August 8th

            This is our last day in Eldoret. It started with a pageant at Jamii. The kids really poured out the effort to quickly learn their lines for three skits that were written by Melanie one of our team members from California. The theme of the week centered on healing, so the three skits concentrated on that theme. The first was the paralyzed man that was let down through the roof, the second was the blind man healed by Jesus by the placing of mud on his eyes which were miraculously healed after washing them at the Pool of Siloam. The final skit concentrated on Naman’s healing of leprosy. The kids were excellent, and the singing and dancing were quite amazing – something that we just don’t see in our culture. The harmony of the voices is definitely Africa!

            We’ve been busy at the clinic. The first four days we saw 563 patients. Eldoret, because of the cooler weather and the crowded living conditions tends to have more respiratory conditions and infections in general.

            One case that stood out was a 2&1/2 year old boy that was brought in for evaluation of his eyes drifting down. He had an amazing case of hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and his eyes were starting to drift down secondary to the increased pressure on the brain. Fortunately we were able to get him referred to the local university where a research projects include such kids – hopefully he’ll get surgery and have a shot at some kind of life.

            Another case that stood out was a 26 year old woman with osteogensis imperfect – where the bones are under-developed and break with minor trauma. I had not seen a case of this since medical school.

            Today I saw a three year old girl with cutaneous larva migrans – a condition caused by the larva of the dog hookworm that tracks just underneath the skin. Fortunately it is easily treated with a single dose of the de-worming medicine that we give called Albendazole so she should do fine.  

            Finally we saw a young boy with the beginnings of corneal scaring that might be caused by Trachoma, a condition where the eyelash grows inward and can lead to scaring of the cornea and blindness. We’ll get him referred to the eye clinic.

            The day ended with a celebration with the teachers of the hard work they had been doing with our teachers as the hope is to advance the education of the teachers and hence the kids. Their prayers for us were that we never really separate, but that we remain connected though thousands of miles apart. They were very appreciated all that we did for their community, and we appreciated their warmth and love, their amazing singing, and the love that they shared with us.

Pictures

Bob at work - Dennis my interpreter is a public health student

Jamii dancing -  the girl with the red boots was an informal leader

Jamii performance - how regal 

Chocolate and vanilla - we amazed many people with the light color of our skin, but the team blends together in this photo - whom one our hosts reminds him of chocolate and vanilla.