After a couple of hours of "sleep" (between someone chopping wood until the wee hours of the night and sleeping on the floor, we didn't get much solid sleep), we woke up bright and early to catch a glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro's peak. Since June is the beginning of winter in Kenya, it was overcast just about everyday. However, at dawn or right before dusk, the clouds would often break. Getting up at the crack of dawn proved to be worth it once we made our way across the street to get a good view of the mountain. We all stood in awe of God and His creation as we watched the sun rise and cast shadows on the peak. Pictures don't do it justice.
We returned to the camp to grab a breakfast of eggs, toast, and tea before the craziness of the day. Even before the start of the medical camp at 8:00 am, people started to show up and wait. This was the first medical camp Beacon of Hope had done in Loitoktok, so we didn't really know how many people to expect. The night before, we had delegated roles for everyone and I was made a "runner". My job was to take the patients from the doctor/clinic area and to walk them to their next location - HIV testing, cervical cancer testing, or pharmacy. The set-up of this medical camp wasn't ideal because the location of the pharmacy was a long walk across an open area of dirt. At first, I didn't really feel like my job was super important, but after walking about a dozen patients all the way to the pharmacy in the first hour or less, I quickly realized how long this day was going to be. As soon as I would return from walking one patient over, a doctor would have another patient ready to go. Because the patients were mostly Maasai people, most didn't speak English or even Swahili. The doctors and nurses used local translators, but I wasn't able to speak to the patients I walked with. They often walked out of the clinic looking confused and lost, which required me to speak directly to the doctor or refer to their paperwork to know where to take them.
Because I couldn't talk to the patients, I often didn't know their stories. However, the doctors learned the most about these people and what brought them to the clinic. We quickly learned that many of the people that visited us had never seen a doctor before. There is a hospital in the general area, but so many of these people's mode of transportation is by foot, making medical care very inaccessible. In addition, many of the Maasai people are farmers, and therefore can't afford medical care even if they had access to it. The doctors shared many cool stories with us afterwards, but I'll just share a couple.
One Maasai man came missing a leg, hobbling in on a homemade crutch and walking stick, and wearing the traditional Maasai dress. One of our American doctors, Todd, saw him and told us that many years ago, he was attacked by a lion. The initial attack left him wounded, but he still had his leg. A few years later, he was attacked by a lion again, in which he lost almost his entire leg. He was able to get around using his homemade crutch, but his leg stub rubbed the crutch every time he took a step, causing a large open sore. Todd was able to treat the open wound, and got him in touch with someone who could provide him with a covering for his stub so it wouldn't continue getting injured with each step he took. I can't even imagine how much this little treatment changed this man's life. We actually had a few men come in claiming they had been attacked by lions, which makes sense when you realize they live in the Serengeti. We also learned that a traditional Maasai rite of passage is to catch a lion, which I imagine would result in a lot of injuries. Talk about cultures being worlds apart.
Another man brought in a young child, around 4 or 5 years old. The man said the boy had never been able to walk. Our doctors were able to determine that the child had Cerebral Palsy, explain to the man what that meant, and got him in touch with the local hospital to get the boy braces for his legs. So cool.
Discussing with a translator trying to figure out what this patient needs
Befriending a little boy who was waiting for his father to finish with a doctor
Walking a Maasai woman the lengthy walk to the pharmacy
There was a consistent long line all day and people waited for hours. All I could think about was how quickly Americans would complain or give up if heaven forbid we ever have to wait a fraction of how long these people voluntarily waited.
My fellow runner partner, Mick!
Maasai beauty
I feel like this is straight out of National Geographic!
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