Installment 28

Installment 28
So, let’s start back a couple of days…about 7 pm. J & C and I were hiding out in the room set aside for visitors..and no, it’s not the bathroom. I have been able to show them some tricks about getting away from the kids. I have gotten to be a world class children avoider. The other day I heard some of them talking (from my hiding), “Where do you suppose that Babu is?” “I can’t even smell him anymore, so you think he is becoming one of us” (It was a great revelation when I quit using deet) But I digress. Carla was holding baby Dorcas as we were talking, and B D wasn’t doing well, in fact it turned serious in a matter of a couple of hours. Jeff said he’d go for the doctor and headed down the hall. Then B D stopped breathing and had to be prodded to start again. Time for Carla to go with Jeff, rather than wait for the doctor. Holding down the fort and praying and waiting was me, who doesn’t like babies. 45 minutes later Toyota showed up with our 3 and the doctor. B D was fluctuating between really bad, to sort of okay. Shadrack (Dr) was really worried about her fever…HIGH. He then tried for almost 20 minutes to insert an IV to get some drugs into her. Now if you take the time to look back in FB, I was able to post a picture of B D and you can see how small she is. Shadrack tried one hand and then the other, then the foot, and finally shave part of her head and tried for a vein there…none worked, but it did manage to bring tears to all the adults in attendance. Finally he gave her an injection….somehow he found enough muscle to get a needle in…that wasn’t as good, but was the only choice. She stabilized and J & C took her to there lair and like all good parent s, slept with B D between them. In the morning, her fever had eased, and she seemed to be better. About 9 am, her fever came back and seemed to be regressing. Back in Toyota and off to see Shadrack….Toyota has been to the clinic so many times, it probably doesn’t need a driver anymore. There, she wasn’t stabilizing, in fact Shadrack had to hold her almost upside down to keep her breathing.. so they made the decision to go to Kitale..baby inverted.. to an actual, real, quality pediatrician, who took her right in and gave her 3 injections immediately. A little better, but still having the fever, they opted for the hospital. Now, I know what you are thinking,,, because you have been diligent in absorbing every word from Safarislim…. Hospital…eeeegads…why not somewhere safe….my words exactly when Jeff called with an update. Turns out that they weren’t taking her to ’maybe we will help you’ hospital, but to another one that must be private. Much contrary to Kenyan upbringing, as soon as B D got thru the door, the staff quickly evaluated her and had an IV in within minutes. If I had been there, I would have asked if we were still in Kenya. Anyway, I know this is getting long, and my one typing finger is getting a blister, but let me finish this thought before I forget what I am saying….might be too late even now. They ran some tests on B D and came back with: Aggressive malaria (which Shadrack had indicated), Typhoid, TB, and pneumonia. Other than that, this 13 month old was in the picture of health….must be a Picasso. She began to do better and even after a while, the fever started down. Carla, like she has done many times before, spent the night with B D. Jeff and I went in to see them last night to take them clothes etc, and I was totally shocked to see that there were only 10 beds in the 12x12 room, and only 1 patient per bed….AND sheets and blankets. For an instant I was ready to check in myself.
That brings us to today. B D slept well and long and is doing much better…not clear yet, but better…and Carla is doing just fine. Why so much on this one incident, you ask. Well, this isn’t America and so these things can get out of hand quickly. Serious diseases are more prevalent in the tropics and remember, there is no 911, and we are miles, well kilometers from help, and then there are the “roads’. Hopefully you are getting some small idea of life here, but it’s impossible to tell how it really is….I am still amazed at how much in love J & C are with these kids…even the ones that have only been here a short time. So that is that, except that after waiting for some hours this morning I had to text Carla to find out how B D and her were doing….I was irritated until I remembered that ’I don’t do babies’.
Yesterday 2 men showed up out of nowhere with just what they were wearing. “sheaob kdie neeil liikeh aiinet” they said, assuming I had some idea of what they were saying. “Yes” I replied, not to be outdone, “
a² +b²=c².” I smiled, and they smiled….”You do not speak Swahili” one said….not to be one upped, I said “You don’t speak mathematics.” Just then, Eliud arrived and said that the men were here to fabricate and weld some new charcoal burners. “May I watch?” I asked, noting that they had no metal, tools, or welder. “Yes, as soon as you find us some metal, tools and welder” is what I heard. “Oh, pole sana”(very sorry) I said, impressing them with my grasp of their native tongue. As I set about rounding up OUR metal, OUR tools and OUR welder for them to do THEIR contracted work, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could use some Kenyan ways in my contracting business at home. I should pass that idea on to some of my competitors. Funny, if I need a “barbeque’ at home, I go to Giant Store and buy one. The only Giant Store I can find here is one called ’Gigamatt’. It has everything except barbeques. So that left us here with two guys and our tools. I sat down to watch these two primitive guys….I needed a little mocking time. They started hacking and chiseling and hammering and darned if they didn’t have an almost perfectly round short tube about the size of …mmmm a charcoal burner, I guess. By the end of the day, they had almost 3 burners done….all done in the dirt. It was pretty amazing. The only drawback seemed to be that the guy (Geoff) that was doing the welding didn’t use ANY eye protection….yet he said he could still see me around the black spots in the middle of his eyes. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s common here.
The men have the clinic foundation just about done, and they are started on dorm 1. We have run into a delay waiting for materials and so if you don’t mind, would you pray that God will either hold off the rain, send materials quickly, or the one I like the best; make the men work like crazy when the materials get here…just kidding, these guys work harder than most wazungus I know. I’ll see if I can post pictures when I can.
There is lots I don’t tell you…aren’t you glad…for a ‘laidback’ lifestyle, this sure is a ‘gofast’ place. So much of what shocked me earlier on is now becoming my way…I even caught myself chipping out some ugali with the intent to eat it….I’m being absorbed….I’ve GOT to get our of here…first babies, now ugali…pretty soon I’ll have a runny nose and be hanging on Jeff eeeeeeeesshhhh.
I talked to a mother and about 4 yr old on the ‘road’ outside the fence today and the mom asked if her snotlocker (my translation) could touch me. He hadn’t ever touched a mzungu. I watched as he cautiously felt my hand and arm. I could tell that he is a very smart boy, as when I asked if he also would like my autograph, he had the very early rendering of Jeff’s look.