Hi!!!!

I went to kenya with Megan and the whole experience was incredible. The first two weeks I lived in a Maasai village with the village nurse (She also acted as village doctor and pharmacist as did I during my time there). The clinic was about a mile and a half walk from the house. The clinic had three rooms: a doctor/assessment office where records were kept and where we interviewed/assessed the clients, the second room were vaccinations were given, and the third room was the pharmacy. During those first two weeks I saw a lot of pregnant woman, children with malaria, measles, typhoid, colds, "pneumonia", wounds from hot tea, etc. etc. There were a large amount of patients (unfortunately a lot of younger children) with STIs. At this particular clinic we did a lot of wound care and gave a lot of tenus vaccinations. People would get injuries from falls, spears, and hot tea. Most people would not come see the nurse till months after the wound had developed into a systematic infection.

My last four weeks were spent living in Nairobi and working with a program called First Steps that visited various slums throughout the city. This clinic manly focused on education and referrals. We worked with women throughout their pregnancies, deliveries, and first years of their child's lives. We did one-on-one patient education/assessments as well as classroom teaching. I taught family planning, CPR, and first aid classes (All with the help of an amazing translator). At this clinic, I really felt like I was making a difference because I teaching women and their families on how to live healthy rather than treating an illness that could have easily been prevented.

My whole experience in Kenya was amazing and I could write about it for days. I also went to a few different slums outside of the city, funded a medical camp during a doctors strike and volunteered at an orphanage.