A week and a Day

A wk has passed and I've written little. Each week seems to go faster than the one before it. I am settling in and so are the bugs! Yuck! I usually find at least during every one of my showers.

My biggest struggle this week was the Kenyans concern that  I am eating too little. It got to the point that one of the kitchen ladies made me a plate of food trying to get me to eat more. I promise I AM eating enough.

In the last seven days, I have been to Nairobi twice, last Saturday and this Friday. The first was to search for some work supplies in the industrial district. I found half the items I was looking for. Did you know that Kenya does not have sticky back velcro? Or that isopropyl alcohol is nearly impossible to find (I haven't found it yet)? I was also looking for drill bits in 0.1mm increments, but I did not find those either. I spent all of Friday in Nairobi trying to meet the different key people from the organizations I will be working with on the  knee assessment. LONG DAY!


Anyway, I have gotten over my cold and my body is adjusting to the food and climate. My bed has 2 heavy wool blankets that keep me warm and comfortable at night. Sometimes too comfortable. There are mornings that I don't want to get out of my warm bed and into the cold air. You also have to realize that I went from living in the middle of summer in Texas to the middle of winter in Kijabe. The last several days have been quite windy and it seems to pick up in the afternoon and at night. Also, without fail, it is always very windy at 4pm on Wednesdays and it may die down at around 5:30pm. This time corresponds with my weekly Skype call with the home office. This makes a difference because I have to sit outside to get internet reception.

I'm getting connected with other wazungu (white people) in Kijabe. I have gotten into a Monday night Bible study with a group from RVA up the hill from where I live. Also, I met 2 fellow missionary men working at RVA and have connections with lower station (where I am). They are Steve Cochran and Steve McMilian.

The last 2 weeks have been less stressful than the first week and a half, although I still sometimes leave the department building after dark. The busiest times of the day for me are the morning and evening. Morning because I'm catching up on anything that was sent to me during the "US workday"  the day before. The evenings are busy because I am making sure I have done and sent everything I need to in preparation for the "US workday". The US workday begins at about the same time that the Kenyan workday ends. (8-9 hours difference)

Anyway, I'm getting use to riding public transportation. However, I still need to travel with someone because I don't know how to navigate Nairobi.

I hope all of you are well! Let me know if I can be praying for you about anything!

God Bless,
Elizabeth

ps. Its late here. Prayer requests and praises to come soon!

Irio and company

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the evening with the head of the orthopedic and prosthetic department's, Alex's, wife and daughters. Alex is in Tanzania for the week with one of my LIMBS co-workers, Ricc at a P&O conference. His wife, Joyce,  invited me over for dinner while Alex was gone. She is an excellent cook! She made Irio (spelling?) which contained mashed potatoes, maize, pumpkin leaves, and spices (I think). This is the staple dish for her tribe. It was delicious! She also made a cabbage salad and some kind of meat dish. After dinner, I got to chat with her and allow her 5 year-old daughter, Abigail, to play with my hair. Abigail loved it. So many Kenyan women and girls are enamored by my long hair and I don't mind if they touch it as long as their hands aren't dirty. Anyway, Joyce and I had a wonderful discussion about disabilities and how they affect the lives of people in Kenya and the States. She has one leg that is significantly shorter than the other. However, she was never an outcast growing up because she had very loving parents and was good at sports. She did not even have a brace to correct her limb length discrepancy until she was a preteen. This never stopped her. She played soccer (called football here in Kenya) and was really good at scoring. She and Alex's youngest daughter, Dorothy, is almost one. Her birthday is at the beginning of next month. She is such a sweet, spunky little girl. Joyce, Abigail, and Dorothy are all missing Alex. He has never been away for an entire week before. It was nice to visit with them and provide them with some company. Hopefully, sometime soon, Joyce will teach me how to make Irio.

More Pictures

Orthopedic and Prosthetic Laboratory. Where I spent most of my days.

 Here are pictures of some of my neighbors:

Sleeping/stretched out monkey

My house

Prayer and Praise

My work here in Kenya would not be possible without your prayers and support. The following are praises for things God has done and requests for things He is still working on. 

