Wow continued...

Okay, so sorry my tale is taking so long to tell, but I left off at my arrival in Nairobi.
So after staying the night there, my driver Gerrold and I stopped at a local grocery to pick up a few supplies I wouldn't be able to get at Tenwek. Then the next four hours were a bit of an adventure. Near Nairobi the roads were actually fairly good, a little crowded because it was a four day holiday weekend for Good Friday and Easter, but well-paved. Then as we approached the Great Rift Valley the area became much drier and barren looking but still full of life. There's a really neat tree called a cactus tree that grows there. In this area they're working on the road in many places and you actually have to drive on the "shoulder" for a ways until the road isn't so riddled with large potholes. Further along they've recently paved, so it was smooth sailing from there. As we continued we entered greener and greener lands until we finally arrived at Tenwek.
That night I got settled into the guesthouse where I'm staying while here and met the many other volunteers here...peds, PT, ortho, medicine, FP with a slant towards OB/Gyn...and topped off the evening with a Good Friday service. Of course after that I crashed and slept for about 12 hours.
I actually didn't work the next day, so I tagged along with a group working with the Community Health Program here. Through their work they help to prevent a lot of what I may seen in the hospital. They work with groups to provide dairy goats that they can maintain for milk. Dairy cows are more expensive and the families tend to sell the milk rather than keep it in the home because it's a money-maker whereas goat milk isn't. In order to have the goats the families have to arrange a set-up for zero grazing, meaning the food is brought to the goat. This helps cut out parasitic diseases and improves sanitation problems with animals running about. Another program they do is in placing bio-sand filters in homes. (I have a picture I'll upload later) The filter provides clean water for the family without the need to boil then filter water. In order to have one the family has to meet certain criteria for good sanitation, otherwise it doesn't matter if the water is clean. They have to have a designated latrine, a specific place for refuse, a place to clean dishes outside, a clothes line to clean linen, and separate place for animals. All of this is wonderful for health prevention. There's a ton more they do, but those were the big things we saw that day.
I also have to say I've never felt so welcomed before. I was introduced to chai and chibati bread in the family's home we visited. Chai is a staple here, it's basically tea steeped in milk to which a lot of sugar is normally added (thank God for my insulin pump). They have it regularly here in the hospital. God has definitely been working in the group I met that day. They are part of a church here and are trying to establish what's basically a granary to help store maize. Right now what tends to happen is that it gets sold cheaply during harvest season to groups based in nairobi and then sold back at much higher prices during the dry season. It's a vicious cycle that these people have the foresight to try and break. They are doing so much with little that it's truly a blessing to have met them and been able to understand how hard they work and how thankful they are for what they have.
I have to get back to work right now, but next installment: first morning in the hospital!

Keep praying for these people and please pray that God will give me the wisdom to help them as much as I can.