and in their faith. I felt so blessed to have been able to witness this moment as I filmed it. I will try to upload the video onto this blog post for you to share in the moment. The camera work is shaky as it was another emotional and electrifying experience, but it is worth a few moments of your time to watch and listen. Despite their situation, they still had time for their faith, for each other, and did so with such optimism.
Mercy conducts each visit by saying hello and greeting the child and parent. Many of the children and mothers (called ‘Mamas’) she knows well as they have been at Bethany for a while recovering, but many of the children were admitted as recently as last night so she is just getting to know them. Each visit starts with a greeting, an introduction of Dr. Patey and I, a conversation about the child – their condition and progress - and then Mercy would read some scripture from the bible in Swahili, selecting various passages depending on the situation in each ward. Dr. Patey and I were also invited to pray, and often the Mama would pray as well, more often than not in Swahili.
Each ward was very different, depending on who was in the room. In some rooms where there are Somali refugees, the prayer was very difficult because of their strong Muslim faith. I will write more about that in another post. Mercy persists with her message and prayer regardless, and we found that most people were so grateful for the message of faith during what is a difficult time for them.
Generally, the children in the hospital are there with their mothers, but there are also some fathers who are there with their children which is really encouraging. Parents wear pink hospital smocks and sleep in the same bed with their child.
Many of the children suffer from spina bifida and hydrocephalus, but there are a wide variety of reasons why the children are at Bethany. I met a one month old little girl with hydracephalus who was waiting to have a shunt surgically placed in her brain to drain the fluid there. I met a Masi man (the Masi are a traditional tribe who live in the Masi Mari area of Kenya in mud huts, wear jewelry and elaborate clothing, and are a traditional hunter and warrior tribe of Kenya) with his young daughter. She had been admitted with severe burns to her feet from stepping in a fire and subsequently had to have both feet amputated. He is holding his daughter in one of the pictures above and if you look closely, you can see the stretched skin from his ear lobes where they had been elongated over time with various instruments as it is a sign of beauty in their tribe. I met another young man and his mother who had just had his nose surgically repaired after an incident with a machete.
For the most part though, the boys and girls at Bethany were being treated for clef palette, hydrocephalus, spina bifida, and club foot. The young babies with their heads severely swollen from fluid build up on the brain with tubes coming out of their heads, noses, and arms is heartbreaking. Their little bodies and tiny arms dwarf in comparison to their heads as they await the implanting of a shunt to drain the fluid. When addressed early, this young boys and girls can recover entirely and go on to lead quite happy and productive lives. Untreated, however, they would have a difficult time walking, would have developmental difficulties, and here in Africa, could quite possibly end up abandoned in the current culture. Despite the condition of the boys and girls, the blessing is that they are in the hospital receiving the treatment they need and will hopefully go on to lead full lives because of the work taking place at Bethany.
The most remarkable part of our visit was the strength, courage, and resilience of these young mothers who had sought the medical attention for their children, despite society’s views of disabilities, and were in the hospital with them full of hope and optimism for the most part. We met some parents who were frustrated, defeated, feeling overwhelmed and hopeless in regards to their children’s future, but we were introduced to many more by Mercy who had been similarly depressed and hopeless, but had come to embrace the optimism of the hospital and of their faith as Mercy shared the gospel and prayer with them each day.
