Australia 2010 – The Arrival

Australia 2010 – Flinders Ranges

Australia 2010 – Kangaroo Island

Australia 2010 – The End

After we left Adelaide by bus, we spent one night on the bus going through South Australia, eventually getting to Melbourne. We were only in Melbourne for an hour, however, before we were once again on the bus for Sydney and the last legs of our journey. That last bus trip felt, by far, the longest, as it was our first day bus ride. Holly read all the way through “The Kite Runner’, and I made it all the way through “The River of Doubt”, an account of Teddy Roosevelt’s voyage through an undiscovered river in the Amazon. Needless to say, we were both getting pretty antsy once we actually made it to Sydney.

In Sydney, we quickly checked into Westend Backpackers, and then set off to see the city. Taking advantage of the time we had on our hands, we decided to use the day to go to Bondi Beach. Here, possibly one of the strangest experiences of the trip occurred. We had spent some time soaking up some rays, and had decided to take a walk along the coast.

As we walked along the coastal boardwalk, we stopped for a group of 20-somethings who were taking a picture using a timer. After the picture took, we started to walk again. It was at this point that I locked eyes with one of the guys in the group. It was instantly one of those “we know each other” types of staredowns. helping the matter was that I was wearing a shirt paying homage to my alma mater, the University of Montevallo. Soon, the stranger put his hand out and said, “Andy, right? Matt. Matt White.” Here, on one of the world’s most famous beaches, Bondi Beach in New South Wales, Australia, I had run into Matt White, a guy who went to Montevallo and was an ATO back when I was in undergrad. We exchanged pleasantries. He’s in Australia doing work with Campus Outreach International. How weird, of all the places in the world, to come across someone who went with you to one of the smallest public schools in the country.

We didn’t do much that night, and on Saturday, we spent our time at a public market in The Rocks. Needless to say, Holly was in heaven. She managed to pick up a handmade jacket from one of the booths. We had a blast. We also decided that, on our last night in Australia, we’d treat ourselves. We stayed at the Sydney Harbour Bed & Breakfast our last night in Australia. Every other night, we’d slept in a tent/hostel/bus seat. To say Holly was delighted with this singular night treat would be an understatement. I, as well, was fairly happy to have one night where I wasn’t worried about the condition of the bed/shower.

That Saturday night, we went to dinner and then a show at the Sydney Opera House. We say Mahler’s Song of the Earth, a classical piece performed in the Sydney Opera House’s Main Concert Hall. It was a beautiful musical experience, and we both felt privileged to have heard one of the world’s best symphonic orchestras.

Alas, all good things must eventually come to an end, and yesterday morning we boarded a plane to LA, eventually bringing us back to Cincinnati. I type this now, alone in the house, as Holly decided to use the extra holiday weekend days to go visit her parents, since her summer will get fairly packed after this.

All in all, we had a blast. Australia was everything we hoped it could have been and more. I’m loading pictures now into Facebook albums, but I’m making them public, so you won’t need an account to view them. Hopefully the picture will do justice to the eminence joy and excitement this wonderful country brought us both . . . but I doubt they will.

Good on ya, Mates!

After our last update, we have had quite a busy few days. On Sunday afternoon, we took the five-hour journey from Flinders Ranges back to Adelaide. Along the way, we stopped at quite possibly the coolest little coffee and tea shop we’ve ever seen. It was built into an old blacksmith’s shop, and was pretty much still the original stone building. We also made our way to a few small wineries (and yes, we are bringing back some bottles of South Australia’s finest). Finally, Sunday night, we got into Adelaide and made our way to Adelaide Backpacker’s Inn.

This is where things started getting interesting.

When we arrived, it was almost 5:30 at night, and the front desk for the hostel was closed. So I had to call the lady, in the rain, and figure out the code to the door. We finally got in, dropped our packs, then started the task of trying to figure out how we were getting to and around Kangaroo Island. You see, we originally thought Kangaroo Island would be walkable, hikeable, heck, possibly bikeable. In fact, we were informed by several people that it was pretty much only driveable. So we were either going to have to hitch on and pay for an official tour, or rent a car.

