tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7514350577957992292024-03-13T13:53:05.022-07:00African Midwifery AdventuresMichellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-67062019968654567372013-07-28T23:39:00.001-07:002013-07-28T23:39:36.143-07:00African Images<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm nearing the end of my blogging abilities. I think there may only be one left in me. So this last one is simply a collection of images. I'll let most of them speak for themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">This is Mombasa;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Driving in Africa... really a rather casual affair.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Life in the national parks....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Monkeys really are rather cheeky!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Parts of Africa truly remind me of Australia.</span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-52976529247366402692013-07-23T12:50:00.003-07:002013-07-23T12:50:39.179-07:00Kids in the Hood!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As some of you may know I have been living in the compound behind FreMo while I have been in Africa. Part of living in a community is being present and participating. During my time at FreMo I have tried to get to know the children in my neighbourhood. They are characters, a here are some of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is Emma and Terri. Emma seems to be the leader of the gang, or at least the one that will discipline the others if they are misbehaving. She is also willing to have a conversation with me, without asking for anything. Terri is a character and a girl with attitude. You will see more of her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These new additions are brothers, obviously as they are dressed the same. I didn't see them often. The 5th person in this photo is Barbara. She is also a cheeky one and doesn't talk to me much, even tho she seems to be friendly. She does't got to school, so probably doesn't have alot of English.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Emma, Terri and a couple of others who weren't around often. Basically bring out your camera and the children flock, calling out Mzungu, Mzungu!!! By the end of my time at FreMo I managed to get some of them to call me by my name rather than Mzungu!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These boys were really only around on the weekends. I think they just stayed inside after school. Either way, they were always playing soccer when I saw them. The used the driveway next to FreMo and the last time they played there, they caused a huge dust cloud!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ball skills... not bad when you notice that his feet aren't on the ground!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This young man was always very polite. He even came around to my room to wish me farewell. What a sweetie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Have you seen this ball? It's an accumulation of black plastic bags which are everywhere. They are tied up with string. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Terri and Barbara... good friends.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8FSSHEf9xSagJOB16oqHk2xhGT0CrdlSocLvo-EHb-XL5l1lOp0SR1jyyk2K4QFQm1nKJIXPxgq-tRibV_wdtEsY_Srpw8f7-aN7dESCVsT9Y7rclHVBuERONf9mLpmkTLYR2PnHPyA/s1600/DSC_0491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8FSSHEf9xSagJOB16oqHk2xhGT0CrdlSocLvo-EHb-XL5l1lOp0SR1jyyk2K4QFQm1nKJIXPxgq-tRibV_wdtEsY_Srpw8f7-aN7dESCVsT9Y7rclHVBuERONf9mLpmkTLYR2PnHPyA/s320/DSC_0491.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Terri taking Barbara for a ride. The girls ran this suitcase up and down the driveway for hours. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNebNvNDjvakyQBOYXvI3pmWLSmG2mqqS5lRi17jl7bf7umKf0OjUAq-nGfrS1mav7jCutvFs36HMBr45Rd8CBXf7g0vqcarLiYdADBTRPBmCD-ErIwr6IHfkcq8SK203TV8ycA7D7Vl4/s1600/DSC_0511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNebNvNDjvakyQBOYXvI3pmWLSmG2mqqS5lRi17jl7bf7umKf0OjUAq-nGfrS1mav7jCutvFs36HMBr45Rd8CBXf7g0vqcarLiYdADBTRPBmCD-ErIwr6IHfkcq8SK203TV8ycA7D7Vl4/s320/DSC_0511.