Merry Christmas!

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted on this blog! Here's an update for the New Year!

Coming back from Kenya was a crazy transition like always. I started back to work immediately. I had to complete my requirement for my MPH degree before I started back on my medical school rotations. My first rotation was a busy 'acting internship' in neonatology where I got to spend a lot of time in the nursery and in the Infant Special Care Unit at UTMB. That was followed by a month of trauma surgery, then a month of traveling for interviews and conferences, then an Emergency Room rotation. All of that brings me up to the holidays. Synopsis: I've completed my interviews for residency in Family Medicine, I've fallen in love with a wonderful man I met while on rotation in the ISCU, and I'm preparing for the next stretch of craziness with more questions now then I had when I got back from Kenya this summer!

Surprise- fell in love?? Who knew is would take only 4 months?? Travis Billingsley is a 2nd year fellow in the Neonatology program at UTMB. Yes, we met while I was on rotation in the Galveston ISCU. We've had a whirlwind courtship and are mutually excited to spend our lives together. More on that to follow I'm sure ;) Travis has one year left in Galveston for his fellowship, while I graduate with an MD/MPH this June! We are waiting on some potential opportunities to become clear before we make our next step. Hopefully more to come on that soon.

I will certainly be returning to Kenya. The question is when? I've received the Fogarty Scholarship to continue my research project on TB at Kijabe Hospital and am looking forward to that. However, my role is yet undefined and we are looking into many different options about my return to Kijabe. More questions, but answers are looming!

Hopefully more updates will be on the way soon! Until these things are worked out, I continue waiting on the Lord and praying for His will and for guidance about the future. I find that while waiting, I get to enjoy many things. Namely, the blossoming of a new relationship, the deepening of older ones, and the many daily blessings God is so pleased to give His children. Travis came home with me for Christmas and met my family for the first time. It went very well, we all had a great time. So many things to look forward to!

More thoughts on Naomi's Village...

Children like the little girl being held in my friend's lap just make you feel like you can't build an orphanage fast enough.

If you've been following my blog, you know a little about the IDP camp. We don't often think about people becoming refugees within their own country, but it happens. The people of the IDP camp near Kijabe are of the Kikuyu tribe and were unfortunate enough to be living in Western Kenya during the post election violence of 2008. They were chased from their homes and buisnesses there and now live in tents in the Rift Valley.

The little girl above is about 2 years old. Her mother is gone- apparently left for the coast and hasn't returned. Her 5 year old sister is pretty much her caretaker. There are others but they are rarely around. This little girl has a rash covering her entire body. She probably had scabies, fleas, or bed bugs, and has scratched herself to the point of developing a total body rash that would take weeks to resolve only if she had daily baths, medicine, clean clothes, and a clean place to sleep at night. God willing that will happen sooner rather than later.

Naomi's Village is an orphanage being built just across the highway from the IDP camp and will serve as a place of love and nuturing for many vulnerable children just like this girl. We are hoping the building will be complete before the end of the year. However, it takes much more than a building to have make a home for these children. The following are some important needs of Naomi's Village:

1. Kenyan leaders: With a heart for serving God and loving children. It will take some dedicated Kenyan's to make this house a home.

2. Legal aid: I wish is was easy to sweep up little girls like the one described hear into a loving home, but it isn't. The proper channels for doing so can take a lot of work and money. Be praying for grace with the Kenyan government so that these children can be placed in a home.

3. Funding: The building is not yet complete, and there are still needs to make it happen.

Check out Naomi's Village on facebook: www.facebook.com/NaomisVillage

I'm am truely impressed at the thoughtful construction and planning going into this project. The aim is to make this a self sufficient compound with land for farming and cows. All of the water that is used by the house will be recycled to feed the crops. It's really a neat place. The vision here is to gift children with a stable loving home and teach them to become leaders in their own community and in that way help change the country. A great vision and worth investing in.

Going home

I'm sitting at a coffee bar at the Nairobi airport, waiting for my 11 PM flight and trying to recap my month in Kenya. Time flys by so quickly! Here's a sum of my trip:

1. Research: I completed my chart review on TB patients at Kijabe hospital. I had a few problems getting my project done, and didn't get the number I set out to do, but did an OK job. I now have to do the data analysis and see if I found anything interesting.

