Snake Bites and 8th grade Math

The days this past week have flown by. We have had many visitors to the house for treatment including one man who had horrible edema in his feet and legs complicated by a branch that had wrapped itself around and created these huge ulcers. Come to find out this has been bothering him for about 20 years and the branch was about 10 years previous. It was a horrible mess of gauze and skin and all we can do really is chance his bandaging every day and the clinic referred him to the hospital in Rongo for further treatment, maybe amputation, and tests for diabetes and vascular disorders. It was so sad, but he had a good spirit about his situation. Our fourth was uneventful with some singing in the evening, but that was sadly disrupted by a man who had been bitten by a small black mamba! He came to our house for help but because it was so dark and muddy we could only clean it and wrap it tight and wait til the morning. The next day they took him to the hospital in Kisii (where we check internet) and he is still there today. Hopefully we can bring him back to Lwala when we leave this afternoon. Abby said that visitors like this were a multiple per night thing last summer and they had decreased immensely sense the opening of the clinic. I started taking Cipro on Tuesday when I really just felt like hell and slept for most of the torrential down pouring in the afternoon. I felt like a brand new person by Wednesday morning! The illness has hit pretty much everyone one by one...most recently Abby who thought she had a stomach of steel. But we are all pretty good right now. I have taught Math to eighth graders every day this week and it has slowly gotten better. The first day was awful. I was warned that they might try to trick me so I was ready for it but still was bad. First...they kept giving me hard problems from another text book to make sure I knew how to do them (I did them algebraically to show off and then did it how they understood). Then every time there was a break they said no no, no break...keep teaching... so I taught for 1.5 hours instead of 35 min. THEN! The next teacher came in and he saw that someone had put a machete above my head on a beam!!!! Talk about difficult. We decided I was primed for inner-city schools now. The school has been every morning and every afternoon I have been at the clinic either helping Rose (the head nurse) or helping Josh (the pharmacist) give out meds or injections. I have seen so many children and patients and it is amazing the different reactions that mzungos invoke. From giggles and smiles to thank-you thank you to blood-curdling screams...sometimes we just have to leave the room to allow Rose to get any work done. They are seeing anywhere from 40 to 75 people a day with one nurse and one pharmacist and one helper. We are doing all that we can while we are here. Tuesday night, I believe, we met with the women's group from the village to discuss how we can help them with basket sales in the states in order for them to start a co-op of chickens with a new chicken coop and crop of chickens to generate revenue for the women through chicken, eggs and chicks. They were so strong and beautiful and all had very distinct ideas of how the project was going to happen. Grace (Fred and Miltons sister who is 18 going on 35 for all that she has been through and attends boarding school in the states) translated for us and really helped us get a lot done. After the meeting we danced and sang and took a bunch of group pictures. Really a cool experience. I still wasn't quite feeling well so I was more of a picture taker, but still a really neat thing to see. The meeting was in Dani's house (the Ochieng's grandmother) and all during the meeting the women were making fun of Dani for "making her medicine" i.e. smoking weed. She is also the local bar apparently and brews her own moonshine from potatoes. Apparently it is a very very strong vodka like alcohol...and yes, she is in her 80s. It has been a fast week. I can't believe that we only have one more week left in Lwala. Time has absolutely no meaning here. We wake up at about 6:30 every day to do chores so that DaDa (the 14 yr old orphan that lives with the Ochiengs) can have a break from dishes, fire, sweeping, mopping, and collecting water in order to get her to school on time. We then eat breakfast and I usually head on to school before the official breakfast begins. I am still learning the ropes at school just as far as the teachers and schedule go. You can teach now...or not...you can rest now...or not...its SO lax. On Mondays and Fridays they have a pre-school ceremony of flag raising and singing the national anthem of Kenya with a drill team. Then there is praise and worship time for a while before classes. It is a really cool thing to see. I have been giving a lot of advice to some people who are trying to go to college in the states. Japolo is one (he is 21 and a teacher at the school and one of the Ochiengs good friends who lives on the property...so great...one of my really good friends here) and multiple teachers at the primary school and their friends. They are all taking SATs and preparing essays. It is really hard to remember what to tell them but they are all so smart and motivated it is really hard not to think that they cannot succeed in the states. The water project is well underway and the tearing away of the land has already been done! We are hoping to have all the supplies by Monday and have it finished before we leave. It should be an amazing leap forward for the community to have two protected springs! I might think of more for now but I am running out of steam! Oriti!