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Terri with another of the neighbourhood kids.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKTI53mIlGNxCA9y3lsTij8Vm-vpfAPM5XCxvf6sAyPPpc73GyInbazai9-vI9GMMy_3YCzAehvcMK0SilxmoYNq2A1JLL6fgCJlLQOG2SbAw-BxD1YXgG7xeWKYeHpM9v7y6AOykYuI/s1600/DSC_0526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEKTI53mIlGNxCA9y3lsTij8Vm-vpfAPM5XCxvf6sAyPPpc73GyInbazai9-vI9GMMy_3YCzAehvcMK0SilxmoYNq2A1JLL6fgCJlLQOG2SbAw-BxD1YXgG7xeWKYeHpM9v7y6AOykYuI/s320/DSC_0526.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All feet together....</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5iXrscG0tmut-yieZ-r8vnpoSvrIqQBe00zm-FVvA54cYk7gxUZhgsnn0CDzjTrixVei4HmPj5MU7RXOaodMEQc93JO8apZhMFJmEjixi5OFGdLgpG4XZi6aRL_4n3sa6_CSDxLH9tww/s1600/DSC_0529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5iXrscG0tmut-yieZ-r8vnpoSvrIqQBe00zm-FVvA54cYk7gxUZhgsnn0CDzjTrixVei4HmPj5MU7RXOaodMEQc93JO8apZhMFJmEjixi5OFGdLgpG4XZi6aRL_4n3sa6_CSDxLH9tww/s320/DSC_0529.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All hands together....</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpH6E5hahsmPth8Up14ySQR3PKl2YacaWP0kkMdie8RAyIUMbDfLuPdW6okf9ZY3ZM4Wv8wM0PemkbNoX9Nqhtdy8Bo4Bkx8ErKSuQ1e72YUBd4Xrv4s4m-dn7gUjTi-a4KwKIvHoGeo/s1600/DSC_0639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpH6E5hahsmPth8Up14ySQR3PKl2YacaWP0kkMdie8RAyIUMbDfLuPdW6okf9ZY3ZM4Wv8wM0PemkbNoX9Nqhtdy8Bo4Bkx8ErKSuQ1e72YUBd4Xrv4s4m-dn7gUjTi-a4KwKIvHoGeo/s320/DSC_0639.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The younger bunch. You can see Terri with attitude on the left in light blue, Linda is next to her and the brothers have made another appearance. A mechanics yard is next to FreMo and the kids often use the cars waiting to be fixed as a playground.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmigOmCv69dEJVX8X2E7Xb098dPwIZxUgDHs3JtLEugrSKchCxXjdID156u52S2Ojlaggcv228JRjLmTzUKz5p79a7mI67NqgodM2RxKut8AlIbLqZDQ8o-oDBzFsOH-MKtLenUiefqk/s1600/DSC_0654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmigOmCv69dEJVX8X2E7Xb098dPwIZxUgDHs3JtLEugrSKchCxXjdID156u52S2Ojlaggcv228JRjLmTzUKz5p79a7mI67NqgodM2RxKut8AlIbLqZDQ8o-oDBzFsOH-MKtLenUiefqk/s320/DSC_0654.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This cheeky trio were often at my door. I tried to teach them to sing 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree', but they just didn't get it. I should have started as soon as I arrived. So left to right, Barbara, Linda and her sister Wendy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wendy, Barbara, Emma, other and Linda making the T sign for me!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7J-Qi2HIswIrzm6ZrcqKhm_vNRZjOfDGNs-lW3ZlyB7MlSeBKZtFZbgCeI6uMc4ml34ia2R1Q6PmuIqISk2am0E2N4XHAz3mB1wSckiautUUpPgCA3IT7y2V2d2nQqY23MLkNoRKrZA/s1600/DSC_0826.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7J-Qi2HIswIrzm6ZrcqKhm_vNRZjOfDGNs-lW3ZlyB7MlSeBKZtFZbgCeI6uMc4ml34ia2R1Q6PmuIqISk2am0E2N4XHAz3mB1wSckiautUUpPgCA3IT7y2V2d2nQqY23MLkNoRKrZA/s320/DSC_0826.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These characters lived up the street. I caught these photos on my way to buy fruit. When they saw me I was surrounded!!! It's Sunday morning and they are all still in their pyjamas. The one with the green shirt started to cry when she got too close to me... I was the one who stood still, she came to be, and then got frightened.... too cute!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKM9un381gd1j20xl9Fziazv_MA4VJqJvEjszh44wkzRT9gcxENQisum2NW0T51pIKEzo5UrxSZxZy0ARx5BgFF7qNkiwUieMJnEXMfeYpPCLxYz749E5IbmZZMI62KdM3DgiyjcrWOs/s1600/DSC_0447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKM9un381gd1j20xl9Fziazv_MA4VJqJvEjszh44wkzRT9gcxENQisum2NW0T51pIKEzo5UrxSZxZy0ARx5BgFF7qNkiwUieMJnEXMfeYpPCLxYz749E5IbmZZMI62KdM3DgiyjcrWOs/s320/DSC_0447.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Boys. They love car things, wheels of all sorts, and here is a typical play thing fashioned from a car tire.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tHWQM5wy6bV0RElj8c88rAJE47sStMTGzhlKBOrOs5rAoNb1aGDFhSyJFXpNDs95QUnymWN9y17497HpoBCQM_YCsisL1koMl_5gH7tU0MctgU66zmz5tUSZJ8L3roA1otIuzAgmhNc/s1600/DSC_0451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tHWQM5wy6bV0RElj8c88rAJE47sStMTGzhlKBOrOs5rAoNb1aGDFhSyJFXpNDs95QUnymWN9y17497HpoBCQM_YCsisL1koMl_5gH7tU0MctgU66zmz5tUSZJ8L3roA1otIuzAgmhNc/s320/DSC_0451.