Lwala day 5!

Misawa Uru!!
So, 8 hours later, we finally made it to Lwala... we picked up Grace, Fred's younger sister - who is fantastic! - and hit the road... it was great to drive to lwala as we got to see a bunch of different towns and groups of people... we saw/drove through the great rift valley - saw zebra, baboons, and antelope - and even some masai with their cattle and sheep.
The roads we're bumpier than i can ever put into words - mostly unpaved and riddled with ruts and mud - by the time we got to Lwala, i think we all felt like we'd been shaken like a polaroid picture and then some. The final road to lwala was quite tricky due to mud and I wasn't sure if the car would even make it... makes it easy to understand how an ambulence for the clinic -while very necessary - would be quite a challenge. When we arrived, we were greated with wonderful and sincere hugs from Sarah, Fred's grandmother, and a few of his other neighbors.
Since we arrived around the time of the weekend - we've been taking things pretty slow and getting ourselves oriented... katie, fred and I all sleep in fred's house which is great - and just a few yards, some cows, and a few goats away from the main house where we eat all of our meals together... the other night though, the rain was so strong that we ended up getting stuck in fred's house for about an hour and a half before we could actually leave and go to the main house for dinner... so - what else is there to do? we shut off our flashlights, closed our eyes, snuggled up on the couch and took a nap until the rain let up... the roofs are made of tin so the rain sounds wonderful when it falls - but can be quite deafening when it storms.
The food is wonderful - and I have become a big fan of chipatti - and even helped make some the other night... Grace and her cousins do most of the cooking so katie and i have been trying to help as much as possible - though I think they're on to us and relaize that we don't actually know what we are doing. we also eat a lot of kale (sukoma wiki) and had a chicken the other night for dinner that Dani (grandma) gave us for dinner... watching all the little kids catch this thing was a hoot and a half... then my little friend Apio, a 6 year old girl with possibly the world's best giggle, killed the chicken herself - and even let her 2 year old brother Rasto help out... unreal. ergo, my hero.
The ochieng's have a very close family - and they are absolutely wonderful - their cousins and neighbors are often at the house and are quite eager to play with us and help us learn Dholuo.. by day 2, we had hello and how are you down pat, and many people were convinced we could speak the mother tongue! Ha! We have picked up some key phrases though, and are on our way to making sentences which feels great! The kids are a ton of fun to hang out with as well, and one boy, Harison has agreed to be my Dholuo tutor. bring it on. Yesterday in the midst of an impromptu volley ball game, i got into a pretty intense tickle fight with a few of the kids (tobi, apio, onyanga, and rasto) who had a SERIOUS advantage over old gimp leg over here, as i had to peg leg around while they pinned me down to the ground - it was a hoot.
The old knee is holding up quite arlight (although the toilets with no seats are a bit tricky) - in fact just walked the 5 mile dirt road to the main road where we met Omundi (the eldest brotehr) met us for a ride into Kisii where we are now for internet, shopping etc. I think we might come in here about once a week or maybe a little less. Kisii is quite busy and hectic with people every where with wheelbarrows, shops, stands, taxis etc. We just walked through a maze of an open market to get to this internet cafe - in which they were selling fresh fruit and vegetables, goats, chickens (alive or slaughted - you're choice), and burning garbage... etc - it's a lot to take in at once.
Speaking of taking in a lot - we went up to the clinic yesterday to drop off our donated materials (pretty sure the microscope made it one piece).. it's about a five minute walk from fred's house - and we make lost of friends a long the way. At 9 am, the line for the clinic was already out the door. In one day, they saw 85 patients. Unbelievable... Omundi seems to think that once word spreads about our presence in the village even more people will seek treatment at the clinic - which is good and bad. Since we are white, most people assume we are doctors already... sadly, we are far from it. yesterday at the clinic, we saw a little girl with a very swollen face and we found ourselves so frustrated because we had no idea how to help her. Thankfully, the Clinic has a wonderful staff of some very dedicated and helpful people. Just yesterday, Rose, the nurse, was instituting a Vit. A and Albendazol (deworming) treatment day for all children under five... it seemed like they had a pretty good turn out... which is terrific since those supplements are crucial at that age. Fear not, my researching friends, I will still have plenty of children to deworm as I will be targeting school aged children. I made a very cute little friend who tooka liking to hugging my legs as he told me he was sad that there were no sweets - apparently, rose had told him that the Albendazol would taste just like candy, but mama dind't raise no fool - and that boy knew he'd been had. we hugged a lot. The rest of the clinic looks great - extremely organized and clean - and well stocked with good meds. We are working on patient records and establishing a laboratory and a maternity recovery room - all very exciting.
My project has yet to "take off" quite yet as there is a lot to figure out - how to acquire the poop, how to analyze the poop, how to get kids to poop on command etc. Little by little, step by step, I'll get me a translater and a bonefied research project... and i can't wait to get this all started and rolling. Like most good things, however, we must be patient.. and I know with a little more persistence etc this will all come together.
hhhmmm... I think that's about all for now - Ihope you all are doign well and I cannot wait to see you soon in just a few weeks... 7 to be exact... I am sorry if I don't repsond to emails much - but the internet is quite slow and a little finicky... know that I am thinking about everyone a ton and miss you all very much. Wish you could be here too...
And a special shout out to Daniel Riesel (the Father) for a very happy birthday! Sorry I couldn't call you last night - battery died - but will try again today!!! Love love love and many many more!
JOBaby (as the ochieng's have affectionately adopted).