2. IDP Camp: The most eye opening experience was hanging out at the IDP camp. I wish I spent more time there. I have a million ideas of what I could do if I came back. God willing, maybe I can be a part of something for the people there.

3. Friends: I had a great time hanging out with Kenyans and Muzungus (white people). Even more than last year, I felt comfortable and like I could fit in to the Kijabe setting. What a joy.

What next??

1. I'm getting a puppy! See pic above. I'm thinking I'll name is Sophie, but I haven't met it yet, we'll see.

2. Finishing up my MPH degree and going back to medical school. I'm applying for residency and will start interviewing for that this fall. I'm thinking I'll stay in Texas, but don't know for sure! I'm praying for wisdom and discernment as I apply and interview.

3. Back to Galveston: I have at least a year to spend with my friends (now family, really) in Galveston, my church, and to love on the community there. I am praying about volunteering at the children's center (for trafficked kids), and of course there is always a lot to do at St. Vincent's Free Clinic. It'll be a busy year!

4. Last 4 months: I have about 4 months before I start residency of "free time" next spring. What should I do with that time? Go back to Africa? Learn Spanish somewhere? Go to India? Buckle down and serve Galveston through my church, SVC, and the children's center, work, travel, ... the options are endless!

USA here I come. I'll miss you Kenya!

Sleeping happy

Tonight I will be going to sleep happy.

We went down to the IDP camp tonight to show a movie, Madagascar 2. We had dinner down at the camp, a nice meal of boiled chicken and beans and chipati's, hosted by Doreen. We then set up a big screen and projector and had a blast. For an intermission show, two of my friends made a slide show of all the pictures of the kids they had been taking. Wow the kids loved that! At every picture that came up they would laugh and scream and shout out their friends name. It was wonderful. What joy. Passing out the popcorn was a disaster, but other than that a truely great experience.

Joseph is a man at the IDP camp with a heart after God and a hand on the pulse of the people of the camp. He told me tonight that for them, showing the movie and bringing that laughter was like medicine. For so many who spend every night without sleep because of their trouble, tonight they will go to bed with laughter. Tonight they are happy.

Tonight I am going to bed happy too.

Praise God.

Peacefully Vote

Can you imagine feeling the threat of violence at the voting booth? Much of the world experiences this anytime they have an opportunity to vote. However, the Wednesday vote for the new constitution in Kenya went peacefully. After much apprehension, especially given 2007/2008 post election violence, the vote has come in and the new constitution is passed. The opposition (shown in the picture as the 'No' side), composed especially of Catholics, Anglicans, the African Inland Church, and other Christians, have conceded without contest. This is a big step toward a hopefully peaceful presidential election in the coming years (2012).

Naomi's Village - April 2010

Awesome hair

Should I do it again???

Making Friends

Sometimes I find it difficult to really get into the local culture of a place when I go somewhere. It takes a while to get comfortable in a new setting, to meet people, and to start having any kind of meaningful conversation leaning toward friendship. It's been almost 3 weeks and I've started making friends with Kenyans. Tonight I went to a pray meeting and really had a good time. Tomorrow I've been invited to dinner at my friends house, I will be bringing Stony Tangawazi (if you've never had it, you are really missing out!)

But now that I have things to do and am making friends with Kenyans, I am getting ready to leave in just over a week. Gone, just like that. And who knows if and when I will see them again? That is the trouble with short term work like this.

There is a Swahili saying that goes something like this: It is only the mountains which never meet, but people will meet again. My friend Ada told me that last year when I left, I wrote it in my journal. I did not expect to be back at Kijabe. You never know when God will reunite you with someone, so even if you only have a short time it is important to invest in the relationship!

Love the unlovable??

Who is that? Who are the unlovable?

I've just finished a book (I highly recommend reading it): "Same kind of different as me" by Denver Moore and Ron Hall. Its about how God gets into the hearts of a couple of white folks and a homeless black man who end up becoming great friends, how He changes them, how they learn to love , and how God uses that to bring fruitful relationships and healing.

