Countryside to Table Mountain Pictures

Table Mountain

 

Countryside going toward Franshoek

One of my top 5 meals of ALL TIME!

Entrance to LaMotte

View after finishing Chapman's peak drive!

Cape Point

Rest break!    Almost to the top!

Pictures from South Africa

Annie Rankin a truly exceptional person who has been a God send to us on our journey!

Can you say relaxed?

Leaving Tenwek...

Leaving Bomet on the 4 hour ride back to Nairobi.  The road is shared with pedestrians, motorbikes, donkey's, cow's, goat's, sheep.  Therefore, the picture below is what can occur and why Tenwek Orthopedics is in constant business.

A typical but EXTREME fracture of the femur seen on the day I was in the OR.  The first hospital this guy went to sent him away with a cardboard splint.   Thank goodness for Tenwek.

African women walking for water.

Dedication

(This is a delayed post from March 15-16, 2012)

Tenwek is on the Move...

From a medical point of view, our time in Tenwek has come to a close.  Isolated off the busy roads of Bomet and up the hill to Tenwek a hospital moves at a 24 hour pace.  The health struggles of the Kenyan’s from this area continue at a pounding pace.  However, the will to provide care for patients in great need is seen in both the visiting staff, permanent staff and the Kenyans.   (Take note of the picture of two very special “visiting staff” who I was proud to be related to!)

It is really hard to sum up this experience.

I feel like my pictures may say more about this then I can in words.   My heart is full and wanting at some point to return.  Anybody want to join me?   There is always something to do....;) 

Scripture above the surgical board at Tenwek.

Joyce (mother) recovers!  This is her first interaction with her baby who was cared for by the nursery and Mom as we hoped for her recovery.   

Karen, Head RN of NICU Mom and Tenwek Friends!

Farewell Wishes...African style

Solomon, PT extrodinaire at Tenwek!

View of a Mother and child as I walked to the Surgical Ward.

Matthew one of the twins meest his international "cousins"

Tenwek Chapel

Kipkeoch my first patient for PT at Tenwek!

Guess what....Physical Therapy is Important around the World!!

My title...okay I am obviously biased! The title of this blog was written not only to reassure myself about my profession choice but because I was a witness to it today!   

My day started at 6:45am with orthopedic rounds.    Pelvic, acetabular, femur, tibia, fibula fractures are just the starting point.   Then comes the high rate of infections or osteomyletis.   Most of these patient's are trauma victims as a result of motorcycle vs. pedestrian vs car.    The physicians here are great and very busy!   

After rounds I was introduced to Soloman.   He is a longtime Tenwek employee who has recently been sponsered to return to PT school.    He attends University in Nairobi and is currently a 1st year student of a 3 year program.    He is here for only 3 days to visit his family and check in on his "Tenwek family."  He knows everybody here!  Initially, I felt like I had been wisked back to my PT school days.   Slightly nervous and questioning my skills and how they apply around the world was a little unnerving.    The stares from questioning patients lined up in wards about 20 in a row, some sharing beds also gives you "new" perspective.     

The great news that I realized today is that Soloman is passionate about learning!   Physical Therapy translates across cultures with some funny nuances that made me laugh.   Believe it or not raised plastic toilet seats are not in high supply here.   Instead, Soloman reports raised wooden boxes with a hole in the middle is a  typical and encouraged family built modification!   Home health is even important on this side of the world!   

Soloman had to leave at 1pm to help build pews...he also reports he is an assistant minister.   This guy does it all!   

For the grand finale I got to watch Dr. Motown Hage perform an awesome C-section!  Wow!  Our bodies and surgeons ability to navigate all our complexity is really a treat to see observe.   

I'm hoping to help Soloman again tomorrow and Wednesday.   It is Soloman's vision to continue to organize and grow the PT deptment.   I hope I will be able to learn from him and also to help him start to reach this goal.

Maybe some of my peers will have to come over to Kenya and add their two cents!  

Love, 

Betsy

Endurance

Jambo!

I left for Bomet Kenya on Friday March 9th and arrived to see my healthy and busy parents at Tenwek Hospital on March 11th at noon.    

Wow!  24 hours and 35 minutes in an airplane and airports with a numb backside and interesting airplane food really put perspective on time, patience, and a special kind of endurance.    Thank goodness for better plane entertainment and Ipods!   My trip by car was really not bad.   For 3 hours I had no sightings of zebras, giraffes, snicklefritz's or lions.  (That is for all my wondering neices, nephews and God children.)    Patrick, my driver, (thank goodness) saw and stopped for lots of crossing of gazelle, goats, cattle, bikes, donkey's and motorbikes and people.    Short taps of horn honking is an art here and speed bumps come in the form of deep potholes and broken pavement.   Let me just say clearly...My parents were a really nice site for jet lagged eyes!   

The funny part is that I feel energized and so thankful.  I already know the trip is well worth the enduring!   

Now sit down for this....I have already gotten to see Dr. Dad/Motown Hage perform an ectopic exploratory surgery!  Awesome.    (I also saw the arrow removed from a patient's chest  yesterday that still lingered in the OR)   I have met all of Nanya's new friends in the nursery and held Rebecca her latest love.   (seen in the other blog).   She communicates as we expected with lots of smiles and rocking her hands back and forth then holding me and saying "this is my baby".   Slightly embarrassing at almost 40 but it works...and they get a big smile and understand I am her daughter.  To top off the afternoon before dinner I was able to watch a young woman give birth!   Natural childbirth takes on a whole new meaning here.   Endurance, patience and suffering.....all present in all different forms and degrees.   One thing I feel confident is true is that endurance produces hope...this place is full of it!    

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ....More then that we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."  Romans 5:4

Betsy aka Elizabeth