Day 1 at Beacon and Bisil

Greetings from our home base, Kijiji guest house. We just returned from our day long medical camp in Bisil and most everyone went straight to bed after a late dinner. This post will hopefully give you an overview of all that has gone on since Eric last posted. We will be taking time tomorrow afternoon to journal, talk as a team and reflect on the first half of our trip. After/during this time we will post a couple more specific stories.

Monday morning started off with joining the Beacon clinic staff for their morning devotional that was led by Rosemary. (She has asked about nearly every team member that has ever been here and sends her best wishes to all of you) After devotion the team split up and those of us that had been to Beacon before began packing meds for Bisil. All of the new team members got a tour of the grounds. Beacon is continuing to expand and the dining room/kitchen is now open. The clinic staff break room has been divided into more exam rooms and Jane is already talking about the need to expand the clinic further. (They have seen 24,000 patients in the VCT since January 1st!!)

After eating lunch at Beacon, we loaded up the bus and headed to Bisil to set up for the next days camp. Since last year, all of the highways from Nairobi to Bisil have been paved over and even have center lines painted! The roads were so smooth that Tony, Maggie and I managed to sleep the entire trip!

When we first arrived, the team split into two groups to go on home visits. The way the Masai people live is so different from how we live and yet, they worship the same God. Pretty cool to pray with them in their homes.

After the home visits, we briefly set up and finished the med packing, we joined Pastor Frances (He wanted us to make sure to send best wishes to the Dolson's and everyone else that has come to Bisil over the last 6 years) and others for a lively worship service. The Masai love to dance and jump as they worship! They were so full of God's spirit and energy that they even got our team to join in.

The medical camp today was a huge success. This was the 6th medical camp that I have been a part of and I think I can safely say it was the smoothest camp yet. I would like to think that is because of us, but I know that it comes from God. The biggest blessing he bestowed on this camp was the addition of a large group (about 20?) of local providers and pharmacists. It was pretty cool to see our team, the beacon team, the church volunteers and the local medical providers all working together to make this a successful medical camp.

After closing the day with prayers of thanks from the leader of each group involved with the camp, we headed back to Nairobi where we of course got stuck in the 8 pm rush hour. Props to our driver Anthony for again safely navigating the traffic in our large bus.

As I wrap up this post, Eric and I have gotten a second wind and decided to add some pictures from the last couple of days. We'll be putting those below. We also are looking forward to our last two team members, Susan and Melissa, joining us tomorrow night.

-Andy

P.S. Emily Smith was this long enough for you?

Our team on the bus, headed to Beacon.

Maggie was happily greeted by everyone at Beacon, especially Rosemary.

Our awesome driver Anthony enjoying his time helping to usher and translate during the medical camp.

Holly, BOH director Jane and Jane's daughter Debbie working side by side in the pharmacy.

A view inside a Masai home lit only by a single candle flame. This is a view from the home visits that we went on with members of the local church to bring food and supplies and to pray with elderly members of the Masai church in their homes. The homeowner (pictured below with Eric) was excited to invite us into her home and to pray with us. It was a very moving experience.

Eric with one of the Masai grandmothers ('Goco' in Kimasai) inside of her home. She was very excited to hold her drum in this picture, which is what she plays during worship at the church.

Craig taking a child's temperature, Andy taking a blood pressure and Joel directing his patient to the next station.

Kelby and his soccer friends taking a break to wave to the camera.