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My tire is bigger than your tire!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1N1HhYXf6IzPRDL4aMamynfrRO0O-pqlYA9e8cWNxTypCBXY4shvESsSgUB9rduY1Xe0tK7fi1NOJsyxLIwvPSiu_8oZmhS-zQgxfGLw7sZmNqwo1dRg1PSl_pUBmJ3DN9JxdHYnKeI/s1600/DSC_0800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1N1HhYXf6IzPRDL4aMamynfrRO0O-pqlYA9e8cWNxTypCBXY4shvESsSgUB9rduY1Xe0tK7fi1NOJsyxLIwvPSiu_8oZmhS-zQgxfGLw7sZmNqwo1dRg1PSl_pUBmJ3DN9JxdHYnKeI/s320/DSC_0800.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You've already met Clever Johnson if you are a regular reader. Here he is again, with the above car tire wheel.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaR7Dxit29w_SLqVzZGuQ-08g9SBsjE2IQ43SKUcf7nctLz11l1TLke-zc7sMVPVgHfw89f4Yoz2OOlK46Gu4kNvNezkhVWKcvzTkKJciv3eXI8mGZyRvwpUgkKDs9VHvcGyvANZdKB_M/s1600/DSC_0813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaR7Dxit29w_SLqVzZGuQ-08g9SBsjE2IQ43SKUcf7nctLz11l1TLke-zc7sMVPVgHfw89f4Yoz2OOlK46Gu4kNvNezkhVWKcvzTkKJciv3eXI8mGZyRvwpUgkKDs9VHvcGyvANZdKB_M/s320/DSC_0813.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Clever again.... making car noises.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe9pMOvgXITlvQEzE6N3T9i3UMqypE-TrVyVbtqQ6Qrm5-CotQEBhE2gq-Lb6n7RRLCyroEjE0MMvpFdDXquhwQSAIrl6uWIcScPd5jt0TCCsJJ8tD7iMKE6twTTn3jkIyawSScDFDzkY/s1600/DSC_0827.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe9pMOvgXITlvQEzE6N3T9i3UMqypE-TrVyVbtqQ6Qrm5-CotQEBhE2gq-Lb6n7RRLCyroEjE0MMvpFdDXquhwQSAIrl6uWIcScPd5jt0TCCsJJ8tD7iMKE6twTTn3jkIyawSScDFDzkY/s320/DSC_0827.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the boys up the street. This is a bicycle wheel without the rubber tire. He uses a stick in the rim curve to push it along. He was very quick which made it difficult to get a good photo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Boys of all ages....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here they are at The Safari Park Hotel... the wheels are table tops, and these men ran down the path with these rolling really quite quickly and they kept them going with just the occasional tap either side to keep them rolling straight. I thought it was fabulous!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Enjoy!!</span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-30804685779340246962013-07-21T07:02:00.001-07:002013-07-21T07:02:38.680-07:00A Day in the Life of FreMo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It seems that every day starts with cleaning. Here, the student midwife is mopping the floors. After this, on a typical day, she will collect the bins, empty them, and then wash them before putting them back. Usually someone has buckets of water, mops, brushes and brooms. On a Friday, you are better off keeping clear or you will also get cleaned!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">About 3 times per week, Rose will come and do the washing. When I first arrived it was all done by hand. She double gloves to do this, and uses an awful lot of bleach. Behind the tin wall you can see is the next door mechanics workshop. It seemed that every time Rose attended, he would light his fire. She was only feet from it and often enveloped in the toxic cloud. She is now about 6 months pregnant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Here is Rose learning to use the gift from me to FreMo. I'm happy to report that she is using it well, and making the most of the labour saving device. She still removes the blood from the linen by hand, but this makes life much better.... and we have cleaner linen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is Penninah performing some weekend cleaning. This is where most of the outdoor cleaning occurs as in the corner is the drain. Water is liberally applied and then swept into the drain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the same area, you might also find the steam sterilizer. Very similar to a pressure cooker, it holds enough instruments for at least a week! It sits on a jico which is charcoal fed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And of course there are mumma's, some puppa's and lots of babies. These are some of the babies that I met during my time at FreMo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here we are on an outreach visit. The mumma is in the background. But Maureen is the senior child and as cheeky as anything.She is two and a half years old, said she was five and in grade one, wants to come and live with me. So CUTE!