After a couple late night walks to the bus station Sunday night to talk with SeaLink (operators of the coach and ferry to KI), we arrived Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. at the bus station to catch the coach, and then ferry, to Kangaroo Island. Once on the island, we preceded to Budget, where we had decided to rent a car. Of course, there was no one there. When we called, they said the only car available was, of course, on the other side of the island. After several phone calls, a missed transfer bus, and a nice Budget employee, we finally got our rental. We threw all our gear in, and proceeded to Vivonne Bay, where we were going to camp. First, though, we had a stop at Seal Bay.

Seal Bay was, pretty much as the name indicates, a bay with a ton of New Zealand fur seals. While that may not sound like much, it was awesome! The guide took us right on to the beach, and we were within twenty-thirty feet of the seals. They were fighting, and playing, and could have cared less that we were there. Holly had a blast watching them so close up.

From there, we headed to Vivonne Bay, where we got to set our tent up on an overhang right above the beach, overlooking the ocean. We couldn’t have paid for a better view to go to sleep to, and it was free (though the pain in my back from hauling the tent on my pack halfway across the world begs to differ about the free part). Between, seals, koalas, “Remarkable Rocks”, “Admirals Arch”, and a ton more kangaroos, Kangaroo Island was an awesome experience.

The funniest thing that happened though involved my “Salt Water Coffee”. When we first set up camp, we needed water. There were no spickets near the site, so we started back up towards the road. We stopped first, though, at the restrooms. I decided that it would be a bright idea just to fill all of our water containers, including to bottles, a camelpack, and a five-gallon camp shower, with water from the bathroom sink. Free water, right??

When we got back to camp, I immediately started boiling some on the fire to make some coffee. In the mean time, I grabbed one of the bottles for a quick swig to wash down a power bar I’d just consumed.

ZOINKS!

Instantly, the water hit my lips and I knew that something was amiss. Alas, after a second, much smaller sip, it was confirmed that we had filled everything with salt water. Not to be deterred, I finished boiling the water and tried to make the best of it. The best of it, sadly, still tasted like nasty coffee with salt water. It was quickly thrown out, along with my dreams of campfire coffee. At least until the next night, when we bought some water from the store.

The Australian Hospitality occurred just this morning, Wednesday at about 8:00 a.m. We broke camp before dawn, taking our chances with darting kangaroos on the roads (the deer of Australia), to try to make the 8:30 a.m. ferry, which we needed to catch because that was our only way of ensuring of catching the connecting coach and getting to Adelaide in time to be on the bus headed to Melbourne tonight. We made it to the dock around 8:05, and I quickly bought our two tickets. Thinking we had plenty of time, we went back up to the rental car, took it and filled it with gas, then parked, and grabbed our packs out. At this point, it’s 8:21 a.m, and we’re only a quick two-minute walk to the dock. As we rounded the corner of the road, however, Holly froze in her tracks. The ferry was already pulling out! Ten minutes early, almost!

Well, after being informed that we “checked in” at the same time that we bought our ticket, and that they were under no obligation to actually wait till their 8:30 a.m. posted departure time if “everyone is checked in”, that we were basically screwed. We could take the 10:30 a.m. ferry, but no other coaches would be leaving for Adelaide until 8:30 p.m. tonight, way too late to catch our bus to Melbourne. Their suggestion to us? “Ask for a ride.” So what did I do?

I asked for a ride.

To our great, and amazingly pleasant surprise, we got a ride! A fantastically nice Australian named Redman gave us a ride to Adelaide. He lived there, and had been on KI to check on some property he owned. He was more than happy to take Holly, myself, and our ridiculously large hiking packs, to the Adelaide Bus Station. He was great for conversation, and once we were here, he absolutely refused the money we offered him. After the quite rude service we were given from SeaLink, Redman completely saved Australia’s hospitable reputation for us!

Well, now it’s on to Melbourne, and then again on to Syndey, where we’ll get in tomorrow night around 8:00 p.m. That will be our last destination until Sunday morning, when we step onto the plane headed home. We’ve had a blast . . . but we also anxiously await our own bed after two weeks of tent floors and hostel beds.

