I’ve fallen way behind on my blog updates so this will be the first of two posts going live today.
Trenton and I were thinking about our schedule for the remaining year at supper last night. We realized that we’ve already gotten ourselves booked for the rest of the year! The reality is that there is too much to see and do to accomplish everything we want in only 10 months. It’s a good problem to have.
Maternity Ward
One of the worksites that I haven’t yet mentioned in a blog post is Uzima Hospital. It is run by sisters and is a short walk from our home. We ran into some problems getting started there but are in full swing now. On our first day there one of the sisters asked us what we thought we could help with at the hospital. Trenton was able to talk about having a Bachelor’s degree heavy in biology and chemistry, with experience working as a CNA and in an emergency room. I let them know that I studied zero science in college, but was confident that I could make beds with “hospital corners” given a quick refresher. My mom’s bed making lessons from 15+ years ago might finally come in handy!
The sisters decided to put Trenton in the laboratory running different tests. I was placed in the maternity ward. The first day consisted of making beds, cleaning bed mattresses and bed frames, and following a couple through an antenatal visit and ultrasound. We all broke into celebrate when we learned that they would be having a girl in a couple of months!
By my second shift at the hospital, the nurses decided I was ready for a little bit more responsibility. Lillian, a student nurse, taught me how to check on mothers who have given birth in the last couple of days. This mainly consisted of asking questions about their pain, how much water they were drinking, how their baby was doing, and if the baby was breastfeeding well. This naturally led to me asking what I’m supposed to do if I get the wrong answer to any of these questions. She thought about it for a couple seconds and decided to give me a quick 5 minute course on how to successfully breastfeed. She then told me to go and get her if there were problems with anything besides breastfeeding. The first mother I checked on was having problems with breastfeeding. Great. I wish I had a video to show you of me trying to demonstrate proper hand placement on myself, while explaining what I was doing in a combination of broken Swahili and English. Somehow she understood enough to get her baby latched on and eating. After checking on the rest of the mothers I sat through a couple more antenatal visits before leaving.
The doctor in charge is hopeful that I’ll be able to help with a delivery soon, but I’m happy to keep doing what I’m doing. It sounds like I will also be learning how to take blood pressures, temperatures, and heart rates of the new mothers. This would allow me to check on the mothers without needing a nurse to come after me and take the measurements themselves.
Between a couple of weekend trips and trying to fit in time at a brand new worksite, I haven’t made it back in a couple weeks. Maybe this Friday I’ll help deliver my first baby. I sure hope not!
Tigoni Abbey
The drive to Tigoni Abbey was uneventful until right before we got to the gates of the monastery. We had climbed about 2,000 feet and got an incredible view of Nairobi’s skyline down below us. We got out of the car and realized that the air smelled incredible and was right around 55 degrees. In all likelihood it actually smelled normal, but we were used to the smells of Nairobi. I felt like I was getting a small taste of the Minnesota fall that I had been missing out on. Ready for a quiet and relaxing weekend out of the city.
Brother Eugene was one of the first monks we met at Tigoni Abbey. We ate supper with him and he told us that we were going to be with him for the rest of the weekend. His motto is “Enjoy life” and it meant we spent the next two days eating nyama choma (grilled meat) and barhopping. We also got to see a church service in the neighboring town of Limuru and go to an overlook of the Rift Valley. This was very different from how we thought our time at Tigoni would go, but we made the most of it.
Our last day in Tigoni, Hayden and I got up early for breakfast and a walk through the monastery grounds. Another of the brothers, Brother Alphonse, gave us a tour of the farm that they run. They have many different crops and animals that they take care of. Everything is utilized; manure is turned into natural gas for the monastery and fertilizer for the field, the cows double as the monastery’s lawnmowers, and all the farm implements are used for their normal purpose as well as for teaching aids when the monks run workshops for farmers in the surrounding area. Pesticides are crafted on-site, meaning that the monks can use a custom mix that relies on lower doses of the chemicals than they would be able to otherwise buy. I also learnt that all the food we eat back home in Nairobi is from the farm in Tigoni.
We also walked a half-mile trail through the woods that contained the stations of the cross. I’ve only ever seen these in a church, and I thought it was very cool to turn it into a hike through the forest. Finally, it was time to head back to Nairobi with Brother Eugene. He wasn’t going to let us off that easy though. We stopped at two more bars on the 45 minute drive back home.
We’re already thinking about when we’ll be able to get back to Tigoni. It was great to get out of the city, meet some more of the brothers, and see a new part of Kenya!
That’s all for the first update of the day.
Check out the next one to hear about my time with Aunt Kari and Aunt Joanne and my first hike in Kenya!
Thanks for reading!