Side trip on my Journey to Kenya

Okay so I have to say that I've enjoyed this trip down memory lane. While I was thinking about my summer in Mozambique I couldn't help but remember the crazy journey from Mozambique back to the USA. So let me head down a little rabbit trail today and take you along on the memory train. Okay, so maybe it's actually a big rabbit trail, but I think the story is too entertaining to miss out on sharing. Now it's been almost 15 years so hopefully my memory serves me right. Fellow Mozambique team members please feel free to add your memories or correct mine if you deem necessary!

I remember that leaving Mozambique was very emotional for me. God had done so much in my heart during that summer that I didn't want to leave the place behind.

After leaving Mozambique but before going back to the USA we spent some time in Zimbabwe debriefing and preparing for re-entry to US culture. On our way to our debriefing site we took an overnight train. (Just picture early American trains traveling across an African countryside that looks like it is out of the Lion King.)

As we were waiting for the train to depart I decided to step away from the group to get a bit of personal space. Now I could still see the group so I really wasn't that far away. But I definitely wasn't right next to anyone from the team. Well a man came up and grabbed my arm and started pulling me with him. I said no and pulled my arm back. He grabbed me once more and this time I pulled my whole body away and shouted NO! By then a few of my team members/leaders had noticed what was going on and headed my way. The man immediately left. This is the first time I have publicly told that part of the story. If my parents had known back then I doubt they would have EVER let me go back to Africa!

After our time of debriefing we again traveled by train to the Harare Airport in Zimbabwe. We were flying on Balkan Airlines. (I was going to allow them to remain anonymous by calling them an Unnamed Eastern European airline. But I just learned they went out of business eight years ago so I will go ahead and name them!)

On our journey to Mozambique this lovely airline somehow managed to load only five or six (my memory is a bit fuzzy on exact number but I know it wasn't more than six) of our approximately 60 bags on the plane. It took more than a week for our luggage to catch up to us.

Well on our way home our lovely Balkan plane was sitting on the runway when we arrived at the airport in Zimbabwe. Shortly after we arrived our flight status went up as being "Delayed one hour". After a while it changed to "Two Hours". Soon it was "Four Hours". Before we knew it our flight was being "Delayed Indefinitely". We wound up spending 24hrs at the airport while they repaired the plane.

The next day we made the flight to Sofia, Bulgaria. We stopped in Lagos, Nigeria and Malta to refuel on our way to Bulgaria. Well somewhere along the ride it occurred to a number of the passengers that Bulgaria only has a few flights to the USA every week. And with our 24hr delay we had missed our connection.

A small group who were also bound for America decided that we should all stay on the plane and refuse to get off until they flew us directly to America. Hello people! Did you not notice that we had to stop TWICE for fuel on the way here? Our team declined the offer to join them in the protest and proceeded to the terminal. Well those that refused to get off the plane caused a bit of a ruckus and the next thing I knew the plane was surrounded with men with machine guns. Our team joked for a long time about the almost hijacking on the runway!

Of course we had missed our connecting flight. But because it was the airline's fault they were forced to put us up in a hotel for the night and then fly us on to London the next morning. Once we arrived in London we were put on Virgin Atlantic (one of the world's BEST airlines) where one of my leaders and I got a standby seat. At the last minute my leader and I were running to the plane to join the rest of our team.

The flight to NY was rather uneventful and before knew it I was home in Alta Loma, CA.

If you made it this far into the post congratulations! In all fairness I did warn you that it would be a rather large rabbit trail! I'll try to wrap up this Journey to Kenya series tomorrow.

My Journey to Kenya - Part 2

After an amazing summer with Teen Missions International (TMI) in Brazil I flew home to CA.

(Note to high-school students doing missions trips: Please wait at least a few days after getting home from one missions trip before bringing up a future trip to mom and dad.)

I basically got off the plane and told my family that I was supposed to go to Africa the next year. And sure enough I did. I wound up on the 1995 Mozambique Orphanage Team that had captured my attention the previous summer. It was an amazing and life-changing summer for me. It turned out that half of our team members had been sitting in the same TMI training session the year before and had felt the same urgency as myself to be a part of this team. Having a group of young people so united in their desire to serve the Lord was a beautiful thing to be a part of.

Our first night in Mozambique we heard drums beating as local Bible-school students had their evening devotions. It didn't take long for Africa to get under my skin.

During my time in Mozambique I began reading a biography about Paul Brand. He was a physician who did amazing things with leprosy in India. His medical mission work really had an impact on me. If you would like to read his story for yourself you should check out this book: The Gift of Pain.

One day while on the construction site I had an eye injury. A string that had been tightly strung up was accidentally cut while my face was just a foot away. It flew up and whipped across my eyeball leaving a red mark behind. My vision was affected for several days. I remember someone mentioning that perhaps I should be flown out of the country to get medical attention. That's when it really hit me that because I was an American I had access to good health care. I asked myself "What about all of these Africans who have life-threatening medical problems and have no access to health care or options to travel to get it?"