One of the most wonderful moments I experienced was the mothers in the cramped hydrocephalus ward who lifted their hearts and voices in song together. Holding their child and rocking them back in forth in their arms, or joining their fellow mothers, they sang songs of praise and worship to God in Swahili as a group united in their struggles, and in their faith. I felt so blessed to have been able to witness this moment as I filmed it. I will try to upload the video onto this blog post for you to share in the moment. The camera work is shaky as it was another emotional and electrifying experience, but it is worth a few moments of your time to watch and listen. Despite their situation, they still had time for their faith, for each other, and did so with such optimism.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Meeting with the US Assistant Ambassador to Kenya and the Salvation Army
We headed back into Nairobi on Tuesday for two important and every interesting meetings. First, we met with a representative from the Salvation Army. As I mentioned in my posting about Joytown, the Salvation Army is the organization that started Joytown but has since distanced itself from the school and the result has been some of the conditions you can see in the slide show and in this posting as I’ve added a few more. The government took over the running of the facility which has left the school in a state of deterioration from a facilities and pedagogical perspective. It more resembles an ‘institution’ for disabled children than it does a ‘school’ and place of learning. The photos attached are of some children hanging around outside, sitting in a makeshift wheel chair made with a plastic deck chair, playing out at recess atop garbage on the school yard, and me with the Joytown Secondary School Headboy (prefect) Stephen. The meeting with the Salvation Army was about them severing ties with the facility entirely and the possibility of Bethany taking over.
As mentioned in the last Bethany post, every square inch of space and bed is utilized at Bethany at Kijabe Hospital. I will clarify the various options that are being considered in more detail in another posting later this week. However, Joytown presents an opportunity to provide medical assistance for these children who are currently at Joytown, another possible location for a rehabilitation centre for Bethany once surgeries are completed with an educational component. More importantly, there is a feeling that not only is there a need to get involved, but perhaps a higher calling as well. Our visit the other day was part of working out the details. The meeting with the Salvation Army was more pragmatic regarding ownership, investment, etc.
We then met with the US Assistant Ambassador to Kenya. This was a fascinating meeting because we learned a lot about American policy in relation to Eastern Africa. Moreover, we talked about the refugee camps in Darfur and Sudan. He was part of a project that involved interviewing all of the refugees at these camps about their experiences and documenting them for the United States government and for the United Nations. Some of the stories, as you can imagine, were eye opening.
We discussed US Aid programs and the grants that are available and how to process them for some of the projects I have mentioned in my postings. From the hospital in Mombasa to the doctor willing to run a satellite Bethany clinic in Madagascar (which he couldn’t actually talk about because he could only talk about Kenya specifically), to Joytown, the possibilities of grants through the US Aid program would obviously help with the stable funding of these potential projects and his opinions and information was very interesting.
We discussed diplomatic life as an American living in Nairobi. Security is always a main focus and despite the fact that the US compound, Embassy, and dignitaries always have to be protected, that life is good for him and his family. With a 5 year old and 3 year old, there is a lot to do in Kenya, good international schools, and an interesting look at international politics from an African perspective. He is here for another two years and then will be sent off to another posting at another region in the world. He would like to stay in Africa, but as a part of the foreign service, the US government requires diplomats to serve in at least two different regions around the world. Though they are settled and happy in Kenya at the moment, they will have to pick up and move to somewhere else in the world for another diplomatic posting. As exciting as that sounds, I recognize how difficult that must be on family and friends to have to move every few years.
The subject of the recent tourist warning against travel to Kenya came up. The recent piracy issues of ships being hijacked in the Indian Ocean and taken up to Somalia has caused the Embassy to issue the warning. An interesting piece of information about that recent tanker being taken is that, according to the Assistant Ambassador, the tanker was holding 25% of the entire production of oil for a day from Saudi Arabia! That must be a large tanker. These issues seem to continue to come up here. As I have heard from the Assistant Ambassador today though and from many others since I’ve been here, as long as peace can be maintained across the continent, progress will continue to be made. The only thing we can do is pray, be hopeful, and continue to do what we can to support, encourage, and assist.
As mentioned in the last Bethany post, every square inch of space and bed is utilized at Bethany at Kijabe Hospital. I will clarify the various options that are being considered in more detail in another posting later this week. However, Joytown presents an opportunity to provide medical assistance for these children who are currently at Joytown, another possible location for a rehabilitation centre for Bethany once surgeries are completed with an educational component. More importantly, there is a feeling that not only is there a need to get involved, but perhaps a higher calling as well. Our visit the other day was part of working out the details. The meeting with the Salvation Army was more pragmatic regarding ownership, investment, etc.
