As I’m sitting down to write this blog, I can’t believe I’m actually in Kenya. A few months ago, I didn’t think I was going to be able to come at all. I had even donated all of the clothes I had saved up to the Salvation Army. But once the peace agreement was signed and Purdue gave us the ok, I jumped at the chance. This wasn’t an opportunity I wanted to miss, and in the short time I’ve been here, Kenya has been every bit of the experience I thought it would be.I have only been here for two weeks and I know that I am a different person today than I was when I arrived and I won’t be the same when I leave as I am today. I may not be learning as much about clinical medicine as the other groups have been, but I am learning so much about people and culture. Granted, it is a pharmacy rotation, so I am learning about HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections, but being out in the clinics and experiencing the people of Kenya is what is making this experience so memorable.
Our main project during our 4 weeks in Kenya is to help implement a computer data base system at the AMPATH pharmacies. This is quite interesting as most people have never even seen a computer before, let alone ever used one. Everybody is very excited to have a computer and very eager to learn. Well, they are eager to learn how to use the computer, implementing it into everyday prescription processing is another story. Just seeing the excitement on somebody’s face about something we use on a daily basis, makes you stop and think about how much we take for granted.
We, in America, have things so much easier and have so many more opportunities but aren’t as happy as a culture. No matter where I go in Kenya, everybody is eager to shake my hand, welcome me to the country, serve me tea and mandazis (Kenyan donughts) and make sure I have a place to sit. The Kenyans will stand just to make sure I have somewhere to sit. I don’t think I have met a rude or unfriendly Kenyan yet. And, they are very patient. I have not seen anybody get upset about waiting – and I mean waiting. When we all went to the clinic in Kitale to bring them their computer and set up the data base, we took over the pharmacy for a good 2 to 3 hours where no one could get their prescription filled, and I didn’t hear one complaint. That would never happen in an American pharmacy, people get upset if they have to wait 5 minutes. Most of the Kenyans aren’t the richest people financially, but they are some of the richest people in heart I have ever met. They would drop what they were doing the second you asked for anything. I hope to bring back to America a portion of the kindness, patience, friendliness, and thankfulness that I have seen in every Kenyan I have met so far.