So at the start of the story, the white guy finds it really hard to love a homeless person. The homeless are dirty, stinky, and criminal in his mind.

Who are the unlovable for you?

I can say that I love the homeless, or the refugees at the IDP camp just down the hill, but do I really? I don't usually try to make friends with homeless people. I also find the IDP camp a difficult place to be. There is so much need there, and it does smell.

But God does not call us to make friends out of all the homeless people, or all the people in the IDP camp, or every single person who is in real poverty. In that book, there was one man (two actually) whom God had called into a deeper friendship, and He used that friendship to change the lives of many. (You gotta read that book).

Here in Kenya, my missionary friends (white folks) have made friends with one couple in that IDP camp. The IDP couple, who I wish I knew better, believe that God has called them to that place and that they are blessed to live there. Blessed! To live in utter poverty and social stigmatization. Blessed to serve God in that place!! Who knew?? That a couple of people with literally nothing but a tent and some chickens could live so outright and committed to love others and loving God. I want to be their friend too.

We have to reach out, people. You can't stay in your house or neighborhood. Go to the place where the people are different, where they smell funny or look weird, where they have a 'record' or whatever. Look for something beautiful there that you know you can love, because it is there. I believe God is calling people in every setting--Like the couple in the IDP camp, like the black homeless man in that book- there is something beautiful there. Go find it, and love it. Throw your heart into it and see what God does. You may just end up touching a whole bunch of people without even knowing it.

You can't be afraid of rejection. You will be rejected. Because if you think those people smell funny or have bad habits, what do they think of you? But you got to go, because if you don't that wall will never come down, those people will never be free, and neither will you.

Referendum

August 4th is the day: Kenyans are voting yay or nay for the new constitution. http://kenyareferendum2010.com/

This means no traveling during that week. Pray for Kenya, for good outcomes for the people, and for peace.

This is funny!

What does it mean????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

I wish you could all see just how incredibly beautiful it is in Kijabe. This picture is a view from the walk down to the IDP camp. There are flowers everywhere, I don't think the picture really does it justice. Kijabe hospital is about 8,000 ft up, and the mountain side is just covered with vegetation, flowers, and all kinds of colorful birds. It is the winter time here, so when I can I try to warm up with hot tea and to sit next to the fire in the living room. Nights are especially cold, I were a lot of layers to bed!

IDP

IDP: Internally Displaced People

You may remember the post election violence of 2007. The whole world was surprised when tribalism reared its ugly head in Kenya- one of the most stable countries of Sub Sarahan Africa. It was a bloody period and many people were chased from their homes, their stuff burned, and family members beaten or killed. So what happend next? Well, they formed IDP camps and live there still today. We visited one near Kijabe Hospital today, and played with the kids. Great time. In a discussion with a friend in Peru, we decided that poverty is more about disparity than lack of resources. It is true here today. For some reason, in a country as rich as Kenya, these people have been living in tents for over 2 years now. The kids are dirty, runny noses, no shoes, with big bellies indicative of intestinal parasites and ring worm and other fungal infections. But we had a lot of fun and made friends. I hope to go back to the IDP camp and screen for TB, time and resources allowing. One of the camp leaders said this has not been done before and a lot of people suffer from cough.

Peru

My first trip to south America! Details?

Week 1: Spanish language study with Miles in Arequipa, followed by trecking the Inca Trail for 3 days and visiting Macchu Picchu!

Week 2: Lima for start of the International Institute of Field Epidemiology, then on to Tumbes. Activities: Epi survey for febrile cases, hunt for mosquito larvae and adults, and lab time.

Week 3: Animal studies (how to catch a rat, mouse, or bat, and slaughter a pig for cystercercosis), visit to mangroove reserve, and farewell.

Other than the 4:30 AM mornings and 10:00PM dinners, it was an incredible time. Our hotel was on the Pacific (we only had one day at the beach!) Our team of 9 UTMB students bonded well and learned a lot about epidemiology on the field. My spanish also improved dramatically (but still needs a lot of work). We ate seafood at least twice a day and drank a lot of Pisco.