On Tuesday we arrived again at Beacon of Hope, after a 30-minute drive from our hotel to Beacon in Ongata Rongai. We spent part of the morning having a devotional with the Beacon of Hope staff and some of the mothers. As Mercy, the main cook, was speaking of staying strong in the faith, it was sinking in for the first time that many of these women were HIV positive.
After the morning devotions, our team started preparing for the medical camp. We left for Bissil around 3:00pm. About 2-1/2 hour drive southeast from Nairobi, Bissil is roughly 50km from the Tanzania border. It was a beautiful drive through the African plains. We saw our first zebras and giraffes! Even just the rolling hills and the trees, being so different from what we see in the U.S., were really cool. When we arrived in Bissil, we noticed right away that this village is in the middle of nowhere. We met with the people from the church in Bissil, and then walked around the village to see where people lived. The people who run the church were so extremely gracious. They got beds ready for us to sleep in, served us tea and dinner, took care of every detail and were so extremely polite. They also did not speak without first thanking God for something! They will leave a lasting imprint on me for sure. Our team from Blackhawk and about 10 Beacon of Hope staff members stayed up until about 11pm counting pills for the next days medical clinic. It was so neat to see us all working together so well for one purpose. We slept well that night with the lizards on the walls keeping us company!
The medical camp went extremely well. I am so proud of everyone on our team. A few team members played with the kids all day long. Others worked the registration all day long, taking good care to check all the incoming Masai people’s temperatures. The rest of us helped support the physicians and prepare medications for the Masai. The entire day you could look outside the building we were treating patients and see 50-75 people in their Masai dress. The craziest thing that happened to me was that I was asked to hold down this boy who had a bee fly in his ear a few days earlier. The doctors were amazing and saw all the patients and were awesome in answering all questions that came their way. In the early afternoon Joel and Holly arrived after making it through cancelled and delayed flights in Madison and Chicago. We got back to Nairobi at about 8pm and everyone was super tired but so encouraged after a successful trip. God is so good!
Tony
After the morning devotions, our team started preparing for the medical camp. We left for Bissil around 3:00pm. About 2-1/2 hour drive southeast from Nairobi, Bissil is roughly 50km from the Tanzania border. It was a beautiful drive through the African plains. We saw our first zebras and giraffes! Even just the rolling hills and the trees, being so different from what we see in the U.S., were really cool. When we arrived in Bissil, we noticed right away that this village is in the middle of nowhere. We met with the people from the church in Bissil, and then walked around the village to see where people lived. The people who run the church were so extremely gracious. They got beds ready for us to sleep in, served us tea and dinner, took care of every detail and were so extremely polite. They also did not speak without first thanking God for something! They will leave a lasting imprint on me for sure. Our team from Blackhawk and about 10 Beacon of Hope staff members stayed up until about 11pm counting pills for the next days medical clinic. It was so neat to see us all working together so well for one purpose. We slept well that night with the lizards on the walls keeping us company!
The medical camp went extremely well. I am so proud of everyone on our team. A few team members played with the kids all day long. Others worked the registration all day long, taking good care to check all the incoming Masai people’s temperatures. The rest of us helped support the physicians and prepare medications for the Masai. The entire day you could look outside the building we were treating patients and see 50-75 people in their Masai dress. The craziest thing that happened to me was that I was asked to hold down this boy who had a bee fly in his ear a few days earlier. The doctors were amazing and saw all the patients and were awesome in answering all questions that came their way. In the early afternoon Joel and Holly arrived after making it through cancelled and delayed flights in Madison and Chicago. We got back to Nairobi at about 8pm and everyone was super tired but so encouraged after a successful trip. God is so good!
Tony
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