More to come from Sydney!

We arrived to the outback via Flinder’s Range and immediately had our first contact with kangaroos.  It was awesome and I couldn’t help but during our first hike but to love seeing the little guys.  Our day was amazing and on this computer in the Bush (which I’m paying $4 to type on) won’t allow me to post a photo, but we’ve got hundreds and we’ll post as soon as we can.  The day ended early at 7:30 pm (Hannah, you’d be proud of me) and I slept wonderfully in my “bed” all night.  Outside our tent, ‘roos were everywhere. It was truly an adventure.

Today, we traveled a bit more around the bush, seeing some breathtaking  views after a mountain climb.  Again, more pictures later, but seriously, this was one of the most incredible views I’ve seen.

You know when I write, I ponder, and since we’ve arrived, we’ve gotten some bad family news.  It brings Andy and I wanting to be home with our families and we’ve decided our next few travels will be “home”. Heres my final thought for the day; I am blessed to have a tent with dirt on the pegs from Mexico camping while building a home, dirt on my pack from Kenya, and now red clay on my shoes from the outback.  Wish you all could be here with us.

Tomorrow, more bush and then back to Adelaide.  Our plans for Kangaroo Island will need to shape up in the next day.  We’ll write then!

Love you all, Holly and Andy

After we got into Sydeny, we immediatley came here to Westend Backpackers, the hostel we’ll be staying in when we return to Sydeny from Adelaide. This place is great, and they have huge storage lockers where we were able to ditch our ginormous packs for a leisurley stroll around the city. We went over to the Opera House (where we purchsed tickets for a classical music performance next Saturday night), walked around “the Rocks”, and went to Chinatown. We are definatley tired, however, and I have no doubt that we’ll be able to get a good amount of sleep on the bus to Melbourne tonight.

So far, the experience hasn’t been too crazy. Sydney is like most nice, metropolitan European-style cities. We’re excited to start our trek to “the bush” tonigh, though, and are more the eager for Friday morning to get here to begin our journey out to the Ranges.

One thought that did strike us, however, on the way out of the country, was just how much of the United States we still have to see. As we got ready to explore the outback of Australia, we flew over the deserts and mountains of the Rockies and the Grand Canyon, realizing that neither of us had been to either of these places. Maybe the next Heaton trip will be more of an “inward” experience?

Here are some pictures of the start of our journey:

At the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Int'l Airport, with our ridiculously heavy packs.

We decided to get our stomachs ready for the trip with a pre-flight stop at Outback Steakhouse in the airport.

That’s all for now. More updates to come from Melbourne, hopefully!

1. Holly graduating from Medical School with her MD/PhD
2. Holly moving to Cincinnati to start residency at Cincinnati Children’s hospital, one of the top 5 children’s hospitals in the country.
3. Buying a house in Oakley/Hyde Park East
4. Andy graduating from Law School with his JD/MBA
5. Andy passing the bar exam

So, needless to say, many things have gone down. Specifically, as this blog is concerned, we have also kept up our globe-trotting ways. In May of last year, after Holly was done with Med School, we took a cruise that left out of London, England and traveled to Dublin & Cork, Ireland. Then this past January, we took a cruise with her parents out of Tampa down to Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico. However, neither of those trips was particularly long, and there’s not much to blog about on a boat (though we did have fun on both trips).

That brings us to the reason why, today, we have resurrected this particular blog versus Andy’s normal blog. Today, at 4:20 p.m., we’ll be leaving Cincinnati on a plane to Los Angeles. From there, at about 10:30 p.m., we will stop aboard a plane bound for Sydney Australia. We will spend the next 14 days in the land down under!

