Africa 1

“Medicine is all about story-telling.  The patient tells the story of their symptoms, and the doctor tells the story of their disease and cure.”   -Suddarth     "The Emperor of all Maladies"

                I read this quote in the book I was reading as we were leaving Kitale.  It seemed almost too fitting for the situation, like it was written to commemorate the entirety of my experience in Kenya.  Before we left for Africa, someone warned us to be patient with our patients.  “You will ask them what their symptoms are,” they said, “but instead of getting a short in direct answer, the patient will go on and on about their lives and family.  They will tell their entire life story, ending it with ‘and then I came to the clinic.’  They are sharing their story with you, and you have now become part of their story.”

                There were so many stories involved with our trip—stories from Wesley Korir, the elite marathon runner who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to have our group relocated to the town he grew up in to open the hospital that he has been pouring his winnings into for years.  Stories from the interpreters, the pastors, the Kenyan doctors and nurses and most importantly the patient that reverberated in the halls of a bare hospital throughout the week and gave it life.  And as we said our final farewells to Kitale and the people there, we realized that these stories were now our own, and our presence in Biribiriet is now a part of it's history. 

                Kenya is a difficult country to explain.  People keep asking me “how was it?” and honestly, I don’t even know where to start.  There are so many things I want to say, but no words seem to be enough to fill the epic grandeur of the landscape and its inhabitants.  There are so many facets, and only by being among it, holding it in your hand, can you see how the light shines among it, like a diamond or any other precious stone.  No picture can quite do it justice.  It is only when you have the stone in your hand that you can see all of the different dimensions.  Such is Africa.  I have read books, seen pictures in magazines, and watched movies that all try to capture the epic scope of the people there but none can do it justice.  You have to be there, see it with your own eyes, and be fully immersed in it all to truly understand.  And even then, our time in Africa was just too limited—so much was left undiscovered.  It would take a lot more than just three weeks to see and experience everything to satisfaction.  My next few entries will be my humble attempt to tell the story of how 8 medical students, two nurses, two water engineers from EDGE Outreach, and one ER doctor from Louisville all found ourselves serving the people of Biribiriet and bringing what was once only a distant dream to life.