Today I received my 40 page "ORIENTATION MANUAL" from my leaders!! I was beyond excited to start reading and learning more about where I am going and everything I need to prepare and wanted to share some stuff with you!This was how my manual started: "It is my pleasure to invite you on the trip of a lifetime. If this is your first humanitarian mission, I can promise you an experience you will never forget. If this is a repeat mission, we know that your heart has already been captured by the work and people of the developing world. Taking part in a medical mission is a huge undertaking. Over the next few months, you will be busy getting your passport and immunizations, collecting medications and medical supplies, figuring out what to pack and fundraising! This manual is meant to start you on the road to those preparations. Please note that this manual is not exhaustive. You will be getting regular emails from your team leader that will give your further details regarding your trip. We also highly recommend that you do plenty of personal research, learning more about the country and culture you will be visiting as well as learning more about the illnesses you can expect to treat in the country you will be visiting. So sit back, prop up your feet and begin your journey with Project Helping Hands to the developing world!"
HOW EXCITING is that for a start!!! It got me pumped to begin learning all that I have to do....and it is A LOT!!!
I would like to tell you a little about Kenya that I learned while reading this. Kenya is located on the equator in Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia and Sudan to the North, Somalia and the Indian Ocean to the East, Tanzania to the South, and Uganda to the East.
Population: 33,830,000
The Capital is where we will land in Nairobi with a population there of 2,818,000! I met a friend at work today whose family lives IN Nairobi and she says it is like Houston, Texas! It's a large city with highways, traffic and buildings!!
Languages: English & Kiswahili primarily; and numerous indigenous languages
Currency: Kenyan shilling
Some sad statistics:
LIFE expectancy: 46 years old
Infant Mortality 59.26/1,000 live births
GDP per Capita: $1,100 compared to our US of $40,000
Unemployment is 40% with 50% of the people living below poverty level
The median age is ONLY 18 explicitly showing the effect of excess mortality due to AIDS resulting in their high infant mortality rate. Kenya has recently begun to understand that AIDS/HIV cannot be ignored. The spread of the disease has little to do with homosexuality which is simply not tolerated. The disease has spread by three primary means: Tribal sharing of wives among brothers or peers, business transactions involving prostitutes especially in port cities, and the transmission of HIV via childbirth. The nation, admittedly, has been slow to deal with the issue because it was so tied to tradition, something which is highly regarded in Kenya.
The people of Kenya are from various tribes such as Massai, Luo, Kikuyu & others. When you ask a person where he is from, he will not tell you where he lives, rather he will tell you his ancestral home, even if he has never lived there. Tribal identity is very strong and there is little intermarriage, except in some large urban areas. The people are warm and friendly and are generally upbeat, even under difficult circumstances.
HAKUNA MATATA (you may recall from the Lion King) is a very present state of mind and conveys a sense of no worries, "What you don't know won't hurt you." and a relaxed, often joyous attitude.
While corruption has been an ongoing issue, the people have done well and some have prospered. Overt racism against whites is rare but there is sensitivity to westerners coming to tell them "how things should be done." These are highly capable and proud people.
Your first impression will be awed by the lushness of the land. The Equator is from east to west through the center of the country and the Rift Valley cuts from north to south and brings fertility to the country that will be obvious. (I CANNOT WAIT to drive thru the Rift Valley!! we will drive some 6-8 hours from Kitale to Turkana Region of Lokichar thru the Rift Valley & Massai)
The Kenya education system provides for 8 years of primary school, 4 years of secondary school and 4 years of university. At the end of this section a test is given and advancement is based on those scores.
Kenya has 1,726 miles of railroad tracks, 39,311 miles of road, 5,550 paves and 33,760 unpaved. Bring your back braces! There are 42 radio stations and 8 television stations.
There is ONE physician for every 1,000 inhabitants, and the infant mortality rate is among the highest in Africa. Diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dysentery, and tuberculosis are very common. The average life expectancy is only 49 years.
Kenya is truly a land of diversity, not only in culture but also in landscape. Mt Kenya stands at 17,058 with glaciers. To the South the Massai Mara, recently rated as ONE of the new 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD, is home to an abundance of wild life. (WE get to stay her for 2 days at the end of our trip!!!) Mombasa, Kenya's original capital sits on the Indian Ocean. Lake Victoria lies on the western border with the fertile Kenyan Highlands and the tea and coffee plantations in the middle.
SO, there you have it! Just a little bit of the glimpse into Kenya where I will be headed!!! I did as they told me and purchased a book on amazon.com all about the Turkana Region of Kenya where we will spend most of our time and can't wait for it to arrive!! I will share more interesting facts and culture with you as I learn & MORE to come on my manual as I read further!!!
On a recent trip Eric & I took to Oregon we visited the zoo where they had an entire AFRICA area with information on the Massai people where I learned and realized how FAR away Hawaii is from AFRICA!
~Henry Miller