Our itinerary for the weeks looks as follows:

• May 17th – Fly out of Cincinnati into LA, then out of LA and across the Pacific!
• May 18th – This day will disappear into the mists of time (seriously, it has something to do with the international date line, but either way, Holly and myself will never know Tuesday, May 18th, 2010).
• May 19th – We arrive in Sydney! We actually get there at 6:20 a.m., so we’ll have most of the day there. Then, around 8:00 p.m., we’ll get on an overnight bus to Melbourne.
• May 20th – We get into Melbourne that morning, spend the day there, and then once again get on an overnight bus, this time to Adelaide
• May 21st – We get into Adelaide at 6:00 a.m. At 7:00 a.m, we’ll be picked up and start our journey into the Outback! We’re driving into Flinders Ranges National Park in the state of South Australia. It’s nicknamed “the gateway to the outback” by many.
• May 22nd – We’ll spend the day riding 4-wheelers around the Ranges
• May 23rd – We begin our journey back this morning. Before getting back to Adelaide, though, we’ll stop in at a winery for some cheese and wine! Then we’ll get back and spend the night in Adelaide.
• May 24th – We’ll take the ferry from Adelaide over to Kangaroo Island, where we’ll camp out for two nights.
• May 25th – Camping and exploring Kangaroo Island.
• May 26th – We take the morning ferry back to Adelaide, then after spending the day in Adelaide, we get on the bus that night to head to Melbourne.
• May27th – We do a quick back to back, getting into Melbourne and then immediately heading from Melbourne to get into Sydney that night.
• May 28th – Sightseeing in Sydney
• May 29th – Sightseeing in Sydney
• Ma 30th – 9;30 am sees us out of Sydney, arriving in LA at . . . 6:00 a.m.? So confused. We then get into Cincinnati around 6:00 p.m. that night.

So there it is, the rough outline of what we’ll be doing over the next two weeks. We’ll obviously fill in the finer details of each days events once we actually get there, and, well . . . know what the finer details actually are. We’re taking a pretty rough and tumble approach to the trip. We’re each just taking one backpack, with each of us taking a sleeping bag and myself taking a tent. We plan on staying in hostels and campgrounds for most of our time there. We didn’t think there was any other way to really do Australia right.

So stay tuned for details over the next few days!

The Greyhound Home

For those who didn’t know, Holly and myself did not come home by the same means. Holly got to fly from Nairobi to Indianapolis. I, on the other hand, was dropped by plane into Newark, NJ. From there, it was the Greyhound from Manhattan, NYC all the way to Indianapolis. I’m so grateful I did, though. I think I was really able to use that time to digest and think on the social shock that I was going through. In the two previous months, I had been immersed in two very ethnically homogeneous cultures. I was always surrounded by either all Chinese people or all Kenyan people. Now, I was on a bus with African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and all types of people from different regions of the country. The diversity was constantly amazing and beautiful at the same time. God Bless America.

Well, that’s the end for this blog. I will now once again be blogging under my personal blog. I don’t know if Holly will stay bitten by the blogging bug or not. Thanks to all those who constantly read the blog and made comments. Those comments were always welcome reminders in a distant land of those who cared for us back home. Thank you, and we hope to see you all soon.

Andy’s Blog – The Adventures of a Confederate Hoosier

Not the fun, singing type of “Beach Boys”

The one major downfall for the beaches at Malindi, as it is with pretty much all the beaches in Kenya, are the beach boys. These are people, mostly young men, some older, some women, who try to sell you anything and everything: cloth wraps, wood carvings, seashell necklaces, drugs, sex, etc. You can’t walk anywhere on the beach without these cats coming up to you and asking to sell you their wares or to take you on a tour of this place or that place. You always have to remind yourself that these people really don’t have many other income options, and there haven’t been any tourists really since the end of the post-election clashes, so you try not to hold it against them. Still, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t start to wear on your nerves after awhile.

CLEAR’s unpaid intern

In the week that I was in Eldoret, I got myself connected with a group called CLEAR (Christian Legal Education, Aid, and Research). Basically, they are the ONLY pro bono legal help that the people of Eldoret, and Kenya as a whole, can get help from. The state, unlike in the US, does NOT provide you a lawyer if you can’t afford one. So CLEAR goes to the prisons and helps to try and educate newly arraigned prisoners before they can be sentenced on how to advocate for themselves. They also offer a wide range of services to women and families. In addition to going to some of their education stops with them (a school to talk about sexual harassment, the male prison in Eldoret), I also was asked to help them layout some of their education material. While I thought it was simply busy work while I was there, I was “pleasantly” surprised to find an email form Joram, the administrator, in my inbox a few days after we got here to Eldoret. The email contained a request for some more help on another assignment. I hope he realizes that my actual school starts soon and that I wasn’t really looking for a job, just simply a way to pass the time in Eldoret and learn about the Kenyan legal system.

