A dream come true - Dreamlands Hospital

On the Wednesday of our trip, we had time to visit IcFEM's hospital, Dreamlands, just outside Kimilili. This is a truly amazing project, already doing a tremendous amount of good through amongst other things, eye surgery and clubfoot serial plastering clinics -and with the potential to do a whole lot more. Here's the main entrance:

I love the sign and the reference to keeping to your appointed time - no mean feat for an African - even they will admit that!

Through visionary planning, focussed fundraising, dedicated community action and the grace of God, this is one of the best set-ups you are likely to see in rural Kenya. Locals dug the footings and the sturdy buildings were built in record time. Here is one of the wards, linked to the main building by a covered walkway.

In the top right corner (above), discreetly hidden away is the new mortuary and a notice inside the hospital (below) declares it open. Not a sign I've ever seen in the UK! Very important here though, where having cool storage until a body is ready to be buried is vital.

On a more cheerful note - have a look at the inside of these wards! The staff are already afraid that when the first patients arrive they won't want to go home!

Apart from the beautiful accommodation, patients will be fed well whilst in hospital. How the cooks manage that is a minor miracle in itself - here is the cooks' hut and below that, the cooking shed!

Dreamlands Hospital runs an eye clinic. They even take their eye testing board into the markets to discover people who could benefit!

There is also regular surgery - under local anaesthetic! You can imagine the joy of people with cataracts getting their sight back when they never dreamed they would! Here is the eye surgery sister.

Another wonderful service already in operation is the clubfoot clinic. Mamas bring their young children for serial plastering.

And this is about to get a whole lot better since the newly built theatre has now been fully equipped. The precious equipment was sent with hospital mattresses as protective packing which then were gladly received by those equipping the wards! (You could see those in the interior photo of one of the wards above.)Clubfoot surgery was due to start after Easter. I haven't yet heard for sure whether it did. In the middle picture you can see that the ceiling has been lined with a silver-coloured material which prevents the room from getting hot - a clever, economical and ecological solution to the Kenyan climate!

When we finished our tour we noticed, rather forlorn in the corner of the field, a vehicle. Becky followed our gaze. "Ah yes" she said. "That's the ambulance. It makes me feel sad every time I see it." It turns out the engine died and a new one was purchased at great expense. However, as often happens in Kenya and other African countries - it "went missing" - noone knows where. There is no money spare to repeat the exercise. Yet an ambulance could collect a woman having difficulty in labour or another life+death situation and ensure that someone gets medical help before it is too late. If anyone has a solution in the form of an engine or a sturdy ambulance/ landrover, let me know and I'll pass it on to Becky! You can find out more on IcFEM's website. http://www.icfem-mission.org/health.htm

Kenyan Flora

One of the joys of being in Kenya was the colourful Flora - trees, bushes and smaller plants simply bursting with colour. I mentioned the beautiful Jacaranda trees with their mauve tresses in an earlier post: here they are again!

The next day at a different outdoor site we were surrounded by trees, several of which had a yellow flower. Are they Acacias? The leaves look feathery like the Acacia's - but I'm not sure. Comments welcome!

Incidently, at this site, fluttering round the trees was a flock of what looked like bats! In fact they were large brown butterflies. The Kenyans dread them because they lay copious eggs which hatch into caterpillars that can decimate the new Spring crops. They told us that they pray for heavy rain to coincide with the caterpillars otherwise their crops are ruined. Here's an example of new shoots on a subsistence farm which is they way most people live in the rural areas.

I remember at school during an art lesson that a fellow student, newly home from Africa, was painting Morning Glories around the door of her house. I'd never heard of the flower but encountering them in Kenya I can see why they made an impression on her!

The Hibiscus was a commonly found plant adding another vibrant primary colour to the lush surroundings.