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Again on outreach in a close by village. This is housing as people know it. The kids are always happy to pose for a photo. And yes, purple is my favorite colour. Below, another little one I found out and about. She was weary of me as I'm rather white compared to what she is used to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every Wednesday there is training of some sort. Here, the whole team goes through neonatal resuscitation techniques. This is FreMo's Mandatory Education, even the night time security gets involved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And here, Moffat is posing as the patient while the rest of us try to work out how to arrange the seats of the car. Just in case of emergency and we need to do it quickly! I'm pleased to report that everything fits, including an escort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Esther and Penninah showing of their QScan pregnancy calculators. Thanks QScan!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Zac, Penninah and Michelle enjoying a little sunshine one winters day.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Zac is one of the lab technicians, here he is pretending to do some work!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fremo is a family friendly environment and Frank usually spends some time each weekend 'visiting' with his dad. Here Frank is receiving some homework to keep him occupied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Patients come in all shapes and sizes, and I couldn't help taking a shot of this young boy who had come in to see the doctor. I just love the onsie!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ok yes it's a motorbike in the courtyard. A young man on his way to work had a bit of a dingle and came off the worse for wear. He spent some time with us before going home, but couldn't take his bike. It came inside for security sake until he collected it the next day. Needless to say, Magdalene didn't ride in anywhere!!</span>!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Babies, babies and more babies. They come for immunization any day of the week including Sundays!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You just never know who will show up at FreMo. Here, Moffat talks to a group of counselling students from the USA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And here I am with the other volunteers that arrived recently. They were on short trips organised via a different organisation. Rachel is a practice nurse from the UK and Catherine and Agnes are medical students, also from the UK.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I will admit that there were a few days when I didn't pick up my sewing, but the quilt is coming along nicely, with a little bit of 'help' from my friends. It certainly was good to be able to fill the quiet moments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's Steve, giving it a go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And Penninah. This is the spot that you would usually find me if there was nothing to do. Sitting in the courtyard, sometimes with a cuppa, watching the world go by, sewing, chatting, waiting for a mumma. Nice spot really!</span><br />
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-55320101946490227942013-07-18T11:49:00.001-07:002013-07-18T11:58:52.235-07:00Conference Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These last few days in Kenya I've spent at the 3rd Triennial International Confederation of Midwives East African Conference. I'm pleased to be here for a couple of reasons. One of those reasons is that I can further explore what's happening in the world of African midwifery, which is, after all, the main reason why I'm here, and the other is to have a little break before I leave. We won't count the weekend in Mombasa as that break, as that was unplanned and a bonus, kind of like the calories in the popcorn at the movies - it's part of the whole package!! