Arrived!

Post by Jean Selle

Happily, we are now safe and sound here at Tenwek Hospital. Our flights were all uneventful. The only snag was the overweight toy suitcase. I would have gladly paid extra but it involved moving to a different check-in and apparently was more bother than it was worth (according to the attendant helping us). So, we just removed beanies and stashed them into other suitcases until we were at the 50 lbs. we needed to be.

Rachel will be talking with a pediatrician's wife who co-ordinates gifts to the hospital and orphanage and then we can distribute the toys to be used as needed. At some point, Eric and Rachel will take us on their rounds at the hospital which we are looking forward to. Eric is on pediatrics now so we will get to meet some of the younger patients.

Tenwek is much bigger than I expected having around 75 buildings (apartments, houses, medical buildings). The hospital is surrounded by very green hills full of lush trees and plants. Someone today said we are always in springtime here. There are many varieties of flowers and most of the people on site have vegetable gardens.

We drink rain water! Rain water is collected into large plastic tanks which is dispersed through a spigot near the bottom. The water is boiled and put into a filter (looks like a coffee urn). You can now drink the water (or cool it in the frig).

Rachel has tried to take off as much time as possible this month by trading days with other doctors and using her vacation time, so she is working only about 2 days a week while we are here.

Maggie is adorable (isn't it amazing that I waited until the 6th paragraph to talk about my granddaughter?) and lets Joan or me read to her and carry her, although Mommy and Daddy are definitely preferred.

Well, off to sleep under a mosquito net...

More to come; stay posted!