life
Habari za maisha? (How is life)
Maisha ni nzuri – life is good.
The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of mundane activity and building foundations for the coming months and years.
Our focus has been on Swahili – lessons are an hour a day and we spend much more time studying. Though Swahili is a relatively straightforward language to learn, it has not been simple. Many words sound like Spanish or Mandarin, and verbs in particular start to sound so similar.
Kupika means to cook and kupiga means to hit. Kusema: to say, kusoma: to read. Kuelewa: to know, kuolewa: to be married, kulewa: to be drunk. Then we have crazy long verbs like kusheherekea: to celebrate, and kutengeneza: to build. And, nouns like maziwa: milk, and maisha: life. How is your life and how is your milk are two very different questions!
I have started my first two hospital projects – related to my background but a bit of new territory. First, I am making a short promo film for the newest building project. Kijabe Hospital is in a transition from being a busy mission hospital to expanding its role as a training center. The medical officer and clinical officer training programs, surgical residencies and nursing/nurse anesthetist programs are the first of many more to come. Arianna and her boss/mentor/friend Mardi have dreams for an pediatric acute care residency program, as do many other parts of the hospital.
I am talking to doctors who are excited about this part of their job, and others who have been through the training programs and are now instrumental in the life of the hospital and medicine in Kenya. Teaching will be the truest legacy of our time in Kijabe, and it is fun to see glimpses of how it is being done and realize the efforts of doctors here will bring hope and healing throughout east Africa. Pray that learning to edit video would not be too difficult!!
The second project is compiling and organizing a historical scrapbook as we approach the 100th anniversary of the hospital next spring. This may turn out to be a colossal undertaking, but I hope it will be immensely rewarding to hear and retell the stories of the doctors and nurses who have gone before us.
In between the big goals are the myriad of activities that make up daily life – trips up and down the hill to RVA, hardware store runs as we finish a table and benches. Groceries at the duka, bike rides and runs, conversations with friends and strangers along the road, hosting dinner for the Pediatric department, a trip to the swimming pool with new friends, learning to start a fire with a truckload of green wood, and making Halloween (or Carnival as we call it here) costumes without the aid of Michael’s or any other store.
Life is busy, but becoming normal. And, for me, Kijabe is beginning to feel like home instead of a dream.
-David
Madeline is a killer whale and Annabelle is wonder-woman.
Madeline and her homemade bow-and-arrow
Roadside sunset jumping picture
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2 thoughts on “Habari za maisha? (How is life)”
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Lovely! SO glad to hear things are going well. I wish we could visit you all in Kenya. (If I had one wish from a genie in a lamp, I suspect it would be unlimited airline tickets.)
Beautiful Photos! Great job on the costumes…they are both adorable! Praying the language will come quickly and easily for you!