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? You're relaxing just looking at that picture.... Nice break.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm interested to find out more about the progress of midwifery care, and what are the main issues, and I thought that you might be as well. So I'll give you a little overview.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nearly every speaker makes reference to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's - find a link in my first post) and the fact that Africa won't reach those goals, especially numbers four and five, within the specified time frames. They also all quote the maternal and infant mortality rates as reasons behind the projects/research that they are compiling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The focus of many of the abstracts is improving maternity/midwifery care to meet the MDG's by enhancing skills and knowledge, enhancing care provision or by increasing care provision. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's all about healthy happy babies and mothers</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I understand that midwives are not always midwives in Africa. I've come to understand that in Kenya, many midwives have chosen to work in a maternity capacity after the obstetric component of their nursing training. There are also midwifery courses as we understand them. I'm not sure how to tell the difference unless you ask someone. There are traditional birth attendants and there are midwifery assistants. All have a role to play. But it doesn't necessarily mean that women always have a skilled attendant. In fact, many women don't, through necessity rather than choice. Hence the need for ongoing upskilling, or retraining. Or starting from scratch.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy mother and baby = happy midwife</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Antenatal care seems to be a random event in Africa and not necessary, rather than the scheduled planned screening of pregnancy as we know it. Women may attend for antenatal care only to have their blood tests to ensure that they don't have HIV. Some may have no antenatal care. Some attend government facilities for antenatal care, providing their own hand held record as at 36 weeks they are told to find a facility to birth in, as the government facility doesn't provide that service. Some facilities are so over run that women assist each other to birth in the corridors, because the midwives are so busy.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another beautiful moment</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two of today's presentations were in regards to treating women with compassion. The presenters talked about D&G, which stands for Disrespect and Abuse. A list of abuses was provided which included pinching, slapping, yelling, coercion, inappropriate touching of legs, thighs or genitals, rape. These things might seem foreign to us or at least a basic thing to avoid. I've heard one midwife explain it this way; 'I yell at the mumma's to be sure they give me a live baby'.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feeding time at the Zoo - when life gets a little bit too crazy!!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A couple of weeks ago, a nurse was reported in the local paper as having raped a burns victim. The victim, a woman, reported the rape to the nurse who took over her care on the next shift. That nurse cleaned up the mess, and proceeded to rape the victim again. How do these things happen in this day and age? Where is the Care, Compassion, Dignity, Respect and Mercy, that all humans should have for each other?</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A random photo from Navaisha.... may or may not fit the text <br />- depends on your point of view really!!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The White Ribbon Alliance is doing alot towards changing attitudes of midwives and nurses to the way in which they provide their care. But reading though the </span><a href="http://www.standupforafricanmothers.