Nov 19, 2008. This morning Brenden and I were given a grand tour of the Bethany Kids Centre. This organization came into being in 2003 and rapidly expanded to 64 beds; today there were 68 inpatients. The Centre attracts patients from all over Kenya and many more are showing up from Somalian refugee camps. The original idea was a general pediatric addition to Kijabe Hospital. Rapidly it has become and area of expertise in management of hydrocephalus and spina bifida, an emergency situation requiring urgent surgical management. The need is there for significant expansion; one of the two surgeons has over 200 cases on his waiting list of less urgent matters such as hypospadias and other non-life-threatening conditions. The hope and will is there to bring it to pass. Even the funds are falling into place. Now remains the important decision of building a new facility or simply continuing to expand the current hospital. Important transition time for all here and the various international sponsors.
We made rounds with the one of the spiritual care women this morning, Mercy Ng’Ang’A, who dispenses hope like it grows on trees. She brought us to all the amazing little patients, some waiting for surgery, some on their way to recovery already, and with variably hopeful Mamas. And it is the latter that Mercy especially focuses on to encourage them to maintain hope for better things for their children. The patients are a mix of Christians and Muslims and Mercy made no exception in her message and prayers, even though (a few) of the Muslim women were clearly not impressed by her Christian principles. All of the patients accepted us willingly and were eager to have photos and to see themselves on the viewing screen after. The older children were clearly amazed, befuddled, and amused by the pictures. Many asked to have a copy and I spoke with Mercy to allow me to send back a CD of the images. She will gladly see to it that the parents get a copy, likely when they return for a clinic follow-up visit.
There are many Somalis in this ward, probably 30% of the patients. Many of them spoke either Swahili or a local dialect making communication difficult. The Kenyans almost all were quite fluent in English. In addition there were a number of Masai women and their children present. Aikadir, a Somali male refugee, was eager to tell his story, taking us back to the tribal conflicts in the early nineties, followed by a brief reprieve, and then the continuing violence which still wages today. He wanted us to understand that the favored countries for emigration to included Canada and Australia. He was aware of the large Somali population in Toronto. He made it clear that, though Canada was a strongly preferred, the wait time was measured in years, making it difficult to maintain hope. He provided me his name and cell number in case I could have influence! He was not even close to the opportunity to emigrate yet, saying that once they are selected, they are then placed in internationally sponsored camps where the more well-to-do and educated are separated from the peasants; this because the educated had learned respect for life and other fellow humans, whereas the peasants knew only pillage and plunder as a way to advance themselves making it dangerous to mix the two populations. This young man was very aware of the unrest in his home country and showed no desire to return but wished only to be successful in his immigration, preferably to Canada.
One little patient had been admitted to a hospital in Nairobi for an infection requiring intravenous antibiotics but things went terribly wrong resulting in a gangrenous right arm. Mama insisted on treatment at Bethany Kids Centre and her child will survive, but without her right arm.
Following a full morning of emotional interaction with many patients Brenden and I decided to lunch at the hospital cafeteria. The menu was in English and Swahili, and the choices were variable though the actual choices available were quite limited. We decided on stew by a process of elimination, and ordered fries on the side, just in case. Brilliant idea as the stew was made from what looked like octopus or squid, but in reality was animal small intestine! It was so gross smelling I could not try it, though Brenden actually did. I managed a few fries and a bottle of very tasty mango juice. We returned home around 1PM and I decided to rest and recuperate from the morning and the meal while Brandon returned to the hospital with many donated items from his Oakville school students. They (the children at his elementary school, where he is the principal) actually were able to raise over $10,000.00 besides the items donated. Like me, he has been blogging his experience with access being encouraged in the classrooms back in his school; he has received many sympathetic responses.