Friday 13th November 2015

View from the Camp

It is almost exactly 2 years since I left South Sudan behind, with all the memories, emotions, and a pair of quite nice shorts along with it. After the highs of my time in Kenya, in Saikeri with the Maasai, to the lows of gunfire and government officials in Juba, I always felt I had unfinished business in Africa.
So  I am back in Kenya, with a group called Camps International. I'm  here with 28 others, mostly nurses, a physio, a pharmacist, a dentist, and a couple of willing helpers. We  are all here,for two weeks,  in one of the poorest rural areas in East Africa, to run some free clinics for the local community, consulting on skin conditions, malaria, tooth hygiene, mother and baby " stuff" ( I'm not good with baby "stuff") , and whatever turns up. We are expecting ridiculously busy clinics, as after last year went down a storm, everyone local has been looking forward to the "Daktari's" return with some enthusiasm.
Coming back to Kenya was lovely. Getting in the rickety old van in Mombasa, trundling along at 5 miles an hour thanks to the road, the trucks, the dust, bouncing up and down having made a schoolgirl error and sat at the back ( KNOWING what the roads are like !), past beautifully named shacks (" Oil Cafe" ; "Jubilation Cafe";) , tiny shacks on their own in the middle of a vast landscape " Top Up Here!!!" , small children squealing with delight yelling "Jambo!!!!!!!"  ( Hello !!!!!) , my waving arm building up muscle every mile....I remembered why I loved it here.
From our camp we have the most amazing view. Miles upon miles upon miles of bush, red dust, Acacia trees, Boabab trees, other stuff I don't know the name of but that definitely still has thorns ( that much I remember) . Mountains in the distance, light changing every minute of every day. Clouds scudding by, rain sweeping in, in a minute, visible from miles away, then swooping away again. It is truly stunning.
We met an inspiring woman today called Mama Mercy. She has almost single handedly pulled the women of the community together , with sheer determination, an iron will, and incredible stubbornness . HIV is prevalent here, with the area being near to the main highway, which carries trucks driven by arguably one of the  biggest causes of the spread of HIV in rural areas - the migrant drivers. Every month here someone would die of HIV, sometimes many more. Today, Mama Mercy told us that they had not buried anyone for 5 months. This has been partly achieved by the setting up of women's groups, spreading information and education, encouraging people to be tested for HIV, reducing the stigma attached to seeking the free anti retro vitals provided by the government........in the last year there have been several babies born to HIV positive parents, who, so far, have tested negative. Her passion, her determination, her sheer bloody mindedness, made me shed a little tear. Thank goodness for people like her.

We got back to camp to share out the donations- it's surprising the flight actually managed to get off the ground from Heathrow considering what people had brought. Medicines and dressings for the clinics, donations for the women's groups, hundreds of glasses for the eye clinic, and more donations  for the schools.

Donations

Those sorted and bagged, it was Tusker time ( the local beer), chat, lovely food, and to bed, with the Kenyan moon smiling gently down on us . I know, that's a bit twee, but it's sideways up here, and actually looks like it's smiling, honest. Or that may be the old hippy in me. Still nice though.

The Team