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">Charter</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and the </span><a href="http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/WRA/assets/File/RMC_BROC_FINr3_web2.pdf" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;" target="_blank">brochure</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I started to wonder if midwives in a western setting might need a reminder of these basics. I know where I work we have a core set of values that we are encouraged to adhere to. However, are we adhering to these values when we don't completely inform a woman of all the risks? For example, it's routine to book an induction of labour, the reason being post dates, with the simplest of explanations; do we always fully explain why we are continuously monitoring a labour with a CTG; are we completely supporting the woman who is tired and frightened</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and not well supported when we promise them an epidural at the beginning of their labour; do we always get the OP position woman off the bed and dancing, explaining to her that she CAN do something to move that child; do we unnecessarily violate the woman's vagina in the second stage excusing our intrusion as helping her to know how to push? These are some of the things that commonly occur which bother me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have heard of a young woman's heartache at the loss of a child at a very early gestation. For her this also meant the loss of a possible relationship with the married father of her child and the loss of possible emotional and financial stability from that relationship. But the subsequent accusations of self mutilation to force the loss of the child and then having to keep the fetus with her as some sort of bazaar</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> cruel and unusual punishment is too much to comprehend. Did it really happen? Yes I think so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another of the presenters was Dame Tina Lavender who has worked in Africa for many years. She spoke of the simplicity with which a partograph can enhance outcomes in an African setting, if used appropriately. Not as a documentation of labour after the fact, not as a tick box approach which documents an obstructed labour that no one has recognized. She states that there are so many different partographs in use (up to 52) it is no wonder that midwives are confused. I have seen partograph information ignored because of the solid belief that the woman WILL produce the child at some point, even when the evidence suggested otherwise. Dame Tina and I had a nice conversation in the coffee break.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dr Khisha Western spoke well about obstetric fistula, but he essentially put the blame for most obstetric fistulae in the hands of unskilled midwives. Ok. Fair enough, however what about the occasion in the paper not long after I got here where a doctor had to be dragged from a local bar to perform a cesarean but was too drunk to close the patient and she died on the table? Or the occasion where the obstetrician was again unavailable because he had gone to another suburb to have dinner with friends. What happened to that woman? What happened to team work and the multidisciplinary approach? Or putting the woman first?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And neonatal resus is a hot topic. The <a href="http://www.helpingbabiesbreathe.org/" target="_blank">Helping Babies Breath </a>is a program that is cheap, portable and realistic. I think they are doing a good job. Thanks Laerdal.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Practicing neonatal resus at FreMo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The hand held ultrasound devices priced at $8000USD each however is a doubtful concept. I don't believe</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> that they have the power to enhance midwifery care of the patient to a great degree. It will make midwives doubt their skills, which leads to further referral, which leads to increased costs to the woman. The concept that the research project was undertaken by the company producing the machines, and presented by their representatives seems to have been lost on this audience. