Tomorrow I return to Africa; Gulfport to Atlanta to Rome to Nairobi. At the UPS center at the airport in Nairobi I’ll pick up the purifier being sent from Nevada by Aqua-Sun. The purifier is the key element to my water project, purchased with funds from the Rotary Club and other volunteer donations. I’ll somehow arrange to get the eighty-pound purifier and my own luggage on a bus for the six-hour trip to Keumbu. If you want to find Keumbu on Google … well, good luck. I actually did find Google World photos of the village by tracing back along the road from Kisii, a 45 minute bus ride away.
I’ll be at the Keumbu hospital for ten days overseeing the water project. Last year if we wanted water in the hospital we had to bring it over by bucket from the rain-collecting storage tanks. Very little hand washing occurred. The project is to install a pump to bring the water from the storage tanks, through the purifier, and to the hospital’s plumbing. Yes, the hospital has plumbing. It was installed when built, but never supplied with water. I understand the personnel and plans are ready to go when I arrive in Keumbu. Everyone’s just waiting on me to arrive with the purifier and the money for the materials.
Besides the water project, I’ll be helping out in the hospital. Last year I diagnosed a slew of tropical diseases, including leprosy and Typhus, and studied the scourge of Malaria. I heard the government finally assigned an actual doctor to the hospital, so I’m eager to meet him. It’ll be good to see my many friends there, including the pharmacist for whom I’m bringing a box of valued Tylenol. My suitcase includes donated and purchased medical items; including two blood pressure machines and about a dozen stethoscopes, equipment unavailable there last year. They worked with so little, it amazed me to see how many they helped.
While I’m in Keumbu I’ll have the opportunity to visit the boy I’m sponsoring for prep school. His father, the Pastor, welcomed me as an honored guest during my stay last year. Once back in the states, I wired them money to have electricity connected to the Pastor’s mud house, and extended to the dorm where he houses the nine orphan girls he’s adopted. It’ll be interesting to see what uses he’s found for electricity. Will we still have to pump our own water? Will there be refrigeration, or will we still take our milk and our eggs straight from the animals? Will the old computer he had found somewhere actually function?
The trip won’t be all work. When I first arrive I’ll spend four days with my lady friend at one of Kenya’s famed North Beach Resorts. We’ve been writing each other all year, so this will be quite the joyful reunion. On the tail end of the trip I’m taking safari again. It’s an experience well worth repeating; seeing the animals up close in their natural habitat can’t help but inspire another book.
When I tell people I’m going to Africa they often inquire about the heat. Kenya is on the equator, my hospital in the mountains. Its weather is like Hawaii’s; always temperate. So while you’re huddling in air conditioning, I’ll be sunning on the Indian Ocean beach with Angela. See you in August!
I’ll be at the Keumbu hospital for ten days overseeing the water project. Last year if we wanted water in the hospital we had to bring it over by bucket from the rain-collecting storage tanks. Very little hand washing occurred. The project is to install a pump to bring the water from the storage tanks, through the purifier, and to the hospital’s plumbing. Yes, the hospital has plumbing. It was installed when built, but never supplied with water. I understand the personnel and plans are ready to go when I arrive in Keumbu. Everyone’s just waiting on me to arrive with the purifier and the money for the materials.
Besides the water project, I’ll be helping out in the hospital. Last year I diagnosed a slew of tropical diseases, including leprosy and Typhus, and studied the scourge of Malaria. I heard the government finally assigned an actual doctor to the hospital, so I’m eager to meet him. It’ll be good to see my many friends there, including the pharmacist for whom I’m bringing a box of valued Tylenol. My suitcase includes donated and purchased medical items; including two blood pressure machines and about a dozen stethoscopes, equipment unavailable there last year. They worked with so little, it amazed me to see how many they helped.
While I’m in Keumbu I’ll have the opportunity to visit the boy I’m sponsoring for prep school. His father, the Pastor, welcomed me as an honored guest during my stay last year. Once back in the states, I wired them money to have electricity connected to the Pastor’s mud house, and extended to the dorm where he houses the nine orphan girls he’s adopted. It’ll be interesting to see what uses he’s found for electricity. Will we still have to pump our own water? Will there be refrigeration, or will we still take our milk and our eggs straight from the animals? Will the old computer he had found somewhere actually function?
The trip won’t be all work. When I first arrive I’ll spend four days with my lady friend at one of Kenya’s famed North Beach Resorts. We’ve been writing each other all year, so this will be quite the joyful reunion. On the tail end of the trip I’m taking safari again. It’s an experience well worth repeating; seeing the animals up close in their natural habitat can’t help but inspire another book.
When I tell people I’m going to Africa they often inquire about the heat. Kenya is on the equator, my hospital in the mountains. Its weather is like Hawaii’s; always temperate. So while you’re huddling in air conditioning, I’ll be sunning on the Indian Ocean beach with Angela. See you in August!
Happy Travels!
ReplyDeleteHas there been any conversations about how the water is going to be treated coming out of the hospital?
Twinkle: I was going to have a purifier installed in the main line, but now, instead, I'll be getting a few small purifiers for specific end users: at the pharmacy, lab, public water fountain, and main office.
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