Tuesday June 17th

Today was a great day, but then again I am sure every day will be a great day.  Today we had to wake up pretty early to get to where we were going.  Today we were told that we were going to a clinic on top of some mountain to go asses what else needed to be done as well as follow up on projects that had already been started.  We were told to be ready to leave the house by 8am but we didn’t end up leaving until about 9 which is typical African time.  Being raised in the family I am in, there was nothing wrong with that.  It was funny though because a lot of the people in my group either don’t understand it or its frustrating to them but it is nothing out of the ordinary for me so I just roll with it haha

               

Like I said we left around 9 and the first thing we had to do was find bodas to take us to the taxi station.  Sometimes it is hard to find them where we are because our place where we live is kinda tucked away and the bodas like to stay on main roads because more people are around.  Anyway we found one and I didn’t explain this earlier but you negotiate almost everything here including boda rides.  It is so weird to me still because you would never bargain with a taxi driver in America.  Also the price you pay is insane. You could pay 1000 shillings which is less than a dollar to get to the grocery store about 6-8 min away.  If you even get in a taxi for that long you’re looking at least 10 dollars.  They always try to rip my group off because they are all white and the boda drivers try to take advantage of them.  It’s just sad though because they may ask for 1500 which is still less than a dollar in American money but we stick to our guns and try to get the local prices.  It’s just hard for me because it’s like really this isn’t a lot of money for me but they might start taking advantage of you even more and we don’t want that.

Anyways, we drove to the taxi station and found a taxi.  Their taxi system is very different as well and it’s actually pretty funny.  So you find your taxi, negotiate the price, which we paid 5000 shillings, and then you wait.  What do I mean by wait?? Well we wait until the taxi is almost full, all the way full, or completely full. So we waited for another 45 min after we got in the taxi until we left.  And let me just tell you these rides are not comfortable. First of all, the taxis fit 13 but no one really follows that rule so we had 20 people in the car... so it was a little tight. Also the taxies are built for people maybe 5’5” and shorter, so with my height of 5’10” there was NO leg room.   Like my knees were going into the seats and it sucked.  To add onto all that, the roads are awful! There are  pot holes everywhere, so the rides are very very bumpy.  One of the girls that came earlier was like don’t be surprised if you get whiplash haha ummmm ok?

                

Zion Clinic

So we get to Mount Zion Community Clinic which is in the Bunabuyoka village in Bududa.  The clinic is about an 8km uphill boda-boda ride.  Being told about the ride up I was kind of freaking out a little bit but I had the best driver, Julius, so it made me feel a little bit safer.  The only thing that made this ride a bit more challenging was that there was the driver and me and a girl Paige from our group.  They don’t normally take two people up on one boda up that mountain but all the drivers were very young and our country director Todd didn’t want them to take any of us.  So the ride ended up being a little scarier than it should’ve been. We did a couple wheelies but we didn’t fall down any mountains so that was fine haha We did have to walk a lot because the boda didn’t have enough power to get three people up the hills but it was good exercise.

Julius my boda driver.  Got me up the mountain safely. 

We got to the top of this mountain and it was absolutely beautiful!! Being from Washington I am used to the green and all the trees but this was ten times better.  I posted a picture of it on Facebook but the picture didn’t even do its justice.  It’s just so cool, I wish everyone could see how pretty it was and standing on this mountain you could see out far enough and see Kenya which was super cool. I found it a little hard at times to pay attention to people talking because I was so distracted by the scenery. 

The view doesn't get much better than this. 

