The road of life

On Monday, we were able to borrow a car and drive to Nairobi to get supplies and look at some used furniture.  We are trying to find the most economical furniture, appliances, house furnishings, and car possible.  It is coming "pole pole,"  which is the Kiswahili phrase for "slowly, slowly."  Rick drove, which I was thankful for!  The car was typical for people in Kijabe - a late 1990's Land Cruiser....a manual, right hand drive.  So, not only is the steering wheel on the "wrong" side, but the gear shift is on the left side AND all the controls are backwards.  Only a couple of times  did he try to change lanes and turn on the windshield wipers! :)  We have only driven on the left side of the road one other time in our marriage, and that was in Ireland many, long years ago.  Here are some sights of our trip to town....

Typical market scene on the side of the road.

A lot of furniture is made and sold on the side of the road - it is more affordable, but you have to be cautious because a lot of the wood is "green" and will warp over time.

This is a common sight - the cars and trucks share the road with carts pulled by men or donkeys.

It sure helps to have a crowd when going uphill!!

The highway to Kijabe is divided for part of the way and "recently" paved, but the marginal construction and overloaded trucks have already created these deep ruts in the lanes.

Can you see the sign on this truck?  "Danger. Abnormal Load." I cannot fathom what....

Herman or Hellman's?  A small jar of American style mayo is $5-7.

The gourmet butcher in town sells large beef bones and hearts...and cases of Dr. Pepper for about $30!!  They also sell ham for 1950/= per kg ($23) and turkey for 2200/= per kg ($26).  Don't know what we'll do at Thanksgiving - which is a normal work/school day here.

This is a typical scene in town (except that somehow there are no matatus in this photo!) - notice that no one is really in a "lane" and the silver SUV on the left is on the shoulder.

This is what the light switches look like here - down is "on" and up is "off."  There is a switch with each electrical outlet, so you can turn the whole outlet on and off.

 Rick worked on the pediatric ward this week and I worked in the nursery.  With the ongoing doctors' (and teachers') strike, the patient load has ballooned.  Not only are there more patients that are seeking care from Nairobi and the surrounding areas because those hospitals aren't staffed, but the patients are in such bad shape on arrival because it has taken them so long to reach Kijabe.  For instance, one woman arrived in labor with a prolapsed umbilical cord (so the blood supply to the baby was severely compromised), and this was the THIRD hospital she had gone to!!  The baby was delivered but was asphyxiated and exhibited seizure activity early on...not sure how that baby will do over time.   There is no reason that baby should not have been born healthy.  The outpatient clinic on one particular day this week had 50 people triaged that had not yet been seen, in addition to the ones already being cared for, and not even counting all the people sitting on the grass or waiting in their cars to check in.  There was a real fear that people would die in their cars!  In such a resource poor setting, where do you start to address the issues?   

One surprisingly available resource is a Kenyan pediatric cardiologist who will sometimes come to Kijabe to perform echocardiograms on our babies and children.  On Thursday, she did 5 echoes in the nursery (census of 29 at the time) - this saves the parents a lot of money, because an ambulance ride to Nairobi to have it done is $50-100.  One baby had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, another had complete AV canal, another had pulmonary hypertension due to meconium aspiration, and the last two each had a patent ductus arteriosus (for you medical types...).  Last week, there was a complete transposition of the great vessels and a baby with coarctation of the aorta.  There are an astonishing number of cardiac defects here.  The question after diagnosis then becomes:  how do we help these kids and help the family care for them in a sustainable way?  The families have to pay for all the treatment up front, unless they are helped by the Needy Children's Fund here or something similar.  They also have to be able to afford ongoing medications.  There are so many issues to consider.....can the family afford the surgery?  Can the family afford the medications?  Can the family afford to care for the extremely premature baby that we keep alive but who now has many medical and developmental issues?  What if they subsequently abandon the baby...have we helped that baby or family?  I hate thinking about money when it comes to medical care!  What is a life worth?  A life is priceless - there is no way to put a finite number on any life, but what if caring for one life makes it impossible for a family to care for the rest of the ones at home?  Please pray for us that we approach each child, each family with love, compassion, and great wisdom.  Please pray that we are ministers of God's great love for them - that they will be pointed to Christ's saving love and compassion, even in difficult situations where there is no easy way to completely remove the pain.

Portable echocardiogram on a premie.

Love,
Sarah
Matthew 5:4 
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.