Katherine Goes to Kenya!: Arrival at Tenwek!

Although my trip to Nairobi went very smoothly, it was quite long. I was so happy to arrive at the airport only to discover that I had another 2 hours or so of waiting through lines for my visa, immigration, and customs. Thankfully, my luggage all arrived intact and on time--what a blessing! When I walked through the exit door Sunday night, there were hundreds of people, many who were holding signs printed with American names. I scanned through the crowd and found my name being held by a young man. I asked him his name, knowing the name of the driver who was to take me to the hotel where I stayed. His name didn't match the name I knew! So, I asked him where he was taking me, and he said the right place. So, I decided to head on with him. Thankfully, he did take me to the right place, but I had to endure a long discussion he wanted to have with me about wanting to marry a white woman like me. I got a little nervous, as he was driving me through dark streets in Nairobi talking about marriage :). I prayed for safety, and God provided a safe arrival to the Mennonite Guest House. I'm posting a picture of the guest house below--it is a lovely oasis just outside Nairobi with gardens and a beautiful setting. It was a great place to rest after such a long trip! The next day I rode on a van with two other physicians to Bomet (about 4 hours from Nairobi). The landscape was beautiful! We drove through the rift valley (picture below) and saw the mountain that was the inspiration for the Lion King (picture below). The road had recently been paved and was very much improved from the pot-hole-filled road that used to be in its place. We arrived at Tenwek Hospital around lunchtime and were greeted by the visiting staff with a delicious lunch. The afternoon was spent with an orientation of the hospital and getting settled into my room at the guest house (picture below). I had dinner with my Wheaton friend Alyssa who is a Med-Peds doctor here for 2 years. It was so fun to catch up and to hear about what all she is doing here. Today I began ophthalmology and scrubbed into 2 OR cases and saw some clinic patients. I even was able to see a patient to evaluate for a possible pediatric rheumatology association with her eye disease. It was a great, long first day! I am amazed at the people who work at this hospital and will plan to share more about Tenwek in subsequent posts. Thank you for joining with me on this adventure!