msambweni: week one

i have made it to my new home in msambweni, complete with a beautiful beach view. it's been a rough week, filled with disappointments in my internship and homesickness (i've officially reached the two month mark), but i'm taking this new environment in strides, and things will get better with time.

on sunday, october 23, i left nairobi. i was surprised that i was somewhat sad to leave my host family, but i was probably just sad to leave a "comfortable" place for the unknown. the msid group split in half-- half going to the coast, and half going to the kisumu area (western kenya near lake victoria). our bus left at 9:30, and headed on its way for the 8 hour journey to mombasa. we were quite impressed with the bus service-- pillows, curtains, and even drinks and snacks! things like this really impress all of us, as it's not common in kenya to receive much more than the basics. along the way, we heard from the kisumu group-- crazy drivers, large chunks of the bus floor falling out creating a huge hole in the floor, and blown out tires. needless to say, i was glad i was going to the coast.

we arrived in mombasa around 6:00. not much for first impressions-- the city is obviously much smaller (but still the 2nd largest city in kenya), not as much pollution, very hot, and humid. the host parents arrived at the bus station to pick up their students. since msambweni is an hour and a half south of mombasa, i would be staying in mombasa with one other student for the night before heading to our homestays the next day.

we checked in to coast safari hotel, ate supper, and went to bed early. we had to get up at 5:00 to leave for our internships. the other student lived about 45 minutes south of mombasa, so he was dropped off, and then we headed to msambweni. for all of the drive there, the road was too far away from the shore to see the ocean. once we arrived near msambweni, we turned on to a road that headed towards the ocean. we turned into my driveway, and there was the indian ocean! so gorgeous, and i get to see it from my bedroom window.

the view of the indian ocean from my home.

i met my host family, was shown my room, and then we conversed a little. then my host dad, who works at the msambweni district hospital, where i am interning, took me to the hospital. he works as the "customer care" person/greeter. he introduced me to all the important clinical officers that i'd probably be working with throughout the 6 weeks, and then i went home. the house help showed me the beach, i unpacked my stuff, and relaxed the rest of the day.

host cousins and i at the beach. the first day, my host mom made me wear what all the women here wear. no, i did not wear that outfit by choice. ;)

life here is much more rural and rustic than in nairobi. my host dad's father is our neighbor, along with many of his children, so there kids running around everywhere. i have a three year old host brother, sulemon, and two older host siblings that aren't around much. there are five or six kids that are under five years old around here, so it's always a good time. i have running water and electricity, but there is just a "squatter" for the toilet, and there's no hot water (although it's so hot here, i never want to take anything but cold showers). my family does not have a kitchen table, we just sit on the floor and eat our meals. usually the food is just served on one large platter, and you just eat what you want (this is without silverware, of course). i can tell that my family is not as accommodating to my food preferences, so i'm sucking it up and eating ugali (which we have at least once a day, if not more). we have fish almost every single day, but i guess that's too be expected considering where i live. there are bugs everywhere-- the flies are especially bad, and ants are crawling around everywhere.

the hospital is about what i expected, given the fact that kenya is a developing country. it was probably a beautiful facility when it was build 40+ years ago (just my guess) but there have obviously been no improvements since then, and the medical facilities are not up to date. some things i've noticed are how limited many of the supplies are, and how old everything looks, as nothing has been changed since it was built.

there are no scheduled doctors appointments; patients just show up if they need treatment. they all must buy a small notebook, where the doctors write all their notes. this, of course, would be done on a computer in the united states. all the services must be paid up-front, and prices vary by what service is being done.


this past week, i was just in outpatient services at the hospital, which was extremely boring. not many patients that come in have that severe of illnesses, and just need to be prescribed drugs or have a small test done (malaria testing, for example, is about half of the cases). the language barrier has been especially hard to deal with, as the doctor/patient conversation is spoken in swahili, and if the doctor is feeling nice, he might explain it to me in englishmsid staff reassured me that the past six students that have came here have absolutely loved the hospital and have been able to do so much, as i am going to stick with it. next week i'm moving to the pediatric ward, so hopefully i'll be able to see more and participate more.

so far, the internship phase of the program has been disappointing, but i hope it will get better. i'm realizing how quickly the semester is going to fly by, as i only have five weeks left here, and one week in nairobi before i go home. life here can be difficult at times, but that will make coming home that much more enjoyable, and i know i'm going to look back on this experience and have lifelong memories.

the beach that is a two minute walk from my house. it doesn't look that great, but it was at low tide, so that's why it's so weedy, and not as sandy.