Two Years and counting…

Tonight, a few days ahead of schedule, Holly and I celebrated our two year anniversary. We went to this restaurant here in town called Baby Marrow. Despite this odd name, we were very pleasantly surprised at how great it was. We would have been happy with a place like that back home, much less to find such a gem here in Malindi, Kenya. We had a dinner of a shrimp appetizer, a shrimp and “baby marrow” pasta for Holly (we still don’t know what “baby marrow” is . . . ), and calamari for myself. Last year, for our one year anniversary, I thought I was doing good to get us a weekend in Cincinnati. I was horribly trumped by East Africa this year. I am scared to think about what I’ll have to come up with next year.

Almost home

It is Saturday night. Tomorrow night, we will hop on a bus and head towards Nairobi, where we will arrive on Monday morning. Less than twenty-four hours after that, it will be bon voyage for Holly, Andre, and Amy. Then, at 9:30am Tuesday morning, I board my own plane and head on back to the U.S. of A. This has been an amazing summer, one of which I never could have imagined. Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seattle, New York, London, Nairobi, Eldoret, Malindi . . . this must be someone else’s life.

Well, that’s all for now, my friends. Hopefully, I’ll get one more post in before the Heaton Global Takeover is completed. If not, one love to you all, and we’ll see you soon.

It is with great sadness and happiness that I write this passage.  How can that be, you say?  Tonight is the last here at the IU house in Eldoret which means tomorrow in the early Kenyan hours, we’ll head off to Lake Navasha, on to Nairobi, then Mombassa and then, finally, Malindi.  Our vacation will begin starting tomorrow.  I find it hard to say goodbye to rural Kenya and her people.  We will head now, to the tourist areas which I think I much deserved after weeks of trying to assimilate in a foreign culture as a medical professional (albeit as a student).

We’ve had a good last week here.  It began with Sunday at church.  Andy and I had lots to catch up on since being away from one another for over a month.  Some of that was pure experiences and some was to return to being a couple instead of two separate individuals.  I’ve always thought when you are away from your other half that coming together would be easy – but it was not.  We had forgotten what it meant to be courteous, kind, loving, and selfless to another person 100% of the time.  We needed a reminder.  Appropriately and “coincidentally” the sermon was Ephesians 5.  Talking about submission was really needed and the message was very well given.  I reached over to Andrew, we grabbed hands and I teared up.  Marriage is a beautiful thing and I am so very happy to be with a partner like him.  This experience has shown me that God has put this person in my life to be one with and I’ve realized independence is not as wonderful as it sounds!

As I mentioned, this week I headed off to the OB/GYN wards with a doctor from the University of Toronto, Heather Morris.  She’s a 74 year old retiree, but still with lots of spunk and fire for teaching about OB/GYN and also still stepping into the operating room for a C-section or two.  Needless to say, I had an amazing time with her.  Throughout our 7 weeks here, she has been very integrated with all of the students and even went shopping, eating, and off to church with us (even though she’s Jewish and the church we attended was quite Christian!).  I was able to first assist in the OR with her on a section and I forgot just how awesome pulling a beautiful child from womb can be.  In fact, it made me think of why I had not chosen OB for my career.  I’m still thinking about that.

I spent some time at the Imani workshop.  This is another IU-Kenya partnership where HIV-positive women and men make beautiful goods (like those seen at Global Gifts on Mass Ave).  This allows them to continue to make a living despite their status.  The slogan is “HIV-positive, living positively!”  I just love that.  Having HIV is not an end to life and I’ve found so many people here who are working hard to change the stigma that still surrounds the disease here.  I worked with a few women at the paper making station where I stamped elephants and zebra prints on paper and then packaged them for shipping off to the States.  It was a great time.  Andy, again, worked pulping paper.  Many of the women there were smitten with him and asked if he had any friends for them!