We then met with the US Assistant Ambassador to Kenya. This was a fascinating meeting because we learned a lot about American policy in relation to Eastern Africa. Moreover, we talked about the refugee camps in Darfur and Sudan. He was part of a project that involved interviewing all of the refugees at these camps about their experiences and documenting them for the United States government and for the United Nations. Some of the stories, as you can imagine, were eye opening.
We discussed US Aid programs and the grants that are available and how to process them for some of the projects I have mentioned in my postings. From the hospital in Mombasa to the doctor willing to run a satellite Bethany clinic in Madagascar (which he couldn’t actually talk about because he could only talk about Kenya specifically), to Joytown, the possibilities of grants through the US Aid program would obviously help with the stable funding of these potential projects and his opinions and information was very interesting.
We discussed diplomatic life as an American living in Nairobi. Security is always a main focus and despite the fact that the US compound, Embassy, and dignitaries always have to be protected, that life is good for him and his family. With a 5 year old and 3 year old, there is a lot to do in Kenya, good international schools, and an interesting look at international politics from an African perspective. He is here for another two years and then will be sent off to another posting at another region in the world. He would like to stay in Africa, but as a part of the foreign service, the US government requires diplomats to serve in at least two different regions around the world. Though they are settled and happy in Kenya at the moment, they will have to pick up and move to somewhere else in the world for another diplomatic posting. As exciting as that sounds, I recognize how difficult that must be on family and friends to have to move every few years.
The subject of the recent tourist warning against travel to Kenya came up. The recent piracy issues of ships being hijacked in the Indian Ocean and taken up to Somalia has caused the Embassy to issue the warning. An interesting piece of information about that recent tanker being taken is that, according to the Assistant Ambassador, the tanker was holding 25% of the entire production of oil for a day from Saudi Arabia! That must be a large tanker. These issues seem to continue to come up here. As I have heard from the Assistant Ambassador today though and from many others since I’ve been here, as long as peace can be maintained across the continent, progress will continue to be made. The only thing we can do is pray, be hopeful, and continue to do what we can to support, encourage, and assist.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Joytown and the Dagonetti Orphanage
We got up early this morning to get on the road toward Nairobi to visit two very different schools: Joytown and the Dagonetti Orphanage. When I say I got up early, I mean when I woke up this morning, it was actually 9:30pm the night before in Oakville! After a quick breakfast, De. Bransford, Dr. Stewart, Dr. Patey, Noel, Pierre, and I hit the road in a land rover ambulance from the hospital. The land rover is necessary on the roads here.
We arrived at the end of rainy season which has worked out well for the weather which has been beautiful and sunny during the day, and pleasantly cool in the evening with no rain. However, the roads are a mess. Many of the roads are simply dirt, rocks, huge ruts and ditches that have formed from the water that cut through during the rainy season. The result is bumpy and shifting left and right all over the road to Nairobi back and forth inside the landrover. I feel like I’m inside a television commercial for SUVs.
The two school visits were chosen to highlight the stark contrast between the conditions of both schools and students. We drove past the endless roadside markets (you can see some photos in the slide show on the right of this blog) to visit a school for children with disabilities called Joytown. Joytown was originally started by the Salvation Army but is now run by the government. We met with the new Headmistress who took over after the last headmistress was caught embezzling funds from the school. After a conversation in her office about the operating budget, the philosophy of the school, the children, curriculum, and boarding situation, we had the chance to wander around the school. The children who live and go to school there have severe physical disabilities such as spina bifida and hydrocephalus – the main conditions treated by the doctors at Bethany. Children were outside in their wheelchairs and on their crutches, taking refuge from the sun in the shade. I had the chance to chat with a few of them, while others struggled with English and spoke only Swahili (though all educational instruction in Kenya is in English). The conditions were appalling. From the clothing to the repair of the wheelchairs and crutches the children were using to the state of the dormitories and classrooms, I found myself wondering how any learning could be taking place at the school. The Headmistress told us that there is a waiting list of disabled students waiting to get in. I asked how she selects the students who do get in. She told me it is based on an interview process where they determine the academic capability of the students as well as their potential response to rehabilitation. I asked how many therapists were on staff. She said none. I asked how they assess academic potential. She replied that she just knows. I was baffled.
