October 28-30, 2010

As expected, my flight was very long.  Layover in Atlanta was short, and a little longer in Paris.  In Atlanta, I was standing at the gate and heard someone call my name.  I looked up and saw Rachel Tarshis, one of the teachers that went to Ecuador last year on a GSE trip!  She was headed to Greece with a friend.

I arrived in Nairobi and was greeted at the gate by a Rotarian named Barnard.  Jay Manek had sent him to meet me.  He is a travel agent, so has an airport pass to get past security.  We waited for about 30 minutes for a British Airways flight to arrive with Janice and Matt Kurth and Kourtney Kennedy.  They are all here for a shorter period of time and have a totally different agenda from mine.  Though we will see each other once later this week to go to Mukuru, they are not here for Rotary related projects.  It was great to greet them at the gate.  When we got outside, there were several other Rotarians there to greet us.  Geeta Manek had sent her driver, Joseph to pick all of us up.  It was amazing that he got luggage for all four of us in the back of his car!  He dropped me off at Sudesh Walia's house where I was spending the night.  Sudesh had dinner for me (10:30 at night) and I was not at all hungry.  However, it would have been an insult to turn her down.  She had made some Indian food...a vegetable bryani and a wonderful soup.  Of course she made her own flat bread as well.  She insisted that I have two helpings of everything.  I swear  the Africans here are all like Jewish mothers when it comes to food and feeding their guests!  Her daughter had made some pasta in case I didn't want the Indian food, but I did decline that!

Sudesh still does some of her travel agent work, but mostly for tourists from out of the country.  In addition, she now has an Ayruvedic business.  Her home is large and she has treatment rooms and an office for the doctor.  She has it set up like a medical clinic, not a spa.  She is emphatic about that.  The doctor lives on the premises, as does Sudesh's daughter and 3 year old granddaughter.  Her daughter is one of the practitioners for the business.  Many Rotarians come for treatment. 

I had not slept much on the plane, so crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow.  However, I was up at 4 a.m. and did not go back to sleep.  Sudesh had morning tea waiting for me (this was not breakfast, that was to come later).  I saw Alex Nyaga.  He came for an appointment with the doctor.  He told me he had been diagnosed by his regular doctor with gall stones a month ago and was told to have surgery.  He came to the Ayruvedic clinic for treatment and his gall stones are gone.  I had a consultation with the doctor.  He gave me a complete assessment and too bad I can't be there long enough for any treatments. There are physical therapists and other treatment modality specialists.  He gave me a specific diet that I should follow.  It sounds reasonable EXCEPT for no fish or seafood. Of course, no red meat either.  I told him I didn't know if I could go without sushi!  8 treatments here cost $400 USD.  In the States it would be probably three times that much.

Sudesh made a breakfast for us that we ate on the patio.  She has a beautiful views of  of lush green trees and scenery.  With cereal we had warm milk and you could see the butter floating on top!  We then went out to the mall where I bought a local mobile phone so I can stay in touch with the Rotarians here and I also bought a modem for my computer.  That is a great thing, as it makes it possible for me to always get on line without having to find an Internet cafe.

Joseph, Geeta's driver, picked me up at 3:30 to bring me to Nyumbani.  I was greeted warmly by Protus who is the manager here.  I met with Sister Mary for a while as well.  She is the director.  She "warned" me that the accommodations were very basic here.  I think she thought I would be disappointed or surprised.  She obviously does not know about some of the places I stayed on my last trip!  My room is actually very nice.  It has two rooms and a bathroom.  One room has a bed and a kitchenette with a propane two burner unit and a small refrigerator and table.  The other room has two beds, though no one is staying here but me.  There is a shower with hot running water and it is actually quite comfortable.  Sister Julie, who is from Philadelphia, has been here for 7 years and filled me in on some more of the details.  Protus took me around to some of the houses as the kids were taking their medications and settling down to see a movie.  Saturday night is movie night here for the kids.  They all repeated my name and welcomed me.  The kids here are from a little over a year old through high school, with a few exceptions of some older ones in their 20's who are going to university.  The older ones go out to boarding school and come "home" for some weekends and on vacation.  The pre-schoolers have school on campus here, and the primary grade children are all in local schools.  They are bused there each day.  These children are happy, smiling and friendly.  They wanted to know where I came from and were happy to show me their houses.  There is a "mom" in each house.  They are well behaved, clean and polite.  They are so happy to see guests and welcome them warmly.

Sister Julie sat with me as I had dinner.  Many of the volunteers and staff here make their own dinners in their rooms.  Dinner for me was some rice, a few vegetables and chunks of meat....not sure what kind of meat.  Good flavor, but pretty chewy and tough.  I was told that the water here is filtered and the volunteers and employees and the kids all drink it.  However, I am sticking to my bottled water!

Today is Sunday.  I slept for 7 hours last night and that was pretty good for me.  Maybe I am through with the jet lag.  I went to breakfast, and I was the only one there.  The kitchen staff brought me a tray with tea, instant coffee and bread and butter.  The butter was actually a vegetable spread.  I thought that was it, but then she brought me a fried egg and a banana.  Mass is at 10:00 this morning.  That is a very important thing here.  I plan to go as well.  There is a priest who comes every Sunday for this purpose.  Sister Julie told me that all the kids here have been baptised Catholic.  However, though religion is very important here....or rather I should say "faith", they know when these kids go out into the world, they may choose another religion and that is ok with them.  They just believe that with all these kids have to live with and experience in life, they need a solid spiritual and religious foundation.  It makes perfect sense. 

Being here, I totally remember and feel the pull that I felt two years ago when I said, "I know I will be back here".

Several Rotarians have already approached me with  project proposals.  Of course, they see some Rotarian coming, especially from District 5340, and immediately there is a long list.  Of course, I also see so much need here at Nyumbani.  Everything here is donated.  Sister Mary just spent a couple of months in the States fundraising.  They are building a new diagnostic lab here.  One of the problems they have is that many of these children who have been on  ARVs for so many years are becoming resistant to the second line drugs.  They have not had a death here since 2008, but they are very concerned about this drug resistance.  It will be very important to them to be able to test the children for resistance and  be able to acquire a 3rd line of drugs.  This is the main purpose for their new diagnostic laboratory.  All clothes are donated here except the school uniforms.  Interestingly, there has been some volunteer help from local Rotarians, but of course the clubs here have no money.  Lion's club has provided some assistance, but none of their funds have come from Rotary.  I hope we can change that.

I will be posting pictures soon.  Varinder and Chhani Sur called me last night to say "welcome home".  I look forward to seeing them.  I have a great level of comfort being back here.  I know I can make a difference, and that is the best feeling in the world.