The LIA staff asked us to look over their quarterly newsletter that they send to sponsors. We sat down and watched a few movies about CHE (Community Health Evangelism). CHE (www.CHEintl.org) is the model which LIA uses to minister to churches in the various locations we'll be visiting during the summer. CHE is a wholistic organization focusing on evangelism and discipleship with disease prevention and community based development. After the CHE videos and "tea time" (hot milk, instant coffee and drinking chocolate), we started to plan out the new layout for the LIA-Kenya newsletter! Maybe we'll give you guys a sneak peek sometime later in the summer ;)
We also traveled to downtown Nairobi to visit with Dr. William Obwaka (the LIA Kenya director's husband). Dr. Obwaka is an obstetrician/gynecologist. He showed us around his office suite, which housed a reception desk, as well consult, an exam room, and an operating room. We were all a little shocked when we walked into the "operating" room. The room was not much larger than the stainless steel bed that was placed in the middle of the room. Along the edges of the room were colorful bottles filled with various chemicals and sterilizing fluids. Dr. Obwaka told us that many of his outpatient operations are performed under local anesthetic or sedation, but not usually under anesthesia (yikes!). Perhaps the most exciting sight was the anesthesia contraption that looked like it could have been in the movie Frankenstein!
Dr. Obwaka was so kind to show us around his office, and he even took time to answer some of our questions before he saw his next patient! Talk about hospitality!
We then scarfed down some Kenyan cuisine for lunch (fish cooked in a tomato sauce, green mashed potatoes (potatoes, spinach, beans), some veggies (kale) and chapati (a kenyan bread)).
We walked to the bus stop while the skies looked ominous overhead. We heard some claps of thunder and saw a few flashes of lightning as we waited for bus number 40. Apparently, buses only travel to the popular areas, and where we were going was not a popular area. You would not believe the amount of black exhaust and swirling dust there is in the city. It's quite difficult to breathe when you're standing at a bus platform, your lungs begin to burn after a while. Jacob, an LIA employee picked us up and brought us to Kenyata Hospital a public hospital. We waited to see a doctor who would take us on a tour, but he was in a meeting until after Kenyan closing time (4pm).
We made a stop at the market to stock up on food for the week, and walked down a couple of muddy streets back to our apartment. We're getting ready to make dinner now!
Update: this is our dinner! AND here is an article on LIA's website written by our friend Holly Garret! http://blog.liaint.org/?cat=35
Twinde! (Let's go!)
Holly
PS Tomorrow we're traveling west towards the Rift Valley to stop in Kijabe to visit another hospital. Courtney also has a contact at a Cure International hospital that is nearby! AND, we also get to be tourists! We can't wait to take pictures of the spectacular landscapes that God created!
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