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then there is Esther. Esther Madudu is a passionate midwife working in extreme conditions. Find out more about Esther and her nomination for a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.standupforafricanmothers.org/" target="_blank">Nobel Peace Prize</a> here. Can you imagine that? A world where midwives are valued, a world where womens' plights in all developing countries will be highlighted, a world where one person can make a difference. Click on the link and vote for Esther, and read more about this amazing woman. She invited me to go spend some time with her..... maybe next time!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And that was just today's sessions!!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is why we do it.</span></td></tr>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-3156489013553504462013-07-14T12:48:00.002-07:002013-07-14T12:48:37.437-07:00The Many Faces of Clever<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">As some of you will be aware, I live in a compound behind the hospital. I am not alone there and often times when I am passing through or coming and going I meet up with Clever, Clever Johnson. I'm fairly sure he has another family name, this is his first name. Clever doesn't say much, but then he is only two years old. But now, he greets me with a shy smile, and sometimes holds out his hand. He is now accustomed to see Mzungu around his home and he tries to say that word. But it comes out 'Gu'. Too cute.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftd3I_g5-FhtDr2LvBj86UoDUE61P_4MruL8imF0HopryJcVQQEF88OCcPNhtPG2c6Cz0sWOhJrwW0_5tRyW8WdIu0EjyKaSl4lUB7MOi5W2hTUSg-b99KJcq-3FTuq5GZBHBVhhQXIg/s1600/DSC_0812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftd3I_g5-FhtDr2LvBj86UoDUE61P_4MruL8imF0HopryJcVQQEF88OCcPNhtPG2c6Cz0sWOhJrwW0_5tRyW8WdIu0EjyKaSl4lUB7MOi5W2hTUSg-b99KJcq-3FTuq5GZBHBVhhQXIg/s320/DSC_0812.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is Clever in his usual mismatched, multilayered clothing, playing with part of a bicycle wheel. It has been sliced in half. He was rolling it along the seat, making car sounds. Boys eh???</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWrniCcU7VATfMFGI6F1KN0K8LMSyFgBXlLaXnUd7YR8PAncq-ZNkm54J8FhGbGH3KO7-3mnryA_7PU5LdbN_3oCSOXJQnHkFpGYt6SjPoRBeIjV0JoQyosB0eFre73MfEeVcACayv9k/s1600/DSC_0378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOWrniCcU7VATfMFGI6F1KN0K8LMSyFgBXlLaXnUd7YR8PAncq-ZNkm54J8FhGbGH3KO7-3mnryA_7PU5LdbN_3oCSOXJQnHkFpGYt6SjPoRBeIjV0JoQyosB0eFre73MfEeVcACayv9k/s320/DSC_0378.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think he was still in his pyjama's this morning... or at least that's what it looked like.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDykdoKn_nTLNO74m0SuS21nSIZ68FI0HpRxBxj7bZohI9qmLuJQXRSyaP4p2__9xPKU-ymxMRkg3uzgwdZRmpGHt9s-oweEWdNiMVfoBj1x237-Aji7R25_PVSEkQa8P5Ag2l_G3AYRs/s1600/DSC_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDykdoKn_nTLNO74m0SuS21nSIZ68FI0HpRxBxj7bZohI9qmLuJQXRSyaP4p2__9xPKU-ymxMRkg3uzgwdZRmpGHt9s-oweEWdNiMVfoBj1x237-Aji7R25_PVSEkQa8P5Ag2l_G3AYRs/s320/DSC_0395.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The door to the compound had fallen off. I think he watched the men fix it as he spent ages with what looks like a little hammer, banging on the door. So cute!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another day when all the kids were in the driveway playing. Here he dragged this Mr Potato Head around with him most of the time. I don't know where the other parts to this toy were. Probably he never had them!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkICYKFgnftjfgy8Yzgfk5vKzYlNKU6OgznlhLza9p8AkthBRwGuOQCzvHV_TJKQ_N1Fcd59jkabgsKKBVA5fgiS763sOVlzYdPe-YTAx28-U6PZxYhXry0ZPnRxq_EEEiJowz_zdXgqk/s1600/DSC_0438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkICYKFgnftjfgy8Yzgfk5vKzYlNKU6OgznlhLza9p8AkthBRwGuOQCzvHV_TJKQ_N1Fcd59jkabgsKKBVA5fgiS763sOVlzYdPe-YTAx28-U6PZxYhXry0ZPnRxq_EEEiJowz_zdXgqk/s320/DSC_0438.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And these photos cracked me up and sent me running for my camera! He wandered around the compound with the bucket on his head for ages. He never let go of his stick or his lollipop!!! And didn't fall over either.