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!