Students sat against the wall or on wheelchairs around the campus and happily obliged for a chat and photograph. I wandered into some of the dorms and saw tiny metal springs with wires sticking out placed side by side by side in cramped quarters. The spirit of the children was remarkable considering the conditions.
Children are sent to this school as a boarding school by their parents. Many cannot pay the fees, the school is grossly underfunded, and the conditions suffer as a result. They have a marvelous school choir whose voices are incredible and a positive outlook from what I could tell during my brief visit and based on the comments of others I was there with.
I left Joytown thoroughly depressed.
We drove to the other side of Nairobi to visit another school which is also an orphanage. The Dagonetti Children’s Centre was established in 1960 as a place for boys and girls who had been abandoned. It served as an orphanage and a school for these children, many of whom had physical and mental disabilities which are regarded as the assumed reason why they were abandoned by their parents in the first place. As the years went on, the conditions at the facility deteriorated significantly until they resembled very closely the conditions we witnessed at Joytown. However, in the late 1990s, Larry and Frances Jones, founders of Feed the Children, came for a visit, were shocked at the conditions, and decided to do something about it. Feed the Children, students of St. Vincent will be happy to know, is the same foundation which we donated our Halloween Candy to these past two years as part of their work overseas.
In 2001, Feed The Children took over the facility and did a complete overhaul of the existing buildings, and rebuilt new buildings and administrative offices as they took of all aspects of the running of the facility, also adding a food distribution warehouse on the site for the main aspect of Feed the Children which is providing food and nutrition to children around Africa. We met with the director of the facility who shared with us the remarkable process of transformation that took place. At the moment, they are currently feeding 120,000 children across the slums of Nairobi in their schools, along with the children at the school on the site. For more information about what is happening here in Kenya with the Dagonetti Centre and Feed the Children check out http://www.feedthechildren.co.ke/
We took a tour of the school from the pre-school programs to JK and SK to the primary school and were amazed at the facilities, the cleanliness, the ratio of staff to students, and the students around campus. Though many of the students could not walk, they were helping one another with toys and bikes and playing games together. From the cafeteria to the classrooms to the dormitories for the students who live there full time, I was thoroughly impressed with the level of care and education that the students were engaging in. Each month, approximately 40 students are adopted from the centre and 40 more abandoned children arrive.
The most exciting thing for me about the day was meeting all the different students in these two schools and getting a chance to connect with them for however brief a period. The other encouraging aspect is the evidence that the Dagonetti Centre provides for the ability to make an impact and turn around a school in need. As little as 7 years ago, the Centre was in an appalling state similar to Joytown but in the few short intervening years, they were able to turn the school and orphanage around into a facility to be proud of that respects the dignity of the children living and going to school there. What is required is the vision, the right people, and the means to put it all in place.
The reason Dr. Bransford wanted to take us to both schools was for the reason I just mentioned because Bethany is seriously considering intervening in Joytown in a similar way to Feed the Children at the Dagonetti Centre. Many of the children can be helped medically, and a rehabilitation centre at the school would provide a place to do so at the boarding school, but it would need to be done as a complete overhaul of the facilities, staff, and mission of the school. There is so obviously a need, and what we were talking about is how it can be done. The Dagonetti Centre is proof that it can be for the benefit of the students. We are not sure about where to go from here. Today’s visit was simply an exploratory expedition where we found out facts at both locations about operating budget, who owns the land title, staffing, government funding and intervention or lack thereof, enrollment, etc.
The photos I’ve attached include two from Joytown and two from the Dagonetti Centre (though you can scroll through the slide show to see many more) so you can see the obvious contrast. While these photos (and the 127 others I took during the visits) provide a grim picture on the one hand of students who have been given very little opportunity for survival, let alone success, the other pictures hopefully provides some hope for what can be with the right intervention, people, funding, and intention.