Thursday we went to the Sally Test Center in the hospital (see previous mentions in this blog for explanation of what this is), where along with the Purdue pharmacy students, we helped the children tie dye t-shirts.  Many of the kids didn’t want to get the beautiful new white shirt “dirty” in the paint stained water, but after we showed them how it would turn out, they quickly dunked the shirts in.  It was inspiring to see them working on creating a lovely shirt.  They would hobble out of their wheelchair or crutch, with burned hands and faces, without hair secondary to their chemo, just to dunk the shirt with big smiles on their faces. One little guy, Vincent, with aplastic anemia, always remembers my name (Doctor Hali, as they call me).  He embraced me as I entered and begged that we take a photo together so that I would never forget him.  I couldn’t help but cry a little.  He’s such a sweetheart and he is only one of maybe 30 children just like him.  All of them in poor condition, just hoping to have fun this one afternoon.  Inspiring.

Friday evening we had a get together with some of the Kenyan students where we introduced our video games to them.  Some of the students that had come to my house back home in May were there.  We all agreed that 7 weeks went by way too quickly and we wish we had a bit more time together.   “Next time, next time”, we’d say, knowing very well that there may never be a next time.

Kenyan and IU students in Kenya!

I’m ready to come home.  Medicine means something very different to me now.  Altruism can still exist.  I have hope for it, even in America.

Next writing will be on the coast.  I love you all and thank you for your messages, emails and phone calls.  While some really good things have happened here, I’ve had to face many fears and grow a lot.  As many of you know, growing comes with pains.  I’m ready to come home to comfort to share my growth with each of you.

Kwa heri, Holly

Masai Mara

Our safari was majestic! I cannot find another word to describe seeing so many beautiful creatures that we are not able to see in good ol’ Indiana. We stayed at Keekorok lodge where it was evident we were truly on vacation. Wow! Clean beds, clean showers, buffet meals. I didn’t know where I was. After spending so many weeks in Eldoret, this was heaven. Funny enough, we go to places like this everyday in the States (restaurants, I mean) without thinking about the neatly painted walls or the beautiful décor. I cannot wait to step into PF Chang’s and get soft drink refills for free while looking into the awesome mall we have downtown. Funny how my perspectives have changed.

Animals seen: Elephants (in herds), zebras (about 2000+ seriously), wilderbeasts, lion and lioness (I cried because they were so beautiful), gazelle, antelope, water buffalo, crockadiles, hippos, warthogs just to name a few.

We then took a trip to the Masai village. The Masai are a tribe still operating as such. They are, by design, cattle herders and continue to feed today on cow blood mixed with milk and urine and occasionally goat and/or sheep meat. For 1000 schillings each, we were able to enter their village and “tour” on of their homes. Four walls made of cowdung supported by a few logs made by the women. Men are warriors and are forced to kill a lion for the hand of his bride, still today. The young boys herd the cows out to field and then make them return before sundown. What was really amazing was their strict adherence to custom including dress. Tribal leaders wear beautiful headdresses with metal objects that catch light, red garments to scare wild predators, and artificial hair pieces. We met who will be the new chief once his 94 year old father passes. One of 42 sons. Oh, and did I mention the men can have as many wives as he wishes? Children played in cowdung in the middle of the huts encircling us and as we laughed at their silly behavior and took photos they proceeded to pick it up and squeeze it between their dirty little fingers. We laughed, but in the car we quickly used Purell to “clean” our hands. It was a unique experience, but I was saddened by the lack of medical care as they continue to use witch doctors for healing. One of the children even had molluscum contagiousum – which I know will not be treated.

