We have a another new team at the compound this week so we are busy seeing the sights of Kitale. It’s always fun when there is a team around because we get to do some things that are not on the normal schedule for us. Yesterday we got to go into a slum called Bosnia and do a medical and vision clinic. The members of the community lined up to get care for themselves and their family members. 

I helped out at the clinic where ever they needed an extra hand. I helped package the medicine for the makeshift pharmacy so the people could quickly get their medicine after they saw the doctor. After that I wandered over to where they were removing jiggers and helped hold a few little kids whose feet and hands were infested with jiggers. I also attempted to translate a bit when some of the team members needed help directing people. I also got to meet a two very cute boys at this clinic who had special needs. 

I met Robert first. Leila saw him and brought him over to meet me. He is such a cute little boy. His grandmother wanted us to tell her what was wrong with him. She had been told that he couldn’t walk well and was having trouble in school because he didn’t cry when he was born. We explained that when kids don’t cry that means that they didn’t get enough oxygen into their system immediately and it can cause some problems down the road. She asked us to just give him a medicine so that he could get better. It was heartbreaking to tell her that there was no quick fix, nothing that can just make his struggles go away. Through it all, Robert kept a huge smile on his face the whole time and you could see Christ’s joy shining through him. 

Robert

Robert being examined by the doctor

Robert with his Grandmother and little brother

Later on in the day I met Dani. He is three and a half and can’t walk or talk and doesn’t respond to his name. He didn’t look like he had any characteristics of Autism, Down Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy, so we went to find a better translator and get some of his history. One of the many problems in the slums is that there is no prenatal care or midwives or anything. Most women just have their children in their homes. So Dani had a brain injury, where he hit his dead during birth that most likely left him with brain damage. Now his mom is met with another struggle. He probably could walk, but he would rather be held. So when you try to stand him up, he pulls up his legs because he doesn’t want to try. If this continues, he won’t walk or talk or progress if he isn’t given the opportunity to do some of these things for himself. Dani was taking a nap, while they were waiting in line and was not ready to wake up for picture time. 

Sleepy Dani

Dani and his mother