On my second day in Kenya, we traveled to the rural town of Mbita where the actual clinic is being constructed.
From Kisumu, Kelsey, Paula, Charles the “gutterman” and I squeezed into the back of Simon’s truck and along with Becca comfortably in the front seat, we started our journey. Driving through Kisumu reminded me very much of the streets of Chennai, India. You see boda boda (bicycles) and motos and tuk tuks (golf cart taxis) everywhere and as you look left to right there are stalls lining the road ready to sell you beauty products, phone service and clothes all from a 2 square foot shack.
Downtown is lively and colorful. The “buildings” you pass are all of equal height, with their outer faces built from sheets of tin then painted with bright attractive colors. Pinks, blues, greens and yellow. Many topped with signs “Mama’s Grocery”, “Mama’s Music”, “Mama’s etc…”
So we drove for an hour and a half out of the city and slowly as we departed the bustle of downtown, the scenery transformed into fields upon fields with the occasional local walking on the side of the road making their trek to an unknown destination. It was amazing to see the different people making their journeys from the shepard to the businessman, from the woman with gigantic bowls on head to the small child going to school.
Finally, we arrived to the ferry where we then crossed Lake Victoria to make it to the penisula town of Mbita. Evidently the ferry driver was quite taken with me and offered to let me drive to boat. At this point I won’t risk the lives of the passengers, but someday right!
Kisumu and Mbita are like day and night. Where Kisumu was busy and complicated, Mbita was tranquil and simple. There are yet to be paved roads and there were no other cars to be seen. Thus the 30 minute drive to the YGC Boys Vocational School and the Clinic was a very bumpy one. It was off-roading to the extreme.
All you see in Mbita are mountains of the bush and although it appears as though there are few inhabiting the area, if you travel closer (which another story will elaborate) you find that there are many villagers living in the bush…many more than would be expected.
Soon we arrived at the YGC clinic that Becca and Med25 has been working on. It looked fantastic. Although construction is moving at a Kenyan pace (mos mos…very slowly) it is coming together nicely and they were just finishing the first coat of paint. They hope to open to the community in mid-march.
They took us on a tour of the compound that included 3 consultation rooms, observation rooms, a treatment room, a lab and a pharmacy. They even have eco-compost toilets to turn waste into fertilizer for the gardens surrounding. By the time it is finished it will be a great addition to the community.
Just next to the clinic is the actual YGC Boys Vocational School. At this point, all of the boys that work at there are helping with the construction. The school includes a guesthouse, which we sleep at, a boys hostel, kitchen, chicken coup, and 2 large classrooms that the boys work on masonry and construction. Right now there are 14 boys living and working at the YGC. In time they hope to accommodate 24.
Each boy is assigned a job field that he works on. Our hospitality lead is named Atleast, and he makes sure that we are well taken care of and that our stay is comfortable. Others focus on construction of not only the clinic, but of products that they can sell to the community to create a sustainable profit.
It is such a great program because each of the YCG boys were orphaned, and now they are giving back to their program and making a salary themselves. They make 300 shillings a day, which in our terms is approx $2.50, but for them it is something to be proud of. They have good jobs that are creating a clinic that they are extremely happy to be a part of.
That first night there, we took a short walk and ended up at this gigantic cleared field that was waiting for the boys to play football on. Football of course is soccer in our sports lingo, and they love to play. Simon and Kelsey rallied the troops and they even got me and Paula to join, but after 3 minutes in, one or two sprints and a slight touch of the ball, I though better of my situation and took pictures instead. It was fun to watch. I am pretty sure they could give my US soccer friends a run for their money…
By the time football was finished, the sun was beginning to set. We walked back to the YGC and for the first time since I entered Kenya, it was actually cool. The breeze brought in by Lake Victoria was beginning to border on cold. So on with the sweatshirts and pants. We were served goat that first night. Surprise, surprise. They must have killed it for us as they are abundant around the compound and are useless noismakers. Anyways, it tasted like jerky for those who wonder. Not my favorite, but interesting nonetheless.
Just wait for Mbita day 2. Fishing deputies and a hike into the bush await!
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