Part 4: Tuesday-- and Day 4 in Kenya. On an earlier trip to Haiti, my husband Alan had injured his knee. The tightly packed airplane ride coming to Kenya and not being able to move around much on the flight helped to make his knee worse. Icing it, resting and some ibuprofen seemed to help some. Our seminar schedule was a bit different today, with our second session really being a rehearsal of the choir for chapel. "Joyfully flexible!" was Lisa's motto, and we decided to adapt it. The choir rehearsed and we were treated to the beauty of their natural harmonies in the cathedral acoustics of the thick walled and high-ceilinged chapel. Our students were scheduled to perform something from our seminar, so we picked "Here I Am to Worship," the first and only song we'd had time to teach. After lunch, Lisa offered to take us on the rest of the tour. We passed the National Chapel and went onto the grounds of the Bunyore Girls School. We were struck by the stately buildings, beautifully manicured grounds, and the many murals painted on the outside walls-- some murals were inspirational, some motivational, and one, a depiction of some of the body's systems, looked like a giant teaching aide. Girls in bright blue uniforms hurried past, and it seemed like there was no loitering, no one wasting time. We were ushered into the principal's office and met Rose-- a well-dressed, well-spoken woman. Arrangements were made for our colleague, Adrienne, a young lawyer, to speak to the girls on Thursday, and for Sharon and I to sing before she spoke. Next, we toured the Kima Clinic, also on the grounds. According to Kimberly, one of our colleagues who was a nurse, the conditions were horrifying but the care was tremendous-- with so little, the doctor and staff were treating their patients with compassion, offering the best care under the least ideal conditions. We saw several expensive anesthesia machines that had been donated but sat useless, as they arrived with missing parts. After visiting the clinic, we walked through the town of Kima, past small storefronts and open-air stalls. Lisa introduced us to a friend, a local dressmaker named Theresa, I think. We also met the head of a tailoring school who let us come in and tour the facility. His students were learning to make patterns from newspaper and sewed on foot-powered machines. Just past his school was "Castle Rock," which used to be quite a tourist attraction but now looked a little forlorn. Loud music played from somewhere, but there was no one sitting at the tables of the restaurant, and no one to wait tables. We walked back home, passing a basket business owned by a man living "positively" for over 20 years-- meaning, HIV positive. AIDS has decimated a whole generation in Africa, and this is the hope-- that people will get tested and treated before it is too late. Next Post
