In 2017, I took my first medical mission trip with Medical Missions Outreach in Kenya. It was a great trip that got me interested in making medical trips a more regular occurrence. I had originally signed up to go to South Sudan, but when the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan started heating up, plans changed to Kenya instead. This was interesting timing because the presidential elections were set to take place during our time there, and it was what many locals were talking about during our stay. This was a great trip, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to go!
Because flights don’t typically go directly to Africa from the US, I flew through Amsterdam and met most of the group there. A few flights leaving the US had been delayed, and it started to become apparent those on the delayed flights wouldn’t make the flight to Kenya. So when we arrived in Nairobi, we had to change plans. Originally, the plan was to head directly up north to the town of Nyahururu, but we wanted to be in Nairobi when the other team members arrived if possible, so we decided to book a hotel at the last minute in Nairobi and stay there overnight. It was a nice hotel on the inside but honestly looked kinda sketchy on the outside.
One thing I thought was interesting about the hotel is that the electricity wouldn’t work unless you left your room card in the slot next to the door, meaning you couldn’t leave the A/C on or charge any electronics while you’re not in the room. That wasn’t a big deal in Nairobi, but it would be a little more annoying in Nyahururu. I met my roommate for the trip, Jerrod, and checked in with my family back home to let them know I was still alive. The next morning, we found out that the delayed team members would not arrive until later that night, but we needed to get up to Nyahururu to set up the clinic, so we decided to go ahead and leave Nairobi.
It was really nice being able to drive up during the day because there’s a lot we would’ve missed if we had gone up at night like we originally planned. We first made a quick stop at an overlook of the Great Rift Valley near Naivasha. Pastor Philip, who we were partnering with this week, warned us not to let the merchants near the overlook push us into buying something. In my mind, I thought he was telling us not to buy anything from them at all, so I was determined not to give in. We started walking out to the overlook, and groups of locals completely surrounded us and had no concept of personal space at all. They all had homemade crafts they wanted to sell us and had sad stories to tell. I had like 5 different merchants sticking these homemade souvenirs in my face telling me their stories all at the same time. To be honest, I would’ve bought something- not because they were trying to guilt me into it but because I was actually interested in some of the things they were trying to sell me. But all I knew is that Pastor Philip told us not to give in, so I was very stern with them and turned it down. The problem is, they didn’t give up. They’re very persistent and would just go get something else to stick in my face after I turned them down. It took me like 10 minutes to reach the actual Great Rift Valley because it was almost impossible to get through this sea of merchants!
I did finally reach the edge of the overlook, and the views were incredible! It’s just a beautiful area of Africa, and it was a very special place to visit. We then headed back to the bus, and when I finally reached my seat, I looked around and everyone else had bought souvenirs! So I looked like the only rude American that didn’t help out the locals. I seriously thought Pastor Philip told us not to buy anything, but he just meant that we shouldn’t let them pressure us into buying something we didn’t want. We stopped at a mall in Naivasha shortly after, so I spent money there instead, though I would have much rather supported the locals instead.
As we continued driving north, we passed through some large savanna areas and were able to spot zebras and baboons in the distance. I loved every little town that we passed through as there was always so much going on. Kids would always wave as they saw our bus going by, and we thought they were just being nice until some were close enough that we could hear them yelling “candy” and “money” at us. We finally passed the equator and then came into Nyahururu, and there were political posters everywhere. They put up signs for certain candidates everywhere we looked. Kenyans get very serious about elections, and there is always a very high turnout at the polls.
Elections work a little differently in Kenya. While there is an individual vote, most people vote along tribal lines, meaning those of one tribe almost always vote the same way. This isn’t a requirement in any way- just how votes typically fall and how politicians plan their campaigns. While most Kenyans don’t live in typical “tribes” like you’ve seen in movies (Africa is much more modern than Hollywood wants you to think), everyone does belong to a certain tribe, or ethnicity, and they usually have the same values. Because of this, many candidates will make promises to certain tribes to try to get their vote. In this case, Uhuru Kenyatta was the current president running for reelection, and Raila Odinga was his opponent. The majority of the people in Nyahururu where I was, wanted Kenyatta to win, and we passed through several political rallies on our way into town.
We finally reached our hotel in Nyahururu and settled into our rooms then made plans to meet back in the hotel’s conference room a couple hours later. Jerrod and I found our room, and it was very nice! It’s the nicest room I’ve ever had on a mission trip, so I was very impressed. We met back as a group and went over our jobs for the clinic. Jerrod and I were both patient directors as we had no medical experience whatsoever. Basically, we were responsible for guiding the patients through the clinic and making sure no one got lost (much harder than I originally thought it would be).
The next morning, the delayed team members finally met up with us, and we left to go to the church for the Sunday morning service. We were partnering with Bible Baptist Church in Nyahururu, and the church was actually celebrating an anniversary Sunday. There were many different tribes represented in this service as they had those from nearby church plants present to help celebrate this anniversary. And each tribe took time to worship according to their own culture while we were there. It was one of the coolest church experiences I’ve ever had while traveling as I got to witness many forms of worship from many different cultures, but we were all worshiping the same God. It was an amazing experience! We know that in heaven, every tribe and tongue will be represented at the throne of God, so this gave us a small glimpse of what that might be like.
After the service was over, they had a big homemade meal which they wanted us to participate in. They loaded my plate up with food, and to be honest it wasn’t the best meal I’ve had. But when I saw how little many people around me had I knew I couldn’t let any of it go to waste. When I was done, I was instructed to bring my plate to a group of church women who took it and washed my plate from this little water faucet sticking out of the ground.
There were a lot of kids outside singing and dancing in the lawn of the church as we were setting the clinic up. We set up several tents and then put tables and chairs up under them. The church building wasn’t big enough for the whole clinic, so the vision team would stay in there while everything else was outside. Before we even got started with the clinic, there was a long line of people waiting to get in. The people of the church had been inviting everyone they knew for the past couple weeks, and some of the men of the church had been driving around playing advertisements loudly over their car speakers to let the whole community know we were coming.
The clinic got started, and we were busy from the time we started until we had to close at the end of the day. I had been running all over, leading patients through the clinic. I picked up several Swahili phrases including Habari, Mzuri, and Keti Hapa to use in the clinic. I also found out that I was a Mzungu and got jokingly called that frequently. Everyone started in triage, then headed to the providers, then if needed, they would go for special treatment, then to the waiting area while the pharmacy prepares their prescribed medication.
For the most part, the patients I dealt with were very friendly, but I was exhausted by the end of the first day, and there was so much more to come. One thing that really surprised me was the weather. We were literally right next to the equator, so I expected it to be hot. But it’s also a mountainous region, and the high elevation caused it to get cold at night, even on the equator. That’s one thing I was not prepared for, and it would become more of a problem later on in the week. It had even snowed the week before we arrived. This was a good start to the clinic, and there were a lot of crazy events in store for the coming week with elections on everyone’s minds and plans to visit remote tribes and take a safari later on as well. I’ll continue in the second part of this story which I’ll share next week. Thanks for reading!
Tyler's Travels 