I should have posted this last week. I wrote this over a week ago and it had been on my heart for about a week before that. And I’m sure by now it seems like old news, as the actual news stations have moved on to new stories and new conflict rather than the outbreak of crime and violence that happened a few weeks back.
You see, I’m one of those people who likes to keep the peace. I don’t like to make waves with my words or actions, I don’t like controversy and I really don’t like confrontation. I allowed the fear of that essence of who I am hold me back, but that’s not who I want to be either. I continually strive to live out a more authentic version of myself, and I think a great starting point is here and now, today sharing this piece of myself who traveled to Kitale, Kenya four years ago and who is a community member of one of the most segregated areas in the nation.
August 17, 2016
Almost four years ago to the day, I sent this email (below) to a group of family and friends on the receiving end of updates from my Public Health Practicum trip to Kitale, Kenya. For a little bit of context, I spent just over three weeks in Kitale during my graduate studies with a focus on improving hand washing skills and reducing the spread of communicable diseases among local Kenyans. As I learned through my journey, there were so many more important things than washing hands that would be of far greater influence and impact for the population I was living and working with. It was the experience of a lifetime and I continually ache in my heart to go back.
I want to share this today because, my friends, our world is in need of help, and that doesn’t even mean on the grand scale of taking an international trip to a third world country. Our own community is in need of some revival, some action, some love, and some mercy. Reading this again brings back so many memories and emotions {and also points out some of my ignorance}, but also evokes a sense of individual responsibility to my own community.
I’ll let you read the email {which has not been edited, though I would so desperately like to change a few things I wrote!}:
August 18, 2012
Jambo (hi) from Kenya!
It’s taken me a while to get into town to visit a cyber cafe, but I have finally made it. My first several days have gone by so fast even after such a long travel period. After two 7ish hour flights and an 8 hour (very bumpy) bus ride, I finally reached my destination. I am right outside of Kitale in a more secluded area and it took me about 20 minutes by piggy piggy (motorcycle transportation) to get to town. The ride cost me 100 shillings or approximately 85 cents in USD. It’s so crazy how everything is so cheap!
I have seen and experienced SO many things already! My eyes have been open to a new world and I can’t stop myself from wanting to help more and more. I have seen the District Hospital which by no means is a hospital in the sense of what you think in the US. It is beyond dirty, has an awful smell, incredibly old equipment and very limited supplies. There were multiple people squished in each bed. Some beds had four or five people in it. I near broke down when I saw it. Then, I was taken to the burn unit in which there were many babies. Because of the means to cook food here in Kenya and where mothers carry their babies, many babies are badly burned. The sight was almost too much to handle and by far the worst burns I have ever seen in my life. Hearing the cries of the poor children and victims was heart wrenching. I have seen malnourished children, wounds, hiv patients, pregnant women, those who are ill and waiting for surgery and more. I have also visited a children’s home where street kids are taken (among many other places). If I had more time, I wish I could share more stories!!
These beautiful children lived at the orphanage I was associated with during my stay. They completely stole my heart.
This morning I visited the VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) center where individuals may come to be tested for HIV and counseled in regards to experiences and sexual practices. It was amazing and the nurses and social workers there are so great at what they do. With just a small staff, they see over 500 clients a month and always have a line out their door. I then visited the Gender Recovery center in which survivors of sexual abuse are treated and counseled. I heard the most tragic stories of children as young as 3 months of age being defiled by family members. I learned that in the African culture it is often a belief that those men who are HIV positive can cure themselves if they sleep with a virgin. I couldn’t even imagine such a thing! Needless to say, many things I see and experience here are very sad. The conditions are of great poverty. But within these conditions, there are happy, genuine people who say hi to everyone, show smiles and are ever-so-welcoming. Even to the manzungu (white girl)! My mind and heart have been opened to so many things since I have been here and I am so grateful for that.
For some, I was the first white person they ever saw. This particular girl wanted to see if my “white” would rub off on her.
Looking ahead: I will be conducting some hand washing information sessions in the clinic I am staying at and also a children’s home not too far away. Yay, SOAP project is underway! I have also grown very fond of the orphans who live on the grounds and have purchased them bathing supplies. This weekend, I will be bathing each one, dressing them in new clothes and washing the ones they have on. (I’m not sure they have ever been washed before – it is my hope that the caregiver for the orphans is switched to someone who will look after them more and provide some structure and education – I am working on that as well as establishing a hygiene schedule for them.) Also, there is one painting on a large wall in the clinic that really livens the place up so, I have decided to paint a mural of my own further down in the wards. That is, if I can find and purchase all of the supplies.
Babies often didn’t wear diapers because they just were not accessible or affordable. This little peanut peed right on me, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
There is SO much more I would love to tell you all, but I am running out of time. There is also much more ahead of me in my trip 🙂 I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your love, prayers and support. You all mean so much to me!
I will try to be in touch again and provide some pictures if possible!!
Peace and love, XO
Why am I sharing this, you ask? Because I want to use this email and what I experienced in a country so far from home as a reminder to myself to see the recent conflict in Milwaukee as a message to us all here and now. Challenges, troubles, conflict and violence, don’t know boarders in this world. It seeps through all. It is in our own community. In our own back yard. I’m viewing this message from four years ago as a reminder message today to make my individual self the best I possibly can, because quite honestly, while we tend to point fingers and blame or look for causation, it would save us a whole lot of time and trouble if we just start from within. It is my hope that this message would encourage a collective of us to be the best people we can – moms, dads, teachers, business professionals, health professionals, any professional or even any non-professional, friends, sisters, daughters, brothers, sons, cousins, colleagues, acquaintances and community members. For if we all try to become our best, we can become better together.
I don’t have any discussion or answers that transcend any of what is already occurring, I just have a mind that is racing and have it in my heart to make this world a more beautiful place. For me, for you, for our families, for our friends, for our children. In this time of trouble, we may all be confused, sad, scared, angered, motivated, encouraged and hopeful all at the same time. And I think that’s okay. I am one of you and am feeling the same things.
If you would, please join me in mourning for the sadness in Milwaukee and also join me in committing to take responsibility in recognizing who and what is around us – and to start making small individual changes that will collectively create a bigger, better world.
XO — Friends, I am working on part of a project that is working to elevate the health and well being of the Milwaukee community. If you’re interested in taking part, here is a survey to get started.
❤️
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