By the end of that summer I knew that I wanted to pursue a medical route to my future missionary career.

After returning home from Mozambique I made a personal commitment to never date anyone who did not have a passion for full time Christian service in Africa. I knew that God had called me to a life overseas and I did not want any relationship to come between me and that calling. I was often questioned about the "radicalism" of such thinking. Once when in a discussion with someone who thought my commitment was ridiculous the other party asked: "So what if you never find anyone to marry then?" My joking response was "Oh heck, I'll just marry an African then!" So be careful what you joke about because it just may come true!

Part 3 to come soon...

My Journey to Kenya - Part 1

My journey to full-time medical mission work in Kenya actually began when I was just fourteen years old. My parents had given me a subscription to Brio a Christian teen girls magazine. One of the magazines had a brochure for Teen Missions International (TMI) in it. As I read through the brochure I felt this incredible pull towards a team that would be going to Brazil to do construction and evangelism in the rain forest.

I went to my mom and told her "I really think I'm supposed to go to Brazil next summer." Her reply was something along the lines of "Okay honey, why don't you take some time to pray about it." I did just that. Then I went back to her again and told her that I really believed that God wanted me to go to Brazil. So she agreed that her and my dad would start praying about it as well. After some time they told me that I could apply for the team but that God would need to provide the money to go. If the money didn't come through, I wouldn't go.

I was accepted to the team and began to send out support letters. This was my first faith-building experience in the area of raising support for ministry. The money came very slowly. In fact just a week before I was scheduled to leave it was looking like the trip wouldn't happen after all. Then God worked miracles in the final days and provided me with the full funds for the trip.

The next thing I knew I was on a converted school-bus traveling from CA to FL to attend TMI's training camp. God began doing some amazing things in my heart during those two weeks of intensive training.

One night a man from Liberia spoke. He spoke about his country being from the "dark continent" and how great the need was for strong believers to go and make a difference. During his talk I somehow just knew that that would be my destiny. That God was calling me to a life of full time service overseas.

At the end of the message each night they would have a type of an alter call where students could go forward to do business with God. That night my heart was pounding and my mind was full. I knew that God was calling me and that I needed to respond. So on June 30, 1994 I made my way to the front and told God I was ready to go wherever he would lead me.

Shortly before our training time came to an end, the organization shared some of the plans for the following summer. They talked about teams that would be heading overseas in 1995. One of the teams they talked about was going to Mozambique, Africa to build an orphanage for children who had been orphaned due to AIDS. As they talked about this team my heart again began to pound. I believe the seeds of my love for Africa were planted that day...

Part 2 to Follow in the Coming Days

Mzungu in the Clinic

After several weeks of sickness I'm finally back in the saddle. I'm still coughing quite a bit. But with my asthma and recovering from pneumonia I expect that will likely continue for a few weeks. But I'm definitely a thousand times better than I was Christmas week.

The other night William and I were settling in to watch a movie on the computer before heading to bed. We heard a vehicle outside. Now you have to understand that our village is a bit off the beaten path and hearing a vehicle at night is not part of our norm. So William went outside to check it out. Shortly later he called me and told me I was needed at the clinic.

"There is a mzungu (white) lady there and Kiptoo (the Kenyan nurse on call) wants your help." As I put on my boots I kept thinking. What the heck is a white lady doing at our clinic in the middle of nowhere at this hour?

It turned out that she was a college student from Wisconsin. She was with a team of 9 other students and teachers who were staying about 20 min from our clinic. They are in Kenya for a few weeks and are running a children's camp. She had just arrived a few days earlier and was super jet-lagged and having some altitude issues. More than anything she was overtired and afraid of getting sick in a foreign country. We gave her some medicine to help her sleep and some oral-rehydration-solution just to give her a little boost. I prayed with her and instructed her to come back the next day if she didn't improve. Well she didn't come back so I'm assuming everything was okay. It was just a funny way to start 2010 with one of my first patients being a college student from the USA.

This week I'm busy getting reports filed, clinic schedules organized, and paperwork ready for patient care in the new year. We are launching dental services at the clinic this week so I'm also getting the dental tech oriented and settled in. It's a week full of paperwork and admin. I'm definitely looking forward to what 2010 holds for the clinic as well as for William and I. Thanks for joining us in the journey!

Malaria Update and Info

Well I'm very pleased to announce that I'm finished with malaria! Unfortunately I transitioned from malaria into a case of pneumonia. I'm still fighting the pneumonia but taking a turn for the better. Your prayers for continued healing continue to be greatly appreciated.

In the last week or so I've been asked quite a few questions about my malaria. Here are a few and some of their answers:

1. Isn't there a vaccine against malaria? Were you immunized? No, as of this time there is no vaccine that can prevent malaria. So no, I've not been immunized.
2. What exactly is malaria? It is a parasite that gets into the bloodstream. Because it is in the bloodstream and the red blood cells, it pretty much has effects on the entire body. The type of malaria I had is called Faliciparum and is actually one of the worst of the four types.
   