Praises

·       My computer is mostly working again.  (just the speakers don't work) The IT person at CURE wiped it and installed Windows 7 on it.

·        I’m settling into Kijabe.

·        Getting to know people

·        God is good!

·       I survived the hectic last week

·    I got an Internet modem on Monday!

·    I got a 4 hour Swahili lesson from Victor and Peter.

Requests

·      My Computer –That my computer speakers start working again. That I get all the necessary programs put back on it.

·        Adjustment to life and the culture in Kenya

·        Productivity – I want to make the most of my time here in Kenya

·        Understanding – I am struggling to understand those around me through their accents and I've made a few mistakes

·        Culture shock – There are four stages I have to work through, the first two being the honeymoon stage and the hostility stage.

·        My Health – I haven't been feeling well the last few days. I think I have a cold and as a result my ears hurt.

·        My mental faculties – That I will remember what I need to buy, where to buy it, and when.

·        A good nights rest so I will get over my illness quickly. 

·        Spiritual growth

·        That I will make good friends quickly! 

·    That I will catch on and learn Swahili quickly.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Pictures Finally!

I finally have a chance to download and post pictures. Enjoy!

At the Airport preparing to leave the US

View out the plane

My messy occupation on the plane. Pieces of the yarn got all over everything!

 

 A few people I've met so far in Kenya:

Anthony. One of the technicians at the CURE Prosthetic and Orthotic Laboratory.

Peter. A model amputee who has been with the knee program from the beginning

Victor. An amputee who started the program at the same time as Peter.

Pictures of the house where I'm staying. These were taken before I arrived. I don't have pictures of it now yet because I'm still settling in.

View from the front door of our house.

My room. Taken from the stairs.

My bathroom

View from the top of the stairs. Yes they are that steep.

View from the outside.

I made Chapatis!

Life this week has been hectic. I feel like a stickshift car being driven by a new driver. One of my coworkers from Longview is here until tomorrow to prepare for a conference in Tanzania next week. Since I am not a P&O what I can do is limited and I feel like I'm in the way. I hear about all the frustration people around me have working with Kenyans, but right now I see mostly potential, not faults. I may feel differently later but for now I'm torn between two worlds.

This week I started trying to cook Kenyan food. I started with Ugali. Flop. It tasted more like cold grits. This morning I made Chapati. Success. They turned out pretty well and my coworkers are impressed! =)

I really want to be of use to those around me, yet when I tried this morning to modify a knee for use with extension assist cords, I flopped. The file slipped and instead of a nice groove, I nicked off a corner of the small barrier on one side. Babu (Kenyan name for my LIMBS Coworker) said I should have been going slower and been more careful. It seems for me in life, I am either too fast or too slow never just right. Yes, I am upset/discouraged right now. I do not want to disappoint those who sent me here. I want to show I can do a good job, yet every time I try, it seems like I fail.

I don't know what God is teaching me, but I hope I learn it soon.

I enjoy working with Kenyans. They are patient and understanding when I make mistakes.

Jehovah-Jireh

So in my last email update I said that my computer was not working. Well, God provides. He gave me access to a desktop for the weekend! Praise the Lord!

Let's Communicate!

God sent me to Kenya at just the right time for Alex. There is a conference coming up that both Alex (the head of the brace shop at AIC-Cure) and Ricc (consulting P&O with LIMBS International) are attending. There has been an on going struggle with communication between the two. Ricc arrives in Kijabe on Monday and wants to make sure everything worked out. The last two days I have been helping Alex respond to Ricc's emails in such a way that Ricc gets the answers to the questions he asked, whether this means explaining Ricc's question or helping Alex word the reply email in such a way that Ricc understands what Alex is saying. I am very happy to be of such assistence!

Hello Blog world!

This is officially my first blog post in Kenya (or anywhere actually). Welcome. I hope to update this on a regular basis with pictures, prayer requests, praises, general updates on my life in Kenya.