Mambo! I have been in Mutomo, Kenya for just over a week now. I’ve learned a lot and my comfort zones are continually being redefined and challenged. On the first leg of my travel over, my seat would fall all the way back any time I touched it. At the time, I found this inconvenience to be incredibly uncomfortable. While that was a small challenge to my sleep in the moment, getting here has been worth any little bumps in the road, and I am realizing that discomfort is often a state of mind.
The journey here involved two 8-hour flights with a 4 hour layover. Then a 2-night stay in Nairobi (the capital). This gave me a chance to catch my breath and meet up with the Nairobi CMMB team. Finally, it was time to head to Mutomo, and I woke up early to take a 3 hour train ride from Nairobi to Kibwezi. I met up with John from the Mutomo CMMB crew and we shared the hour drive through Kitui county to finally arrive in the small town of Mutomo. It took several days from when I left Detroit and was quite a journey, but I am happy to be here, at home base Kenya.
Since being in Mutomo I have had the opportunity to volunteer at the hospital (Our Lady of Lourdes) for a full week now. The midwives here take on the role of both nurse and midwife. On a typical shift there are anywhere from 2 to 5 midwives on. They take care of a 4 bed labor ward, a 2 bed delivery suite, a 2 bed observation/NICU ward, and a 28 bed postpartum ward. I have been working to relearn some of my nursing skills that I haven’t kept up with as well, such as starting IV’s or drawing up and mixing medications. We have had some wonderful opportunities for knowledge sharing, most of the midwives that I am working with have only been practicing for a year or less. I see the potential for me to be able to both teach and learn as we get used to each other and gain a mutual respect for each other.
Two highlights of the week from the hospital: 1. I had the honor of having a baby named after me, it was a first for me. 2. We have a baby who was born at 28 weeks and it has been incredible watching his mother learn how to feed him through an NG tube and do kangaroo care to keep him warm. We do have an incubator for him but he does best in kangaroo care.
The people in Mutomo have been very friendly and welcoming. Saying Mambo (Hello) is always reciprocated and the little kids see you and come running. There’s a market nearby that has a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. It has been fun to figure out how to cook things that are new to me or how to adapt to what we have for cooking. It is very warm and the bugs are quite large. Apparently the wet season has overstayed it’s welcome by 2 weeks now and there isn’t an end in sight. This means that the bugs keep growing but it also means it’s not as hot as it will be if the dry season ever comes in.
I’ll leave you with the handful of words I’ve learned so far: Mambo = casual hello, Scuma – push, kidogo – a little; I know there are more that I’ve learned but those are the one’s I’m most confident on.
Missing you all and yet so grateful to be here. Adjusting to the slower pace/Africa time approach. Praying for you, please keep praying for us. Derek travels on Monday night, I’m looking forward to seeing him on Wednesday! Until next time!
~ Clare
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