3. How do you get malaria? The parasite is carried by the anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bites an infected person and then becomes an infected carrier. It takes about a week to ten days before that mosquito can bite an uninfected person and spread the infection. Once an individual is bitten by the infected mosquito it takes a minimum of seven to ten days for the parasite to multiply enough for symptoms to begin.
4. Why is it that Westerners get so much sicker than nationals when they get malaria? I became so sick because of a few factors. Firstly I had never had malaria in my life and so thus I had not built up any immunity or natural resistance to the disease. My immune system was overloaded and didn't know how to effectively fight, causing me to become very sick. Secondly I had a resistant strain of malaria. So the first and even second-line drugs I was given were not effective in killing the parasite. I required the strongest IV therapies available in order to knock the parasite out.
5. What are the symptoms? Basically the worst flu of your life! It usually starts with a headache then moves into high fevers, chills, body aches, vomiting and diarrhea. Some people also get lung and kidney involvement. At it's worst it can invade the brain causing cerebral malaria which is often fatal. I did not get cerebral malaria. My fevers were staying in the 104 range while taking medications that are supposed to lower fevers. Because my immune system was so overloaded from trying to fight the malaria I also wound up with a urinary tract infection, respiratory infection and tonsillitis before I was admitted to the hospital.
6. Now that you have had malaria are you immune to getting it again? Unfortunately no, many of the cases that I treat at the clinic are individuals who have had malaria dozens of times. However, with each exposure to the malaria the immune system theoretically should be a bit stronger and more effective in fighting it.
7. Are there medications that can prevent malaria and do you take them? Although no drug is a 100% sure thing, there are medications that you can take to help prevent malaria. I highly recommend that anyone traveling to a malaria endemic area take these medications. However because I live in Kenya and plan to be here long-term it isn't so practical for me to be taking these strong drugs for every day of my life.
   

Hopefully this helps answer some of the questions you may (or may not!) have about malaria. If you would like more information you can click here and check out what the CDC has to say about the disease.

Malaria

The last ten days I have been battling malaria. This is by far the sickest I have ever been in my life. I started out taking first-line anti-malarial oral drugs. They had no impact and my fevers were soaring up past 103 so the decision was made to switch me over to Quinine. After three days on quinine I continued to get worse with temperatures rising above 104. At that point (on Sunday) the nurse who was treating me referred me to the hospital.

I was admitted to Medi-Heal Hospital in Eldoret shortly after arriving. My white blood cell count's were nearly four times normal. My malaria test was highly positive even after five days of strong treatment. I also had a urinary tract infection, respiratory infection and tonsillitis.

Within 10 minutes of my agreeing to be admitted I had an IV started and was given no less than six drugs. When it was at it's worst I actually dreamed that I was in heaven and was disappointed to wake up. After three days in the hospital I was starting to improve a bit and we realized that we wouldn't be able to pay the hospital bill if I stayed an additional night. So I fought to be discharged with my IV in place.

So for the last few days I've been receiving IV infusions from home. The fevers and chills are completely gone now. I'm just about as weak as a newborn kitten though. I continue to fight this respiratory bug and have a difficult time even thinking about eating anything. I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I continue to try to fight this thing.

All in a Day's Work

After a great trip to the coast with my hubby, parents, and baby sister I'm back to work. And let me tell you, work is in FULL swing! I'm on call for seven nights straight. The bummer about being on call here is that you still put in a full days work regardless of what happens during the night.

I'm hoping and praying for a restful night because today (besides being our second wedding anniversary) was a pretty full day at the clinic. Here are just a few of the MANY cases that I treated today:

• A retained placenta from a woman who delivered at home. She arrived on the back of a motorcycle and was half carried to the maternity ward. The blood dripping down her legs clued me in that it might be a complicated case. The removal (by yours truly) actually went very well and she was able to head home just a few hours later.
  

• The family who came for a follow-up visit for a wound. It was a crazy hand wound. I could see that it had been stitched all over the place. Turns out there was a family fight and the ladies hand got pulverized as a result. Oh, by-the-way, these people happen to be some of my immediate neighbors.
  

• The mom who had her five-year-old stick out his tongue at me. She then explained "The witch did that to him." The tongue looked very normal to me so I asked her to explain. She told me that when he was bewitched he had stones and sand put in his stomach at the same time. She told me this had happened on Thursday. I asked her if she was sure there were stones and sand there; and if they were, how did the witch get them there? She told me that they aren't there anymore because the traditional healer removed them through the skin with his hands that same afternoon. So I verified, "you aren't actually here because of the tongue or the stones?" No, he has malaria. Go figure!

It certainly wasn't a boring day at the dispensary. Now let's hope for a nice, calm, and boring night!