It's hard to know where to begin ... as I land straight back into my final year at medical school, my mind is still in Africa, brimming with everything I've seen and learnt, people, smiling friendly faces and a hugely increased faith in God - certainly not the thoughts I had 9 weeks ago when I left my parents and a few other medics wandering round Heathrow airport on their way to various exotic locations!
... I was terrified knowing little about the hospital and having been told I would be treated like a junior doctor. My bag was jam-packed with handbooks, I was exhausted after a long week of psychiatry exams and hoping the Lariam insomnia would soon wear off! I should have been excited at beginning what everyone says is the best 2 months of our course. I'd happily have stayed in Birmingham. I couldn't see what use I could possibly be - a 4th year medical student, lacking confidence, not speaking a word of useful Swahili and I couldn't even pronounce half the diseases I was about to come across. But I was a little excited, knowing I'd be completely reliant upon God and looking forwards to being able to tell all the stories of His provision.
A Bank Holiday gave me a couple of days in Nairobi to rest and get over the initial culture shock of being IN KENYA!! - before starting the 10 hour trek squashed in the back of a Matatu (small minibus/taxi) on top of a roll of barbed wire, with 22 other women, men, children, chickens ... up to Kapsowar.
Kapsowar is definitely one of the most beautiful parts of Kenya, set in the Charangani Hills, overlooking the Kerio Valley. The hills are lush and green whereas the rest of Kenya seemed vast, brown and barren. They were once covered with rain -forest. Now they form one of the mopst densely populated parts of Kenya. Most people are subsistence farmers belonging to the Kalenjin people-group (some of the earliest inhabitants of Kenya), mostly the Marakwet Tribe. The Pokot tribe inhabit the valley. Sadly the Marakwets and Pokots have been fighting for over 10 years, and regularly we would see the resulting gunshot wounds.
The town is the size of an English village. The 120 bed mission hospital is the main feature. It is one of three set up by Africa Inland Mission over 50 years ago. The staff are all Christians: 4 ex-pat doctors (down to only one from August!) 1 clinical officer, 15 registered Kenyan nurses and numerous patient attendants with no government certificates.
My role did entail far more responsibility than at home. The other student being called out on my first night in Kapsowar to deal with a small child 'not breathing and with no pulse' did nothing to help my confidence. But by the end of my time, I couldn't walk round the hospital without being called on by one of the nurses to admit new patients, sort out IVs, write up drugs. I learned the importance of committing each day to God and asking Him to provide all of my needs... and He did! It wasn't until I returned home that I realised I was never out of my depth. I would run down to the hospital praying like never before, God always provided a nurse to give me helpful hints, popped random bits of knowledge into my head, or a doctor, more than willing to give advice, on the other end of the phone! I'll never forget all the Bwana Asifewes (Praise God) I heard after half an hour of desperate prayer and trying, finally getting an IV line into a tiny, dehydrated baby in the middle of the night by kerosene lamplight!
One of the most difficult things to come to terms with was watching patients die who I know would have survived at home. One child with leukaemia was sent home to find money for treatment and never returned - finding that much money was just not something the family could do. Back in England what would have saved that boy's life is less than half a day's wages for the average doctor!
My time in surgery showed me gunshot wounds from the fighting in the valley, a woman whose husband had tried to chop her head off, someone who'd been hit by a cow, a snake bite, people who'd fallen out of trees collecting honey, and biting off people's ears.
I also had the chance to visit a couple of the outlying dispensaries. It was encouraging to see one of the nurses telling Bible stories to a crowd of patients who spend the day sitting outside the clinic, seeing it as a perfect opportunity for a social gathering.
I learnt more about medicine than ever before (there's much more incentive to learn things when you know you'll be doing them next time!) But my elective was far more than just medicine. On my days off I visited some local churches, got involved in the Youth Fellowship and went on some amazing walks in the hills. I particularly enjoyed the time I spent in people's homes (there's always a cup of chai [tea] waiting!) and getting to know local people of my age, sharing stories and trying to understand the language and culture. I won't forget one nice Mzee [old man] who popped round and whom I persuaded to teach me all sorts of silly phrases over a cup of chai, who turned out to be the chief of the next village ...!
