Very few things bring home the reality of how easy our lives really are than a trip to a foreign country. In this case, Kenya. January19-21, 2022, I was part of a Mission Trip to Africa. This was an eyecare mission. Dr. Kim Baxter, invited myself to go as part of this trip. To work with the eye care professionals as they administer eye exams, and I assist in looking up the prescription that was given to find the pair of glasses that most closely relate to the prescription.
We left North Platte about 6:30 in the morning, flew to Denver. From there my flight on to Frankfurt, then a change of planes and on to Nairobi, Kenya arriving about 10:30 PM locally. (a nine hour time difference)
After a lengthy trip through customs, we were shuttled to our hotel where our first night was spent at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Nairobi airport.
Next morning after breakfast we loaded up and headed to the airport for our first flight out on Kenya Airways to Kisumu, to then shuttle to a Kakamega Bed and Breakfast hotel.
We made our way to Shikunga, where worked our first day of clinics, as well as to take a look at progress of the medical clinic our Rotary Club is working to get built and opened to give care to the surrounding communities
Such a need we saw so many patients that first day.
The wonderful people of this region are so warm and welcoming. They give so much of what they have to us as visitors, even though when compared through our experiences, they seem to have so little. Truth is they actually have so much because they provide food, shelter, and clothing for their families.
Our travels took us next to Bungoma, where we stayed at the Siritamu Resort. The next series of clinics took us to St. Teresa School where we saw so many children, teachers, and other members of the community. So many in need, so many stories.
These amazing kids at these orphanage schools were so excited to have us visit them!
But there is always the one story, the life that is completely changed because of these visits, and this little boy was ours...
He came in with his mother, holding onto her finger. you could tell he was scared of all the people, and the noises, because he could not see anything beyond the end of his nose. Members of our team, worked and worked until they found him a pair of glasses that changes his entire world. For the first time he could see his momma, and his world around him. He bent down and touched the floor, and just stood there, almost afraid to move. The left, but cam back about an hour later with a friend and he was holding his friends hand and walking on his own, with his momma behind him. The joy on his and his mother's face is what make these trips as meaningful as they are.
After we completed our clinics, we were shuttled to the airport in Eldoret to catch a flight back to Nairobi, where we transferred to a small 15 passenger plane that took us to Keekorok, on the Masai Mara Animal Reserve at the north end of the Serengeti. There we stayed at the Keekorock Lodge. The lodge was so tranquil, and warm and the Masai were so welcoming to us. The Lodge had the Hippo Bar, out above the river where we watched the hippos exit the river at dusk to they could graze and feed on the grasses
We went out on a late afternoon Safari trip in to Masai Mara, where we were able to see quite a variety of the animals in residence. You don't really realize how big, nor how powerful these creatures are until you are sitting out there with them in their environment
These truly amazing creatures are beyond words.
We left this paradise, to journey back home. Departing Keekorock, to Nairobi, My flight departed around midnight, connecting through Frankfurt, on to Denver, then back home to North Platte.
With my move to Omaha this year (2023) it wasn't in the cards to make the trip this year, however Joe and I both are making plans to go in 2024.
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