Andy and me meeting the Masai Tribesman

Back to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital…

Our return back to Eldoret was a bit unwelcomed. We had such a great time with a clean atmosphere that none of us were thrilled about walking in mud to the hospital. The attitudes on the trip home were ominous of my week ahead. On Monday, I went to the hospital where rounds were done in usual chaotic fashion. Then I admitted a patient; a little one year old in severe respiratory distress. I took the history and did a physical, explained to the mother that her son was a very sick little boy and went to find the nurse to administer a nebulizer treatment (albuterol). In less than 4 minutes, the child stopped breathing. I rushed to the bedside and grabbed my intern who was close. I assess his breathing – no effort was noted, no chest rise. I check his pulse. Strong at first, then threddy. We begin CPR. I grab the bag mask to ventilate. It does not fit his face – it is for an adult. I ask the nurse for a different mask. She leaves the bedside and returns with a child sized mask. As the intern does a few half-butt (this is my way of censoring how I really feel) chest compressions, I change the mask, but it does not fit the bag. I check for a pulse – nothing. I feel my stomach fall to the ground and my pulse increases four fold. We are going to lose this child because of a stupid mask and a lazy intern. Another physician comes to the bedside, tells us to quit (after only 2 minutes of crappy CPR) and calls the child deceased. I close the child’s eyes and attempt to reposition his neck. I take the little blanket he was originally wrapped in, re-wrapped him to make him appear to be sleeping. I then pull back the curtain. The mother nearly collapses and looks at me and I see a million questions mixed with disbelief on her face. I tear up and hold her arm. I tell her I was sorry and that they arrived too late. I stayed for a minute and then left her alone with her mother, father and her dead son.

Andy was in the child development center taking care of an orphan I had fallen in love with earlier last week. I went to him and said, “My patient just died.” He didn’t know the whole story yet, but his comforting face and embrace (with a child between us) made it more tolerable. The pain still has not gone from my heart. I choke up now typing the story. I don’t know if CPR had been successful even if all of the proper equipment had been in place. Nor do I know that if we had “saved” him at that moment if he would have lived without intubating him. Intubation is very controversial here because we have very limited numbers of ventilators and the law is very stringent for keeping individuals on support. So, there is a huge aversion to placing anyone on a ventilator.

The rest of the week on the wards was much improved, although I don’t know how you could go down from that experience. I went to cardiology clinic on Tuesday afternoon and loved it. The resident I worked with was a good counselor for patients. We had one 45 year old woman who is an IDP (internally displaced person) and could not afford her medicine. At the end of the visit, the resident reached into his pocket after writing prescriptions and handed her 200 schillings (only $3). She put her head in her hands and cried. I was blown away by his small generosity meaning so much to her.

For my next and final week on the wards, I’ll head to OB/GYN for another experience.

A little law thrown in…

Yesterday, Andy went to CLEAR, a pro bono Christian legal firm that offers free representation and advice for mothers seeking praternal support, offenders accused of committing crimes that are punishable by death penalty and advice for school aged children regarding their basic human rights. It is a nicely run organization, surprising for Kenya, actually. They opened their office to both of us in the afternoon and we got to meet some clients during an informational session. One of the mothers had an 8 month old boy who came crawling to me and promptly fell asleep on my lap during the session. I didn’t know this little one, but didn’t care. He was just too sweet not to hold him and love on him. The mother seemed grateful as she could listen to the session. I was grateful for having a little one to love on for a moment! The children here remind me why I want to work with kids. Their honesty and sweet nature warms my heart despite what kind of day I have been having.

And the prize is…

This weekend, we decided to stay in Eldoret. The boys took part in a basketball tournament today with the Kenyan medical students. The prize you ask? A goat. Yep. It’s tied up as I write to the goal post where the boys are playing for the grand prize. Amy and I are hoping Andre and Andy do not win, because honestly…I have no idea how to prepare a goat from start to finish. I don’t even know how to prepare goat that is already slaughtered and packaged. We’ll have to fill you in on the winner as soon as the tourney is over.

Life here is much better with Andrew around. I have some very hard days and it’s nice to have your best friend here with you to experience life’s interesting moments and to also provide a shoulder to cry, laugh and sleep on. Only one more week here in Eldoret and then off to Malindi – a costal town for a bit of vacation before returning home. I miss all of you. Friends and family, you better be ready for some meals and parties because I’ve just got to see you.

Kwa heri, Holly

]]> http://heatonworldtour.wordpress.com/2008/07/13/cpr-worthwhile/feed/ 1 aandhheaton Andy and me meeting the Masai Tribesman