We arrived at the end of rainy season which has worked out well for the weather which has been beautiful and sunny during the day, and pleasantly cool in the evening with no rain. However, the roads are a mess. Many of the roads are simply dirt, rocks, huge ruts and ditches that have formed from the water that cut through during the rainy season. The result is bumpy and shifting left and right all over the road to Nairobi back and forth inside the landrover. I feel like I’m inside a television commercial for SUVs.
The two school visits were chosen to highlight the stark contrast between the conditions of both schools and students. We drove past the endless roadside markets (you can see some photos in the slide show on the right of this blog) to visit a school for children with disabilities called Joytown. Joytown was originally started by the Salvation Army but is now run by the government. We met with the new Headmistress who took over after the last headmistress was caught embezzling funds from the school. After a conversation in her office about the operating budget, the philosophy of the school, the children, curriculum, and boarding situation, we had the chance to wander around the school. The children who live and go to school there have severe physical disabilities such as spina bifida and hydrocephalus – the main conditions treated by the doctors at Bethany. Children were outside in their wheelchairs and on their crutches, taking refuge from the sun in the shade. I had the chance to chat with a few of them, while others struggled with English and spoke only Swahili (though all educational instruction in Kenya is in English). The conditions were appalling. From the clothing to the repair of the wheelchairs and crutches the children were using to the state of the dormitories and classrooms, I found myself wondering how any learning could be taking place at the school. The Headmistress told us that there is a waiting list of disabled students waiting to get in. I asked how she selects the students who do get in. She told me it is based on an interview process where they determine the academic capability of the students as well as their potential response to rehabilitation. I asked how many therapists were on staff. She said none. I asked how they assess academic potential. She replied that she just knows. I was baffled.
Students sat against the wall or on wheelchairs around the campus and happily obliged for a chat and photograph. I wandered into some of the dorms and saw tiny metal springs with wires sticking out placed side by side by side in cramped quarters. The spirit of the children was remarkable considering the conditions.
Children are sent to this school as a boarding school by their parents. Many cannot pay the fees, the school is grossly underfunded, and the conditions suffer as a result. They have a marvelous school choir whose voices are incredible and a positive outlook from what I could tell during my brief visit and based on the comments of others I was there with.
I left Joytown thoroughly depressed.
We drove to the other side of Nairobi to visit another school which is also an orphanage. The Dagonetti Children’s Centre was established in 1960 as a place for boys and girls who had been abandoned. It served as an orphanage and a school for these children, many of whom had physical and mental disabilities which are regarded as the assumed reason why they were abandoned by their parents in the first place. As the years went on, the conditions at the facility deteriorated significantly until they resembled very closely the conditions we witnessed at Joytown. However, in the late 1990s, Larry and Frances Jones, founders of Feed the Children, came for a visit, were shocked at the conditions, and decided to do something about it. Feed the Children, students of St. Vincent will be happy to know, is the same foundation which we donated our Halloween Candy to these past two years as part of their work overseas.
In 2001, Feed The Children took over the facility and did a complete overhaul of the existing buildings, and rebuilt new buildings and administrative offices as they took of all aspects of the running of the facility, also adding a food distribution warehouse on the site for the main aspect of Feed the Children which is providing food and nutrition to children around Africa. We met with the director of the facility who shared with us the remarkable process of transformation that took place. At the moment, they are currently feeding 120,000 children across the slums of Nairobi in their schools, along with the children at the school on the site. For more information about what is happening here in Kenya with the Dagonetti Centre and Feed the Children check out http://www.feedthechildren.co.ke/
We took a tour of the school from the pre-school programs to JK and SK to the primary school and were amazed at the facilities, the cleanliness, the ratio of staff to students, and the students around campus. Though many of the students could not walk, they were helping one another with toys and bikes and playing games together. From the cafeteria to the classrooms to the dormitories for the students who live there full time, I was thoroughly impressed with the level of care and education that the students were engaging in. Each month, approximately 40 students are adopted from the centre and 40 more abandoned children arrive.
