Hang On! Its Going To Be a Bumpy Ride

I have so much to tell you about my trip to Africa! The first story I want to tell you about is our road trip from Nairobi, Kenya to Musoma, Tanzania.

I don't know if there is another way to travel there but our team flies into Nairobi, Kenya before traveling to Musoma, Tanzania. Our team landed in Nairobi and spent the night at the Mayfield House before leaving early the next morning to our final destination. I had the choice to fly to Musoma with some of the group or to ride in a van to Musoma by way of Tenwek with the other members of our team. The purpose for going through Tenwek was to see the hospital there. So naturally, I wanted to see the hospital.

So what? The roads through Kenya and Tanzania can be a bit rough. A bridge was out because of recent heavy rains. We were told that it would take longer than usual because of the detour. It would only take a couple of hours to fly to Musoma. By taking the road it would take us around 8 hours. After being given what Dr. Hutchinson believed would be all the reasons that I might not want to take the road, I decided that I still wanted to see the hospital.

So that morning, we waved good bye to our fellows. We boarded different vans. Theirs to the airport.
Ours to Tenwek.

This was our van.

God has such a sense of humor. We wouldn't find out until much later that the only thing "royal" about it would be the pain in our rear ends and the fact that it almost took us to meet the King of Kings with a few near misses.

Its an adventure though, right? It doesn't matter that there is no cushion left to the seat. Or that the shocks are original to the van. Or that the van and I may or may not share the same birth year. It could be worse. Check out this family of four:

I was in high spirits. I can be comfortable anywhere. The interior resembled the farm truck that I drove as a child while haying in the field. Happy memories. We were going to see so much. The temperature outside was pleasant. With open windows and an open road, this was going to be the best trip ever.

We had not left the city when we were stopped at a checkpoint. The Kenyan officer slowly struts toward the open drivers window. Not smiling, with a baton propped on his shoulder. He speaks to the driver. The driver hands him some papers. They speak for minute. The driver asks our friend Joel something. Joel shakes his head in what looks like disgust and says something back. The driver proceeds to get out of the van and whisper to the officer. Everyone is just sitting in the van wondering but keeping as silent as possible. Kitula asks Joel what is going on. Apparently the driver did not have all of the correct papers. And he wanted to know if we had any money. Not a good situation. The driver gets back in the van.  Joel says something to him that I learned after the fact that went something like, "You are supposed to be professional driver for a professional company and you aren't legal?"We are waved to go on. A collective sigh is heard.

So, all's well that ends well. On the road again. That was probably the one kink in the day. There always has to be one. Pretty soon we see the Great Rift Valley. Isn't it beautiful?

This is what most of the roads looked like. Remember: no cushion, no shocks. And I forgot to mention that if there are speed limits, or any traffic laws for that matter, no one pays attention to them.

We zipped, bumped, vibrated, and swerved on.

It is always telling when the drivers try to drive OFF the roads because they are so bad. Well, We have been in the van for about 6 hours now. We aren't at the hospital yet. But look at the beautiful tea field we saw.

I'm a little sore but the landscape is breathtaking.  I still know I did the right thing. I may never get to see these things again.I enjoy reading the signs on businesses as we drive through villages. From Kenya to Tanzania, there were no just plain ordinary names. It could be a 10x10 ft building and it was a "Shopping Centre". Consider this "Palace".

I love it! There is one place I did not get a picture of because we were speeding past it on a curvy mountain road and I needed both hands on the "Oh Me!" bar that I really wanted. We were up in the mountains with only small thatched huts on the mountainsides. There on the right hand side of the road came into view what appeared to be a small wood cabin with a porch. A cow was on the porch chewing his cud and swishing his tail. As we zoomed past the sign on the building said "Dynamic Hair Salon and Boutique".

About the same hour that we had previously thought we would arrive in Musoma, we pulled into the Tenwek hospital parking lot.

The hospital is beautiful on the outside.

There is a large sign with "We Treat, Jesus Heals" on it. I like that.

Here are some images of inside the surgical ward and operating rooms:

the surgery board

the scrub station

the operating room

recovery

Dr. Hutchinson gowned and talking to a surgeon

Compared to home this may look a little primitive. I think it looks wonderful compared to the Indian hospital rooms that our group used a few years ago. A team from Vanderbilt comes to this hospital to do pediatric heart surgeries twice a year. Dr. Hutchinson hoped to make connections for children in Musoma that needed surgery.

After our visit, we climbed back in our luxury liner and headed to Musoma.We rode several more hours. We were able to nap a little and take in more countryside. I even saw a wedding processional down the road. The bride and groom surrounded by well wishers dancing down the road. We were going so fast, I couldn't get my camera out to take a picture after I realized what I was seeing. I would have ridden the whole 12 hours again to see just that one thing. The bride in a white satin dress with a child's plastic tiara on her head, trying not to smile (it isn't traditional to smile) but the smile breaking trough none-the-less.

The next exciting thing was crossing the Kenyan/Tanzanian border.

I think I'll save that for another post.

Sorry it has taken me so long to post anything. Not much time for reflection and computing for hours here in the Lancaster household. I went straight from my foreign mission back to my home one.

Becoming,

Anna