Return from the first foray in the field

Yesterday, as I stepped into my room at the Fairview Hotel here in Nairobi, I felt a bit like I was walking into heaven. It also felt surreal after having been out in the field to now enjoy the standard of living and creature comforts that are a part of my usual life. Still, it’s so good to finally get a decent shower and feel clean and rested.

In the modern comfort of this wonderful hotel, I begin to reflect on my first foray out into the field here. Now, I can laugh at some of my experiences, smile about some good memories and small achievements, and ponder what I’ve learned about myself, working with the people here, and the critical issues around the work I’ve been assigned and how I might do even better to help here. Rather than go on in narrative, I’ll just let you see some of what I saw.

Typical traffic.

Visiting with the nurses in one clinic to assess their activities and supplies during the polio immunization campaign.

Some curious children.

In addition to assessing the progress of the campaign, I had the opportunity to help in many ways, including vaccinating some of the children.

Maui has nothing on the red dirt on the roads here.

Part of my responsibilities required visiting some of the homes in the extremely remote and rural areas to assess the progress of the polio immunization campaign in those areas.

Some typical Kenyan "rivers" - well, it is the dry season. Supposedly, if you dig under the sand, you can find water in some of these "riverbeds", although you may have to dig pretty deep in some places.

Once while walking through the bush in search of homes in a homestead area, we came out in the middle of a tea field. Pretty cool.

Marking the left 5th finger of a child to indicate we've vaccinated him.

One of the enduring images I know I will have of Kenya will be the many school children walking along the roads. They were always excited to see us and wave hello as we passed.