AIC Kijabe Hospital

 “If I had my life to live over again…

I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted in storage.”

                                                                                                            Erma Bombeck

 

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”

                                                                                                                                                                  Eleanor Roosevelt

Kijabe’s name is Maasai for "Place of the Wind".  And it is!  When the winds blow, you can hear them whistle through the tall trees, which sounds quite wonderful.  The area is surrounded on three sides by a lush forest.  It’s the rainy season now.  It rains nearly every night.  The altitude of 7200 feet keeps the weather cool, even though it’s close to the equator: sweater weather.   Nairobi is about 45 miles to the south east. 

 

The AIC (Africa Inland Church) Kijabe Hospital, the AIC-CURE International Children's Hospital of Kenya, and the Rift Valley Academy all border each other on the hill and escarpment overlooking the beautiful Great Rift Valley.  The view of the valley is quite incredible.   

 

Monkeys on the roof

Monkeys!  They show up at strange times.  They really sort of freak me out.

I am used to seeing monkeys on television and in the zoo.  It’s just that when a herd of them runs across my front lawn or starts climbing my roof; now that’s new and different!  These monkeys are as big as dogs and they move unpredictably fast.  I am slowly getting used to them.  They are harmless really.

Like big squirrels.  I think.  I have been warned to keep my windows closed when I am not at home because the monkeys will enter looking for food!   

 

Baboons in the parking lot!  Baboons coming to your door!

I was on rounds the other day and I was distracted by a group of 3 baboons running around the hospital parking lot.  They didn’t break anything.  It was just… different.  The Great Baboon warning: Lock your front door. They are smart enough to know how to open it!  Well… if the baboons ever show up in my living room, I’m leaving!

 

Everyone who lives here seems pretty blasé about the whole monkey thing.  Generally, the monkeys do keep away from us.  The hospital and the school are surrounded on three sides by a thick tropical forest. There is plenty of habitat space for our animal friends, so who can blame them when they show up on the hospital grounds and everywhere else?

 

Hospital Cats

I am being teased.  I love cats.  There is a little black cat who lives on the hospital campus who looks just like my little black cat back home.  Naturally, I leave bits of sweet bread out for her and all her other cat friends to eat.  So far, I’ve counted about 4 different cats.  They are all quite feral and will not let me get close, but that’s ok.  I love them all anyway.  

 

 

The morning squawk

Every morning at 6 am without fail the Kenyan Pied Crows squawk in great disharmony to greet the morning light.  No alarm clock needed!  One thing about living near the equator is that the sun goes up and goes down at about the same time every day with little variation: 6 am and 6 pm.

 

 

Rift Valley Academy (RVA)

In 1906, missionary to Kenya Charles Hurlburt was faced with a decision many missionaries had to make with their children at that time: either send his children back to England for schooling or give up being a missionary.  His solution to this dilemma was to start a school of his own.  That idea has now grown to be a fully accredited first-world elementary and secondary school for missionary children: ‘Rift Valley Academy’, (K- 12).  It is rich in history.  President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the school’s first building.  It serves over 500 missionary children representing 30 nationalities and 80 mission organizations and churches.  They also accommodate a small number of Kenyan national students and expatriate, non-mission students.   

 

AIC Kijabe Hospital and the CURE Orthopedic Hospital : Two excellent hospitals

The effect of this juxtaposition on Kijabe Hospital has been dramatic.  It has contributed greatly to the

numbers and types of medical missionary specialists who come to work here, including

Pediatric Surgery and Surgical Oncology.  In addition, next to Kijabe is the CURE Orthopedic Hospital.  They have specialists in General and Pediatric Orthopedics, Spine Services and Physiotherapy.  Things are on the move upward.  Kijabe is expanding the Operating Rooms from 9 rooms to 15.  There is a nursing school here too.

The people in Nairobi certainly know how good Kijabe is.  Kijabe has an excellent reputation.  Many will drive the one hour it takes to come here for care and second opinions.  So even though the area around the hospital looks somewhat rural, the types of problems we see here are complex and challenging.  In the surgery clinic we see a great many cancers of the GI tract and breast, often at late stages.  Kijabe has training programs in General Surgery, Internal Medicine and soon, Anesthesia through PAACS (Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons).  I know I’ve been challenged a few times in the Operating “Theater” here.

 

Nursing

There is a Nursing School at Kijabe.  The ward nursing ratio is one nurse to 8 patients.  In the ICU, the nursing staff has to mix their own IV infusions of pressor agents when they are necessary.

 

A great community

Like many other mission hospitals, the homes of the medical staff are within walking distance.

With the two hospitals and the Rift Valley Academy so close together, there are more housing structures and a bigger community, including school teachers and their students.  One of the charming ways that people socialize here is an invitation to dinner.  It’s been really fun to meet some extremely outstanding people.  And I listen and learn from them.  All their children attend Rift Valley Academy.   I had dinner with one British missionary family with their 3 children who left their mission in Madagascar to specifically come here so that their children could attend a good first-world school.

 

Food

When I get tired of the rice and beans in the hospital restaurant, I’ve been going to a ‘super duka’.

It’s really just a very cramped one-room store with two 15-foot aisles separated in between by a two-sided shelf, stuffed with all sorts of food products: no wasted space!   I also go down the hill and buy fresh vegetables and mangos from a group of older ladies at their food stalls.  At home, I’ve conducted some cooking experiments in the kitchen with a low-level of success. 

 

Southern Hemisphere Stars

On clear nights I’m seeing a whole new group of stars near the southern horizon.  The Southern Cross and the False Cross must be out there somewhere.  One of these nights I’ll be able to positively identify them.

 

Blending In

My goal has been to quietly serve where I see the need.  I am not here to ‘take over’.  That’s not my place and I’m a temporary worker.  I’m here to support those in charge.  I make good natured suggestions during ward and ICU rounds.   I’m always trying to understand first why things are done the way that they are.    Laparoscopic skills are lacking, so I’ve been able to offer something there.  I’ve taken the residents through a few central line placements.  And when I’m ‘on-call’ at night, I help the residents do the emergency cases.  Humble service and support.