The most exciting thing for me about the day was meeting all the different students in these two schools and getting a chance to connect with them for however brief a period. The other encouraging aspect is the evidence that the Dagonetti Centre provides for the ability to make an impact and turn around a school in need. As little as 7 years ago, the Centre was in an appalling state similar to Joytown but in the few short intervening years, they were able to turn the school and orphanage around into a facility to be proud of that respects the dignity of the children living and going to school there. What is required is the vision, the right people, and the means to put it all in place.
The reason Dr. Bransford wanted to take us to both schools was for the reason I just mentioned because Bethany is seriously considering intervening in Joytown in a similar way to Feed the Children at the Dagonetti Centre. Many of the children can be helped medically, and a rehabilitation centre at the school would provide a place to do so at the boarding school, but it would need to be done as a complete overhaul of the facilities, staff, and mission of the school. There is so obviously a need, and what we were talking about is how it can be done. The Dagonetti Centre is proof that it can be for the benefit of the students. We are not sure about where to go from here. Today’s visit was simply an exploratory expedition where we found out facts at both locations about operating budget, who owns the land title, staffing, government funding and intervention or lack thereof, enrollment, etc.
The photos I’ve attached include two from Joytown and two from the Dagonetti Centre (though you can scroll through the slide show to see many more) so you can see the obvious contrast. While these photos (and the 127 others I took during the visits) provide a grim picture on the one hand of students who have been given very little opportunity for survival, let alone success, the other pictures hopefully provides some hope for what can be with the right intervention, people, funding, and intention.
St. Vincent Connections to Aid Groups Here in Africa
Our connection with the work taking place at Bethany is our most obvious connection that continues to be at the forefront of our philanthropic initiatives. However, I have made some connections here in Kenya with two other NGOs (non-governmental organizations) which we at St. Vincent have a history of supporting and in fact, have done so quite recently.
In my next post, I will mention my visit to the Feed the Children warehouse which is on the same site as the Dagonetti Children’s Centre. I had a chance to visit the warehouse from where they send out maize (corn), wheat, oil, and rice to schools all around Nairobi for their lunch programs. You will remember that as recently as Halloween, we were involved with a project in support of Feed the Children with our Halloween candy drive. Mrs. Szpiech and Mrs. Morson organized this amazing opportunity again this year which collected candy which was then donated to Feed the Children through Dr. Simone’s warehouse.
The other NGO that I have come in contact with here that has a St. Vincent connection is Samaritan’s Purse. This organization is a missionary group who supports missionaries who are working in third world countries. A missionary is someone who has dedicated themselves to spreading the word of Christ and sharing the Gospel of Jesus with others around the world. Samaritan’s Purse is a partner with Bethany Hospital and is the missionary group which the founder of Bethany Kids, Dr. Bransford, was originally and is still associated with. Samaratin’s Purse contributes financially to the work taking place at Bethany as an official partner.
The day I left to come here to Kenya, there were many brightly coloured and wrapped shoe boxes out in the hallway of St. Vincent in front of the grade 1 and 2 classes. These boxes contained gifts for Christmas that are being shipped to third world countries (quite possibly Kenya) to be given to children for the Christmas season. Samaritan’s Purse is run in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus in Oakville out of St. Andrew Parish and we are always excited to support the work of the Knights as a Catholic organization. Mrs. Demmings brought this program into our school again this year and I know our students really enjoy purchasing the gifts and wrapping them before being sent out for Christmas. We even had Father Watters join us for the afternoon.
These St. Vincent connections highlight the amazing work of our staff, students, and parents in support of philanthropic initiatives in Oakville and across the globe. It was really special to meet representatives from these groups and be able to ‘brag’ about the St. Vincent connection to their organizations. They asked me to pass along their heartfelt thanks for your support.
