Urgent Trip June 2011

As it was an unplanned trip I really was not sure what to expect, as I was receiving so many varied reports.  Money was and is short but now I realise I had to come back to Kenya even if it was just a 12 day trip.

First my wife. Apart from being 6 months pregnant and suffering from Tuberculosis (now under control); looking after a 7 year old with a   bladder and urinary tract infection; the twins being as boisterous as 2 year olds can be; and various problems with landlords etc everything was just a bed of roses!

It has taken 2 weeks to get the refrigerator manufacturer Sanyo to accept that a wait of 6 months to fix the new fridge that went faulty after 3 days is excessive. Further that the fault is a manufacturing fault using the wrong plastics for the part, and the shop damaging three new fridges in attempt to prove me wrong. I can now say we are awaiting its collection and getting a new Samsung fridge instead.

Laura the 7 year old has been to the doctor now at the subsidised medical centre (German groups are supplying equipment etc) only for us to find it is far from the community project that it is supposed to be. The prices start at nearly a month’s wages for the average Kenyan worker just to see the doctor and then every single process is separately charged, in the end it might have been cheaper to go totally private. However we received a one month supply of tablets at a further cost of £70 but what else can we do when a child is sick. What do the parents of the children without even our limited finances do????

Then we come to the twins who up until 3 days into my trip seemed fit and healthy.  T hen a cough and a shiver and a distinct change in attitude means another visit to the hospital at 9pm to receive a diagnosis of one with the ever recurring Malaria and the other has/had a worm infestation of the bowels. This frankly baffles me as they are in clean conditions, receive hygienically prepared food and are bathed at least twice a day.  According to the hospital it is so common no one really thinks it out of the ordinary.

I am happy to say we have also got that under control and when I left he was worm free while his twin brother is recovering from the Malaria.

So you can tell it has been a very busy trip plus had to take court action against the previous landlord as he failed to return the deposits when we moved house.

To say I am tired is an understatement and as ever I must stress that without help, sponsors for school fees, even shoes and clothes etc, the status quo will not be maintained.

The lottery nearly came good for me I thought when I got the e-mail with “good news” but £2.02 will not go far LOL!

I have been offered a couple of   staff training contracts to be undertaken on my next visit which will help and could develop over time, so maybe a light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.

TREV