Five weeks have passed in Kochia, and I think my type A personality has become comfortable with my surroundings and is on the move. Silivia, Emmanuel, and I sat down yesterday and made a long list of all the goals and projects that need to happen at Abba. We constructed a timeline for the next two weeks, and have agreed to discuss every Sunday night what our plans are for the week. I am going to make larger lists with big boxes next to each task - nothing as satisfying as crossing things off the list! We were all very excited about our meeting, and Emmanuel stated 'sharing never leaves a person the same' which seems to have been a theme throughought this past week for me.
Emmanuel and I toured some of the health facilities in the area. I requested that we map out all the health services in the area, so I have a better idea of where people have to travel to get what, and at how much. All the of places we went to are staffed and supplied by the Kenyan government. The largest facility was a level 4 hospital, but to my surprise there was no doctor to be found. There were nurses and a clinical officer (I think equivalent to a physician's assistant back home). Silivia later explained that there are rarely doctors in these facilities, and that you must travel to Homa Bay, Kisumu, or Nairobi to see one, and many of these places are lacking specialists. Nurses at these centers asked us how they would benefit from showing us around, and Emmanuel replied by sharing knowledge with each other.
This past weekend was filled with football. Friday and Saturday there was a tournament for under 14 year olds. I arrived a bit later than the stated time, and waited another 2 hours or so for the tournament to kick off. THere were many other organizations involved in this tournament, and I talked to a girl from Indiana who had been in Kenya for 8 weeks teaching. We all had to make speeches before the games started (something that I'm still not getting used to). There was another organization there that is building a clinic for their orphans, and I hope to see their facilities and plans later this week. The football was great to watch - although boys here don't always know their age and there were some of the largest 14 year olds boys playing I have ever seen!
I am here wishing that I had taken many other classes or having knowledge about certain areas that I don't have. One of these is grant writing. I am very interested in writing a grant for a small clinic that would specialize in dentistry and possibly maternity (Silivia is trained in both and has many contacts that would help her). I have asked my parents and other contacts what they know about global health grants. My dad suggested I put it on the blog as well - and it seems ridiculous not to with this theme! Please send me your thoughts and suggestions at rachelmclark2@gmail.com - and hopefully we can get moving!
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