The openness to Christianity and God being so obviously the centre of all our work is something I miss back in England, along with the African friendliness. When there was nothing else to do I enjoyed sharing testimonies with the staff. I'm sure when I've learned a bit more I won't be able to stay away!
... I was terrified knowing little about the hospital and having been told I would be treated like a junior doctor. My bag was jam-packed with handbooks, I was exhausted after a long week of psychiatry exams and hoping the Lariam insomnia would soon wear off! I should have been excited at beginning what everyone says is the best 2 months of our course. I'd happily have stayed in Birmingham. I couldn't see what use I could possibly be - a 4th year medical student, lacking confidence, not speaking a word of useful Swahili and I couldn't even pronounce half the diseases I was about to come across. But I was a little excited, knowing I'd be completely reliant upon God and looking forwards to being able to tell all the stories of His provision.
A Bank Holiday gave me a couple of days in Nairobi to rest and get over the initial culture shock of being IN KENYA!! - before starting the 10 hour trek squashed in the back of a Matatu (small minibus/taxi) on top of a roll of barbed wire, with 22 other women, men, children, chickens ... up to Kapsowar.
Kapsowar is definitely one of the most beautiful parts of Kenya, set in the Charangani Hills, overlooking the Kerio Valley. The hills are lush and green whereas the rest of Kenya seemed vast, brown and barren. They were once covered with rain -forest. Now they form one of the mopst densely populated parts of Kenya. Most people are subsistence farmers belonging to the Kalenjin people-group (some of the earliest inhabitants of Kenya), mostly the Marakwet Tribe. The Pokot tribe inhabit the valley. Sadly the Marakwets and Pokots have been fighting for over 10 years, and regularly we would see the resulting gunshot wounds.
The town is the size of an English village. The 120 bed mission hospital is the main feature. It is one of three set up by Africa Inland Mission over 50 years ago. The staff are all Christians: 4 ex-pat doctors (down to only one from August!) 1 clinical officer, 15 registered Kenyan nurses and numerous patient attendants with no government certificates.
My role did entail far more responsibility than at home. The other student being called out on my first night in Kapsowar to deal with a small child 'not breathing and with no pulse' did nothing to help my confidence. But by the end of my time, I couldn't walk round the hospital without being called on by one of the nurses to admit new patients, sort out IVs, write up drugs. I learned the importance of committing each day to God and asking Him to provide all of my needs... and He did! It wasn't until I returned home that I realised I was never out of my depth. I would run down to the hospital praying like never before, God always provided a nurse to give me helpful hints, popped random bits of knowledge into my head, or a doctor, more than willing to give advice, on the other end of the phone! I'll never forget all the Bwana Asifewes (Praise God) I heard after half an hour of desperate prayer and trying, finally getting an IV line into a tiny, dehydrated baby in the middle of the night by kerosene lamplight!
One of the most difficult things to come to terms with was watching patients die who I know would have survived at home. One child with leukaemia was sent home to find money for treatment and never returned - finding that much money was just not something the family could do. Back in England what would have saved that boy's life is less than half a day's wages for the average doctor!
My time in surgery showed me gunshot wounds from the fighting in the valley, a woman whose husband had tried to chop her head off, someone who'd been hit by a cow, a snake bite, people who'd fallen out of trees collecting honey, and biting off people's ears.
I also had the chance to visit a couple of the outlying dispensaries. It was encouraging to see one of the nurses telling Bible stories to a crowd of patients who spend the day sitting outside the clinic, seeing it as a perfect opportunity for a social gathering.
I learnt more about medicine than ever before (there's much more incentive to learn things when you know you'll be doing them next time!) But my elective was far more than just medicine. On my days off I visited some local churches, got involved in the Youth Fellowship and went on some amazing walks in the hills. I particularly enjoyed the time I spent in people's homes (there's always a cup of chai [tea] waiting!) and getting to know local people of my age, sharing stories and trying to understand the language and culture. I won't forget one nice Mzee [old man] who popped round and whom I persuaded to teach me all sorts of silly phrases over a cup of chai, who turned out to be the chief of the next village ...!
The openness to Christianity and God being so obviously the centre of all our work is something I miss back in England, along with the African friendliness. When there was nothing else to do I enjoyed sharing testimonies with the staff. I'm sure when I've learned a bit more I won't be able to stay away!
