I’ve found out that I can use the same strategy in Kenya as
I do in the US in order to make friends… I cook and bake for them ; )
Unfortunately, cooking and baking is way more of a challenge here so it takes
more time and sacrifice and I can’t get as fancy with the cooking dishes and
the cakes. I frequently brought in treats to the physios in attempts to “suck
up” to them and show them that I wanted to be their friend. They LOVE white cake
so the first week I made that and they devoured the whole pan amongst 7 of them.
Then the following weeks I decided to bring them “American” foods that they had
never experienced before. The cooking and baking worked well because we have all
become good friends but unfortunately the “sucking up” also caused me to get into
another really awkward situation. The physio who told me a couple weeks ago
that he was going to ask my dad for my hand in marriage brought up the topic of
marriage again. The whole physio staff had gone to visit a staff member who was
sick (she served us porridge and their version of coffee cake in her little
house I described in my previous blog) and we were all sitting down chatting and
eating when in front of everyone the physio asked me “What do you think of you
and I getting married? You are so busy so the only place I can ask you is here
in front of the rest of them...” Yikes, that was an awkward question! Thankfully
the rest of the physios there were laughing so I was able to play it off.
This week I decided to have the physio staff to the house
that I’ve been staying at in order to properly thank them for the last month
we’ve spent together. (The first two weeks I stayed in the hospital housing
with my parents and the condition were really poor. I was blessed the last two
weeks in that I got to move up the hill to Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school
for missionary kids throughout Africa. I lived with a really sweet single woman
counselor who let me stay in her extra bedroom.) The area the house is in is
really nice and the physios called it “Little America” when they arrived. They
had never been there before because it’s a gated community and they were so
excited when getting the tour of it! I had to meet them at the gate to let them
in and then we made the moderately steep climb up the hill to the house I live
and I seriously thought the physios weren’t going to make it up. We had to stop
and take breathing rest breaks every few minutes because they were so tired and
out of breath. The walk ended up taking 30 mins (usually takes me only 10 mins)
and they literally collapsed on the couches panting when we arrived. (This is
the reason why I’m trying to get the exercise classes to continue after I
leave…even the physios themselves can benefit from it!) Once we arrived the
feast and the laughing began. I brought out all of the snacks that my family
had brought from home and they were so intrigued with them and they were so
happy that they literally laughed the entire evening. I wanted to bake an American
treat for them but there are very limited supplies in Kijabe village so the
easiest thing for me to make was chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies and
they LOVED them. (It was really entertaining because they actually took the no
bake cookies and dipped them in the almonds and popcorn and ate it all together-
very humorous to watch!) The Kenyans were especially intrigued with the almonds
because they’d never had them before. They also loved the raspberry lemonade.
We enjoyed a night of laughter, food and fun together. When the night was
coming to an end they asked me if I would stay forever with them at Kijabe
hospital forever…and then they asked me again if I would marry the physio in
the dept (he was right there with us which again created an awkward situation).
The thing that I am most reminded of with all of these
interactions in Kenya is that although there are many cultural differences
between Kenya and America and there are LOTS of difference between Kenyan and
American healthcare and PT, both groups of people have the same primary need
and desire for one thing. Relationships. For Kenyans the most important thing in
life is the relationships that they have. For most Americans I know I would say
the same thing. I know that personally relationships are what I cherish most in
this world.
Because relationships are what Kenyans value most I quickly realized
the thing that the Kenyans appreciated most about me wasn’t my PT knowledge or
my white skin. It was that I wanted to get to know them and I spent time and
effort doing so. I was reminded this week that I didn’t go to Kenya just to
give lectures and in-services. I didn’t just go to Kenya to lead chapels. (Side
note: this morning I got thrown into 3 of the above. 7:30am lecture to the
whole nursing staff on total hip precautions because the patients keep dislocating
in the wards due to mismanagement. 8am devotions to nursing school students-
they told me to “preach the word” giving me only a 5 min warning. 8:30am in-service
to physio staff on bilateral amputees. BUSY MORNING!) I didn’t go to Kenya for
the Safari or for the beautiful landscape views of the Rift Valley. I went for
one sole purpose…to build relationships.
When I first arrived at the hospital I had a hard time
adjusting because I wanted to make a difference and completely revolutionize
the way they do PT and help them make the necessary changes that I thought they
needed. Throughout the time I’ve been here I’ve been looking for ways to help
and different avenues to bring about change. I tried my best to do all this but
I know that I epically failed. I really think that very little changes will be
implemented after I leave. Even though I gave over 25 in-services/lectures and
everyone seemed very enthusiastic about them at the time I’ve heard from
missionary medical professionals that long term change is hard to come by here.
A lot of them come back year after year because the love Kijabe but they’ve
noticed that when they come back things are just the same as when they had left
a year before even though they tried to implement a positive change it wasn’t
enforced. However, I am VERY proud to announce that my first ever recorded exercise
class exists on a DVD at Kijabe hopsital. I have been asked by dozens of people
in college and grad school to film my classes and post on youtube so that they
can watch and do the exercises but I’ve never done it before. It brings me SUCH
great pleasure that the only ones ever recorded are in a tiny village in Kenya
that I love so much. I don’t know if they’ll be used or if the exercise class I
started will continue but I hope and pray so. They say it’s going to ; )
I have been thinking about the book “Purpose Driven Life” and although
it’s been a long time since I’ve read it I always remember how it talks about
how relationships are the sole purpose for our life, the reason God made us. I
so strongly believe this. If I wouldn’t have made relationships with the
physios or other medical staff I worked with then I would have had a horrible
time in Kenya and it all would have been all worthless.
I’m so very thankful for the relationships I made at Kijabe.
Sadly, I don’t know if I’ll ever see my Kenyan friends again. I hope to but
either way I am very thankful for the relationships I made with them. They have
changed and impacted me and I hope I’ve done the same on them.
Today when I was saying my goodbyes all the physios went
around in a circle and shared with me what they appreciated about me and how much
they had enjoyed our time together. They said the nicest things to me and told
me that I was forever a part of them. At the end they all prayed a blessing
over me. (In it they included that I would get married soon- they’re seriously
desperate for me which is completely ridiculous!) Although they shed tears at
our goodbye we also shared laughter (at least I laughed a lot) because they had
framed the certificate I had won at the Kijabe race a few weeks back and they
placed it in the bare walled physio room and they also took turns wearing the
medal I won saying that they’re going to wear it until they day I return to
Kijabe.
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