In my next post, I will mention my visit to the Feed the Children warehouse which is on the same site as the Dagonetti Children’s Centre. I had a chance to visit the warehouse from where they send out maize (corn), wheat, oil, and rice to schools all around Nairobi for their lunch programs. You will remember that as recently as Halloween, we were involved with a project in support of Feed the Children with our Halloween candy drive. Mrs. Szpiech and Mrs. Morson organized this amazing opportunity again this year which collected candy which was then donated to Feed the Children through Dr. Simone’s warehouse.
The other NGO that I have come in contact with here that has a St. Vincent connection is Samaritan’s Purse. This organization is a missionary group who supports missionaries who are working in third world countries. A missionary is someone who has dedicated themselves to spreading the word of Christ and sharing the Gospel of Jesus with others around the world. Samaritan’s Purse is a partner with Bethany Hospital and is the missionary group which the founder of Bethany Kids, Dr. Bransford, was originally and is still associated with. Samaratin’s Purse contributes financially to the work taking place at Bethany as an official partner.
The day I left to come here to Kenya, there were many brightly coloured and wrapped shoe boxes out in the hallway of St. Vincent in front of the grade 1 and 2 classes. These boxes contained gifts for Christmas that are being shipped to third world countries (quite possibly Kenya) to be given to children for the Christmas season. Samaritan’s Purse is run in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus in Oakville out of St. Andrew Parish and we are always excited to support the work of the Knights as a Catholic organization. Mrs. Demmings brought this program into our school again this year and I know our students really enjoy purchasing the gifts and wrapping them before being sent out for Christmas. We even had Father Watters join us for the afternoon.
These St. Vincent connections highlight the amazing work of our staff, students, and parents in support of philanthropic initiatives in Oakville and across the globe. It was really special to meet representatives from these groups and be able to ‘brag’ about the St. Vincent connection to their organizations. They asked me to pass along their heartfelt thanks for your support.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Bethany
Dr. Stewart took Dr. Patey and I to visit Bethany. We walked through the main part of the Kijabe hospital toward the Bethany Kids wing. I had seen the photos for years from Dr. Stewart, and even used some in the presentation Mr. Oswald and I used when we introduced the Lenten project last February in our gymnasium. However, I was not prepared for what I was about to witness.
We walked into the main hallway and Dr. Stewart pointed out rooms to the left and right where mothers were dressed in the same pink smocks as their children who were there for surgery. While the children are in the hospital, mothers (and some fathers) move into the hospital with their child to be together for the whole process. In the first two rooms we looked into, there were four beds, each with a small child with hydrocephalus or spina bifida. As Dr. Stewart lead us around the first part of the ward, he explained how beds and space was getting tight and how they had planned to increase the number of beds through expansion. We walked out into a courtyard and he explained where the expansion could be by pointing to the external walls. There is a small green tent set up in the middle of the courtyard in which is the ‘office’ of Bethany’s chaplain appropriately named Mercy. Dr. Stewart promised me a chance to chat with her later in the week. We walked along a path through the courtyard where laundry was hanging (the mothers do theirs and their children’s own laundry there) and then back into the hospital through another set of double doors.
Dr. Stewart explained how when they had maximized capacity in the original wing years ago they needed to expand within the existing Kijabe hospital so they purchased more space from what used to be a portion of the maternity wing. We walked into this new wing into a room filled with hospital beds portioned around the room carefully side by side and lengthways like a hospital bed jigsaw puzzle. Mothers stood over their children’s bed in their pink hospital smocks tending to their children. I watched a mother stand rocking back and forth as she gently rubbed the back of her tiny son while a tube drained fluid from his swollen head. A father and son sat beside one another on a chair, the boy’s legs bandaged and under-developed. We moved into the next room and saw nine or more beds in a room that was clearly meant for no more than three. Each bed had a child lying in it and a mother in a matching pink smock sitting beside them.
