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One of my friends asked me to tell her the one thing I liked best about my time in Mutomo, Kenya and one thing I liked the least. I decided to expand the list and give you my 5 favorite and 5 least favorite things about my trip. If you have been following my posts, you can probably tell that I had a wonderful experience. However, spending 6 months in a remote town in a country that you’ve never stepped foot in, does bring a certain set of challenges.
My Favorite Things:
- The People. I loved meeting and working with new people. From the patients to the staff to the other volunteers and physicians and I can’t not leave off my CMMB family, learning from and with this group was definitely the highlight of my experience.
- The Pace of Life. Living and working on the hospital compound definitely changed how I interacted with the workday. The short commute. Afternoon tea at the canteen. Walking over to a friend’s house after work to chat or play cards, was a welcomed change from traffic, overpriced coffeehouse coffee and mind-numbing reality tv.
- The Stars. The night sky in Mutomo is captivating. Walking home after dinner and looking up to a bright moon and sparkling stars never got old.
- The Weather. Even though there were days that I complained or when I sweated through my scrubs in the OR, I still prefer hot weather. The temperature range was pretty narrow and it rarely rained.
- I love Kachumbari. It’s a simple dish. It can be as basic as just tomatoes and red onions, lime juice with a dash of salt. Or the way I preferred to prepared it, adding cilantro, hot peppers and avocado when they were in season.
My Least Favorite Things.
- The Mosquitos. All in all, I saw more bugs than I knew existed, in Mutomo. Every time it rained, a new variety of bugs would pop up. Despite trying to be diligent with mosquito repellent and a mosquito net at night, I still received more than my fair share of bites.
- Being so remote. At times, Mutomo feels isolated. Being 5 hours from Nairobi, with up to 2 hours of that trip along a dirt road, travel required some preparation (both logistically and mentally). The bumpy, dusty ride was also rough on the back and the sinuses.
- The Language Barrier. The nurses and technicians were awesome in interpreting for me. But I missed connecting with the patients on a more personal level. I learned a few Swahili words over the 6 months, but I will definitely plan to have more formal lessons before I return.
- Intermittent Electricity. Some days the electricity would go out for a few minutes or a couple of hours. However, occasionally the electricity would go out for days at a time.
- Lack of Diversity of Food. While I absolutely enjoy Kenyan food, nyama choma, ugali, chapatti and of course my beloved Kachumbari… I did miss having a big salad or pizza or greek yogurt or fried seafood, I could go on…
Thank you so much for sharing this journey, my fellow obgyn. My sons were born approximately 900 miles from Kenya in southern Ethiopia and your pictures are reminiscent of traveling on Ethiopian roads and in villages during our journey to bring them home.
Just curious about some of the similarities and differences in practicing OB in Kenya. What is the C/S rate? What is the most common high risk diagnosis? How long do moms and babies stay in the hospital?
Great post. Thanks again for sharing.
Thank you so much for your comments Dr. Linda. Healthy moms and babies stay 12 hours after a vaginal delivery and until POD#4 after a c/s. Because we were a referral hospital for even more remote health centers, we would receive more protracted labors and compound presentations than I was used to seeing at home. Severe anemia was more common, with less access to blood products. The c/s rate was similar to the U.S. (20-25%) But don’t quote me the exact number. Some of that could be attributed to the fact we would do some breech vaginal deliveries with appropriate patients.