We didn’t really do much while were there.  It was a lot of assessing what could be done, which is necessary but I wish we could have done an actual project or something.  Another thing that is kind of hard right now is none of the new people really know what we want to do yet.  Like all the old people have all these projects and know people and it’s hard to just get on board with some of them but we are all catching on.  We got to walk around one of the clinics so that was interesting.  It was tiny!! Like the clinic itself is maybe a tad bit bigger than the waiting room in the emergency room I work in, it is crazy!! There are five or six stations. I am still a little bit confused about that. Either the guy explaining the stations didn’t know how to count or they just have multiple stations with the same numbers.  Anyways station one was like check-in which is pretty much the same as what we do at home, just filling out paper work. Then station two is the lab where they evaluate all the tests they do on patients for example, malaria and HIV.  That station is maybe the size of a regular walk--in closet if not smaller. We could barely fit like 6 people in at once.  Station 3 is where you see the doctor and he does what he needs to do.  He can either refer you to the lab to get blood work, to get medicine, or just give you advice and then send you home.  Station 4 is more paper work. Station 5 is the pharmacy which made me so sad.  The pharmacy room is also tiny but there was barely any medication.  The doctor said they never have enough medication to give people.  He also mentioned that some people don’t want to come to the clinic because they know they are not going to get medication so there is no point.  It is just so sad to me.  I can’t even imagine going to a pharmacy and them not having medication.  Yes we may wait, but they are never going to tell you they are completely out and that is something I think I take for advantage.  It’s little things like that, that I am realizing I am so blessed to live where I do.  People in America complain about our healthcare system but in Africa they barely even have one.  I know I need to appreciate little things like that and I think there are a lot of people that could agree with me on that one.

Outside of the clinic

               

After hanging out in the clinic for a bit we went and walked around all the classrooms in this little village.  This school was not nearly as nice as the Child of Hope School we went to the other day.  It is basically a concrete building with giant windows and sheets separating each class room.  I wish the conditions were better for the kids to learn in but at least there is a school for them to attend. I feel like they teach them to be robots in school and it is so funny to me.  We always walk into class and the teachers are like say hi to our guests so they all say hi in these monotone voices all at the same time.  Then we ask them how they are and in unison they all respond “we are fine,” It was weird at first but I’m getting used to it.  Just a little side note that kind of relates. So when we walk through the towns and say hi they automatically say “hi I am fine”. Haha it is so funny but it is what they are taught. We don’t even have to ask them how they are and they say “we are fine.”  Besides that we went in the classrooms and just explained to the kids who were, what we were doing, and just reminded them how important education is.   I think it is important to remind kids how smart they are and how important education is.  Knowledge is power.

After our tour of the school and the clinic we ate lunch.  Tess and Tabby are people we work with up there and I guess they always prepare a meal for us before we leave so they made us posho, beans, and peanut sauce.  I hate peanut sauce but had to eat some to be polite.  The beans were really good but this posho stuff is yuck.  It is mashed up maize with flour and water and it has zero flavor. I got lucky though because I was able to serve myself so I had very little food but then after I served myself the cook started serving everyone and it was a lot of food and everyone seemed to be very jealous of my small amount haha.  I guess we eat it a lot though so we are all going to have to get used to it.   After lunch/dinner or as my dad would say “linner” we watched the kids perform for us.  It was so cute and they get so excited about it!! I was dancing with the little kids and my friend Joseph who is so freaking adorable!!

After the performance we had to hurry and leave before it started raining.  The ride down was a lot better than up because there were only two people riding instead of three.  We did almost fall though because someone behind us fell and my driver Julius thought it would be a smart idea to turn around and see what happened... while were were driving. So that was great.  We didn't fall but came close for sure.  We got to the bottom and waited for our taxi for about ten minutes and thank goodness it was more than half full so we didn't have to wait for people.  On the ride back we did get to experience picking up a man with his two chickens and he just sat with them in his lap. It is soooo funny to me, but my mom warned me that that would happen so I wasn't too shocked. 

We got home and just chilled for the rest of the day. Tomorrow should be interesting because we have training with Todd and Jess and none of us are looking forward to that because it is supposed to be an all-day thing in the house.  Anyways off to bed I go!

My little friend Joseph

Forgot something!! While we were up at the clinic I met a new friend named Joseph and he was about 6 years old and so dang cute!! At first he was just following me around and then he  held my hand and was with me pretty much the whole time we were there,  He danced with me, played some games, and helped me climb the mountain, It was presh.

Wanyala!