As we walked back through the room and out the way we came in, one of the boys with a swollen skull from hydrocephalus and tubes draining fluid began to cry as his mother tended to him at the side of the bed. I am having a diffcult time writing this because it was a powerful experience. It has strengthened my resolve to do whatever possible to help these unbelievable doctors to carry out their mission to help these children who so desperately need it. They are doing everything they can to accommodate and work with the resources they have. I will take photos on Tuesday when I am back again for a surgery and rounds with the doctors. It also serves as a reminder of how worthy all of the work at St. Vincent has been for these children. They will benefit from your support.
I was at Joytown today visiting the school and children there and also at another school run by Feed the Children (the group that we donated our Halloween Candy to this year). They are a contrast in facilities and dignity and so much to process. I look forward to sharing more in my next post along with some photos.
The photos that are showing in the slide show on the right have been updated and include many of my shots from these first few days. They scroll through, but you can also click on the pictures to move them along. I was obviously fascinated with the markets on the side of the road so there are many pictures of them. I have also been talking about Pierre, Noel, Dr. Stewart and Dr. Patey a lot and there are one or two posed shots of them as well.
I've recieved two posts so far! Thanks for your support and comments. I hope these notes find everyone well back in Canada.
We walked into the main hallway and Dr. Stewart pointed out rooms to the left and right where mothers were dressed in the same pink smocks as their children who were there for surgery. While the children are in the hospital, mothers (and some fathers) move into the hospital with their child to be together for the whole process. In the first two rooms we looked into, there were four beds, each with a small child with hydrocephalus or spina bifida. As Dr. Stewart lead us around the first part of the ward, he explained how beds and space was getting tight and how they had planned to increase the number of beds through expansion. We walked out into a courtyard and he explained where the expansion could be by pointing to the external walls. There is a small green tent set up in the middle of the courtyard in which is the ‘office’ of Bethany’s chaplain appropriately named Mercy. Dr. Stewart promised me a chance to chat with her later in the week. We walked along a path through the courtyard where laundry was hanging (the mothers do theirs and their children’s own laundry there) and then back into the hospital through another set of double doors.
Dr. Stewart explained how when they had maximized capacity in the original wing years ago they needed to expand within the existing Kijabe hospital so they purchased more space from what used to be a portion of the maternity wing. We walked into this new wing into a room filled with hospital beds portioned around the room carefully side by side and lengthways like a hospital bed jigsaw puzzle. Mothers stood over their children’s bed in their pink hospital smocks tending to their children. I watched a mother stand rocking back and forth as she gently rubbed the back of her tiny son while a tube drained fluid from his swollen head. A father and son sat beside one another on a chair, the boy’s legs bandaged and under-developed. We moved into the next room and saw nine or more beds in a room that was clearly meant for no more than three. Each bed had a child lying in it and a mother in a matching pink smock sitting beside them.
As we walked back through the room and out the way we came in, one of the boys with a swollen skull from hydrocephalus and tubes draining fluid began to cry as his mother tended to him at the side of the bed. I am having a diffcult time writing this because it was a powerful experience. It has strengthened my resolve to do whatever possible to help these unbelievable doctors to carry out their mission to help these children who so desperately need it. They are doing everything they can to accommodate and work with the resources they have. I will take photos on Tuesday when I am back again for a surgery and rounds with the doctors. It also serves as a reminder of how worthy all of the work at St. Vincent has been for these children. They will benefit from your support.
I was at Joytown today visiting the school and children there and also at another school run by Feed the Children (the group that we donated our Halloween Candy to this year). They are a contrast in facilities and dignity and so much to process. I look forward to sharing more in my next post along with some photos.
The photos that are showing in the slide show on the right have been updated and include many of my shots from these first few days. They scroll through, but you can also click on the pictures to move them along. I was obviously fascinated with the markets on the side of the road so there are many pictures of them. I have also been talking about Pierre, Noel, Dr. Stewart and Dr. Patey a lot and there are one or two posed shots of them as well.
I've recieved two posts so far! Thanks for your support and comments. I hope these notes find everyone well back in Canada.
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