HOSPITAL:
Thermometers (all types), blood pressure cuffs, stethoscope, NON-EXPIRED medications (over-the-counter and prescription); games, toys, and dolls for the pediatric ward; baby blankets, bibs, etc. for maternity; infant clothing, and children’s DVDs (not too difficult for non-English speakers; cartoons).
SCHOOL:
Outdoors play equipment that can be easily and cheaply carried as baggage. Pens, crayons, markers, paper, etc. can be purchased cheaply here as a donation. Of course all donations are appreciated, but consider the cost of baggage fees against purchasing when you arrive. [I do bring good paper, colored pens, and crayons, and am able to provide them to the nursery-school children for the purpose of creating a book that I hope to get published for them. It is fortuitous that I bring these items, as I don’t see anything of their quality anywhere in Maseno or Kisumu.]
ORPHAN PROGRAM:
Soccer balls (deflated for shipping or travel) are always in demand. [I leave this in because it’s true but misleading. Ian hauls over a huge duffel filled largely with deflated soccer balls and he blows up a couple each Saturday, when we go to a parish for the mobile clinic and orphan feeding program. The adolescent boys are ecstatic and begin to play immediately. However, each time without fail, within a few minutes the balls get kicked into the brush, get punctured, and deflate. There is no way to keep them repaired. The kids shrug and revert to their standard practice of balling up and tying together the used plastic bags they’ve carried their bowls and spoons over in, and play on. Ian initially feels quite defeated by this.]
PERSONAL ITEMS:
Camera with extra memory, a laptop for storing photos, listening to music, and watching DVDs (there is no cable for Internet or e-mail in the visitors’ quarters), [this seems obvious but warrants mention] transistor radio, watch (cheap), TSA locks for luggage, journal, immunization card, passport, visa, small day bag, second pair of prescription glasses in a hard case, small lightweight shampoo, soap, lotion, laundry detergent, sunscreen, toothbrush and paste, two extra copies of all documents and cards—one should be left in the U.S. and one held by the mission. [When I arrive, I ask Nan if she wants a copy of my documents. She doesn’t.]
MEDICAL:
Benedryl, Imodium or Lomotil, Vaseline, Cipro, multivitamins, antimalarials, aspirin/Tylenol/ibuprofen, allergy meds, Band-aids, etc. More of these can be purchased in Maseno and Kisumu, but feminine hygiene products are hard to find. Be sure to check with your health provider for yellow fever and typhoid shots. Make sure you’re current on your tetanus and the hepatitis vaccines. It is strongly recommended that you register for additional emergency health coverage. A good place to begin is by purchasing an International SOS membership. Students and teachers get a discount. Health cards are checked as you leave Kenya so keep them in a safe place.
IF YOU WILL BE WORKING AT THE HOSPITAL:
Wrinkle-resistant and washable shirts, ties, and trousers for the men. Skirts and blouses (no jeans) for the women, [I am never clear on how much of the dress code is culturally driven or missionary-imposed. There are violators regularly and they seem to be well tolerated.] white coat, small notebook, stethoscope, BP Cuff, thermometer, box of gloves, Ophth Minus Panoptic (for examining eyes, and ears).
Electricity and water are quite valuable and on occasion, in short supply. For the duration of their stay, visitors are asked to take a minimum of one shower per day (less if possible). Please take water-conservation showers—where one turns on the shower to get wet, turns it off to soap up, and back on to rinse quickly. Also, use battery-operated sources of light when possible. Expect power outages intermittently due to extreme wind and rain. [I thought it good to be aware of this.]
ROOM AND BOARD:
St. Phillips Theological College charges $5 or 350 Kenya shillings per day for three meals and a bed. Room and board are basic, not up to Motel 6 standards! Each guest will be provided with a bed, bedding, pillow, towel, mosquito net, desk, bookshelf, and locking door. Groups may be required to share rooms. Meals are served in the dining hall with the seminary students and staff, as well as the property employees. Expect basic traditional Kenyan fare: Breakfast from 7-7:30 a.m. = chai (tea with milk and sugar), instant coffee, bread, and butter. [While I’m here, the visitors’ tray has jars of peanut butter, jelly, and a canister of powdered chocolate. I am told that these are new additions to the visitors’ menu and I sense that for a variety of reasons, they aren’t going to be around long.] Lunch from 1-1:30 = lentils, rice, beans, maize. Dinner from 6:30-7:00 p.m. = cabbage, kale, ugali, some meat, some fish, potatoes in season. There is little fat and limited protein in the Kenyan diet. Those visitors who will be physically active or who have fast metabolisms should plan on supplementing their diet with food from the stands at the local marketplace. [I think it only fair to prepare visitors for this. The dietary subject is a loaded one at the mission. Providing prospective guests with this additional information will hopefully make them less likely to complain about it to Nan. There is a great deal to say about the food but I’ll finish with the letter first.]
ON THE COMPOUND:
[There is no such section in the original letter. I add an itemized list of the buildings on-site, describing each of their functions and amenities. I also note that there are five security guards around-the-clock and a continuous fence encircling the entire property. I include that the mission has a working farm with cows, sheep, chickens, honeybees, and a cornfield. In conclusion, I state:] The property is a safe place, as is the small town of Maseno and the University of Maseno campus. But traveling is done at one’s own risk and NEVER advisable after dark. [Then I go on to include a description of and pertinent information about the immediate vicinity.] In the town of Maseno, there is a post office where Internet access is available [sometimes], and the Maseno University, also with Internet access. [Volunteers often get the theology college and the university confused. The university has nothing to do with the mission, although it should. I address this later, also. It is a proper university, by African standards of course, with a campus, classrooms, student housing, etc. Although campus life is eons-removed from the locals’ lives, Maseno U. is still eons in the opposite direction from American universities. Once the post-office Internet goes down, I make an almost-daily pilgrimage to the university to use its computer lab. It is a pleasant, forty-five-minute walk, shorter if coming from the hospital grounds. The gates have uniformed armed guards who never give me so much as a second look. David says my light skin is my free pass. The mingling students obviously don’t share that sentiment. They are all well-dressed, well-heeled, women-in-jeans, guys-in-shorts, with some attitude. The poor, scrappy locals in and around Maseno are nothing if not cordial to me, always. However, on campus I rarely get an enthusiastic nzuri (the standard Kenyan response for “It is fine”) to my eager hibari (the question “How is it?”). There are also small basic-necessity-type shops and local fruit and vegetable stands. [Several dukas-splintery, open lean-tos—are set up in the market square, at intersections, are lining the road, and across from the hospital grounds. From these shacks old and young women, often with babies and toddlers in tow, sell tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, avocados, kale, oranges, pineapples, beans, rice, corn, etc., for shillings. Very little of this fresh produce ever makes it to the dining hall meals. I never know why. It is relatively inexpensive and readily available. Plus, purchasing it from the locals helps the women support their families. Whenever we visitors share our privately bought produce with the gang in the dining hall, they appear happy to have it.] Kisumu is a thirty-minute drive. There you can find shopping, restaurants, Internet cafés, supermarkets with “American” items, banks, ATMs, a secured money exchange, bus station, airport, etc. [All of these do technically exist here. Think third world.] Remember, most foreign ATM machines will only accept a four-digit pin. Also, secured Web sites are difficult to manage here, as is AOL, so it is