In Becky's garden (Becky is mentioned in a previous post about teamwork) there were many beautiful, colourful plants - and fruits. The garden had been planted by a previous occupant - Dr Jane - leaving a legacy of colour for others to enjoy. If anyone knows the names to any of these, your comments will be most welcome. I do however recognise the fruit of the Avocado tree and those of the Pomegranate tree!

Happiness is a choice

Some of us had the privilege of visiting a woman - whom I'll call Vera - who was unable to leave her bed. Many years ago Vera suffered a spontaneous back injury and her life was instantly changed to one of disability and dependence on others. Wheels for the World got to hear about her and a worker in one of our prison workshops conceived the idea of a trolley with self-propel wheels at the front. This gave Vera back some mobility and independence enabling her to leave her house and even preach at the local church! A few months ago the trolley broke and was collected for re-welding. The job now done, it was being returned to her.

On arrival we found a lovely rural setting with chickens and cows and inquisitive children! Here they are fascinated to see pictures of themselves on Eileen's phone!

Soon after our arrival, we were given a warm reception with Ugali - a very filling staple in Kenya - a form of bread not unlike cold porridge! - served with a delicious gravy.

We also had "Chai" - Kenyan tea made with warm milk, sugar and a hint of spice. I liked it very much and drank it whenever offered. For us Europeans it was very much safer to drink than cold water.

After a while, we were invited into Vera's house, where we spent some time talking with her. She shared a favourite passage from her well-thumbed Bible, her face alight with joy. Compared with our lives, her life was very much reduced yet her witness was that she had Jesus - and that he was enough for her! She spent time reading her Bible. She also crocheted and made blankets! She was happier than many a person I've met in the UK with far more. What a testimony!

It's a fine balance

Something I have never seen in the UK is a pole walker. This is someone who usually has use of only one leg, who manages to move using a stout pole as a crutch. It requires great upper body strength - and good balance!

Sometimes a pole walker will want to try elbow crutches (ECs), convinced that they will be easier. The result can be very surprising! Using elbow crutches full weight bearing (FWB) or partial weight bearing (PWB)is one thing, but using ECs when you're effectively non-weightbearing (NWB) - ie hopping on the good leg - is very much harder than it looks! It requires quite a different way of balancing. Many people in this country over the age of 60 simply cannot use ECs if they're NWB - they'd be much happier with a zimmer frame. Similarly a pole walker in Africa may be a lot safer with what they know best!

Any "special needs buggies" out there?

At all our wheelchair distributions we encountered a high proportion of children needing seating. We were able to seat all except one who turned up at the end of our last distribution and we could have done with more special needs buggies like the one in this picture.

We managed to improvise, using small wheelchairs and foam pieces, but more of these buggies would have been even better. You can see this lovely lad has good support for his head and back and his feet rest on the footplate which can be moved downwards as he grows. If you know of a similar buggy in good condition, it is 100% certain that Through the Roof will find a very good home for it! PO Box 353,Epsom, KT18 5WS Phone: 01372 749955 info@throughtheroof.org http://www.specialneedspushchairs.co.uk/index.htm

Life-changer

Life can change in an instant. If you fall out of a tree and break your back for example. That means you can't walk - you have to be carried. The implications are worse. You're bright, but you can no longer go to school.

Life can change in an instant. You hear about a wheelchair distribution where wheelchairs are given FREE! A devoted grandfather and a committed teacher make sure you get there. And suddenly you have a chair! You can move it yourself! The implications are even better. You can go to school again and resume your studies.

May you live to be my age!

On this trip I met the oldest person I've ever met in my life. This lovely lady was 108 years old! She was accompanied by her daughter and her "last-born" - that's how Kenyans describe their youngest child. He was 63, born when his mother was 45 years - the numbers all stack up.

She came for a wheelchair due to her greatly reduced mobility - understandable at that age. She was absolutely delighted and turned to bless me: "May you live to be my age!" I'm not sure I'd want to live to 108 unless I was in excellent health - but if I did I certainly hope my eyes would have the same twinkle in them as hers did.