Mikinduri Children of Hope

Written by Phil Handrahan, a member of the Mikinduri Children of Hope Tour Group, November 2006

Off we go for another day. Everyone continues to remain hearty and healthy, and as we get a little closer to nature (waterless toilets….ugh) we are becoming a rather close knit group with few secrets.

We are off to visit an orphanage to participate in an official opening and assist at the feeding clinic. We set up the vision and medical clinics for the afternoon.

Yesterday can only be described as extraordinary. The mudfest was an incredible experience. While there are numerous stories to be told, they will have to wait and be described by each of us to yu when we return. I was struck however during our journey ass we passed a local who kept yelling, “this is not Kenya, this is not Kenya”. In discussion with Silvanos, our consultant, he explained that many Kenyans are of the opinion that their Government only seems to spend $$ within Nairobi and does not spread the wealth to the outlining areas and develop. Another local along the roadside was visibly upset as we drove by and complained yelling at our driver, “you should not take visitors here at this time of the year”. The driver explained that Kenyans are proud people and this particular local likes visitors to see the best side of Kenya. Traveling through Kenya after heavy rain was not the most positive perspective of Kenya. One reminder was the manner of the locals when we would get stuck and they came to our aid. Picture the van in the ditch in mud beyond the axel and ten locals surrounding the vehicle all yelling and “conversing” in Swahili how best to get the van back out on the road again. As one of our fellow travellers said, “it may not seem very effective, but it seems to work”.

When we drove into Mikinduri, the welcome was overwhelming. As stated yesterday, it was like a Stanley Cup parade with everyone gathering around us to say hello and shake our hands. We participated in a very official ceremony loaded with speeches, singing and dancing. Mr. Ted brought greetings from our group, and there is no doubt he is their hero. We feel fortunate to be able to be part of MCOH and to be working to assist such kind people.

After the ceremonies we were hosted for lunch and then we were off to set up our clinics. Lineups for both the medical clinic ad the vision clinic were incredible. We kept the clinics operational until approx 7 pm and had to kindly encourage those still in the lineups to come back to see us the next day. Many people were administered by our team and we were all very satisfied to see the smiling faces when our friends of Mikinduri walked out with a new pair of glasses, a hat and able to see much better with their new glasses. The medical clinic was extremely busy as well and many people provided with much needed medical advice, treatment and drugs for various conditions, etc however frustration as well given the limitations of what can be provided during one single visit.  

We then went to dinner in what is considered to be the restaurant for the elite or high class. This facility is not available to anyone and is reserved almost like a private club.
After dinner we went to the site of our accommodations. We are not at Mother’s Choice…not sure what happened but it is something like Kenyan time, accommodations were arranged at another site. While it is no Hilton, it is upscale relative to Mikinduri. Perhaps a bit of culture shock, but all are content and accepting of the circumstances. Again we are all safe and healthy.

Hopefully this is the type of info that you would like to receive, however if anyone has any questions or concerns, perhaps a reply to Michelle can be re-directed to us and we can answer your questions. Until the next time…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 10:49 pm and is filed under Dispatches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.