January pictures

Here are a few random pictures from various January events:

The Giraffe center in Nairobi last weekend:

The Maasai Market in Nairobi:

January has been unseasonably cool and rainy (January is usually hot and dry here) which has been nice - note the rapids and the increased size of the waterfall:

A recent trip to Narok (a Maasai town 1-2 hours away) to visit some friends from med school and residency working at a clinic there for a month (small world!):

Pictures from the intern graduation:

Samaritan's Purse relief to Haiti

Just thought I'd pass on a link to another Post-Resident Kenyan blog. We've received bits and pieces of the news of the Haiti earthquake and have been praying for Haiti daily during our morning report. This blog post highlights some of the work Samaritan's Purse (who I'm working for) is doing in Haiti already. I know firsthand that their relief work is top notch in efficiency and quality. If you are looking for a way to contribute to the earthquake victims, I would highly recommend SP. Donate online at www.samaritanspurse.org.

http://wwwfriessfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/10-reasons-we-will-choose-to-donate-to.html

Pediatric patients

First, Happy New Year! We had a fun celebration here - no watching the ball drop in NYC but we improvised (see picture)! We enjoyed egg nog (homemade), snickers pie (with snickers bars bought specially from Nairobi), and games - and we counted down to 2010 about 8 hours before most of you did! I am excited to spend 2010 in Kenya!

Thanks to being a med/peds doc, I get to enjoy a lot of variety in my work. I have been working primarily on the pediatric service until this point but I will be switching to adult medicine in the next couple weeks. I have really enjoyed peds - as you can see, it's such a blessing to be greeted by these adorable children each day. Each of these children has a story - I learn a small part of that story through my interactions with them (the history of their current illness, how many siblings they have, what means their family has to provide food and pay hospital bills, etc). But with the language barrier, most of my interaction consists of smiling and giving out stickers and handshakes. It amazes me to realize that the same God who created the world and names the stars knows the complete story of each of these children. I shared my story of how I came to know God and be here in medical missions during doctors' devotions last week. I was reminded of God's faithfulness from the time I was a small child - even when I was in the hospital myself at age 10 paralyzed with Transverse Myelitis - to draw me to himself and accomplish a mighty work in my life. I pray He continues to do the same with these children through the difficulties they are facing.