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh411YVadcYjOvMw975FPymiMkzFocVzPH0If9jVtqdYcO_9QxXFszNYO1E8dNk9LeGyb6GP80Kij-p7DijHWX2Vl93P-HY32db2vH957Fl4Syta9nDvboLUL5VsJptnPnkZ42x_wEBxr8/s1600/DSC_0442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh411YVadcYjOvMw975FPymiMkzFocVzPH0If9jVtqdYcO_9QxXFszNYO1E8dNk9LeGyb6GP80Kij-p7DijHWX2Vl93P-HY32db2vH957Fl4Syta9nDvboLUL5VsJptnPnkZ42x_wEBxr8/s320/DSC_0442.JPG" width="211" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Just a peek now and then to get his bearings!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh36hMJdZqxsyk0jtb3gDbfzCMYMCnC1eRNArTmRDey6yWbaqnDJ6ldTOKk7LxvllWsTuvVOr04hAQecuvFTyGWW-I6ud4A4hBuafgBb1mkWGpeatw9BCwgxLzXObRJhP_vr0L2bdCnivc/s1600/IMGP1290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh36hMJdZqxsyk0jtb3gDbfzCMYMCnC1eRNArTmRDey6yWbaqnDJ6ldTOKk7LxvllWsTuvVOr04hAQecuvFTyGWW-I6ud4A4hBuafgBb1mkWGpeatw9BCwgxLzXObRJhP_vr0L2bdCnivc/s320/IMGP1290.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And here he is on his second birthday. I think he has a new toy!</span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-22594467159666079902013-07-10T09:36:00.004-07:002013-07-10T09:40:25.156-07:00The Important things in Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few of my friends have had some concerns for my well being. Some have been concerned for my physical security (thanks guys) and some have been concerned for my food security. Being a lacto ovo vegetarian, sometimes travelling can be very difficult. After a little time of eating foods that your system isn't accustomed to, or eating foods that are just not healthy for you, your general health can begin to suffer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I'm here to report that I've been catered to very nicely thanks so much, with traditional Kenyan food. I haven't been sick, I haven't gone without, and I feel really quite well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some examples of meals that I routinely have.....</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkabOnv8PBofJ8OvkBVxcyVPNt-JNFbbDzcy6g_6QkY1Ygp3oxuOFkgH2ZIpZbg1nGGCEn9wmaYCl7b19TlQG3HVt7fKcqoFfZ9Ur0y65eVHoHSlgTJ9hh07fbBsULjj66ZbhT4S7apSU/s1600/DSC_0233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkabOnv8PBofJ8OvkBVxcyVPNt-JNFbbDzcy6g_6QkY1Ygp3oxuOFkgH2ZIpZbg1nGGCEn9wmaYCl7b19TlQG3HVt7fKcqoFfZ9Ur0y65eVHoHSlgTJ9hh07fbBsULjj66ZbhT4S7apSU/s320/DSC_0233.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rice and potatoes are common carbs.<br />Legumes and maize form the basis of most meals</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYt1abvEViYsMrIu-4L3XmrW60w0BAiWQU8BnT89iffmIdoAdOIIGeFWA3jTbtJ1JjAABRL-uULe2KHdJn3nlB4r6CrJbJ0IvDfUvM3annQB7UkZdyN5cMO7ijq1lmLLGlDdEdi3hA1No/s1600/DSC_0244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYt1abvEViYsMrIu-4L3XmrW60w0BAiWQU8BnT89iffmIdoAdOIIGeFWA3jTbtJ1JjAABRL-uULe2KHdJn3nlB4r6CrJbJ0IvDfUvM3annQB7UkZdyN5cMO7ijq1lmLLGlDdEdi3hA1No/s320/DSC_0244.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ooops sideways photo of rice and beans</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rqnnoeDdE1RBXsf623UGXor09fV1a-k7tO11jDv23G7mMmZr9lV_ZR_gxDvg4IF8_bGrMahyphenhyphen8x86ltUphyJtmeitj1PTrQZsrIiRCoGiHFOwSaAFCfKlmy7tYhRqwvWNv1t2jS7UrMs/s1600/DSC_0284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rqnnoeDdE1RBXsf623UGXor09fV1a-k7tO11jDv23G7mMmZr9lV_ZR_gxDvg4IF8_bGrMahyphenhyphen8x86ltUphyJtmeitj1PTrQZsrIiRCoGiHFOwSaAFCfKlmy7tYhRqwvWNv1t2jS7UrMs/s320/DSC_0284.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This dish features finely sliced cabbage and carrots, cooked like a stew. Avo on the side. Yum</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRIsvqvWtgqEZBhs6jcb-Q-1WWdOc_PqWz5p9Zs30Ws1qSN3TL6uSyAsy-AdXYzvzNcIHY43zN4yVL4kYjl9n9HIDVLv01GPaB0LUAVgvOMf1JDl163hMUW_PLlHzJrx4RXf72qNpgiA/s1600/DSC_0643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRIsvqvWtgqEZBhs6jcb-Q-1WWdOc_PqWz5p9Zs30Ws1qSN3TL6uSyAsy-AdXYzvzNcIHY43zN4yVL4kYjl9n9HIDVLv01GPaB0LUAVgvOMf1JDl163hMUW_PLlHzJrx4RXf72qNpgiA/s320/DSC_0643.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love green peas, and fresh ones are not in short supply. You can buy them and shell them yourself, or buy them already shelled. Scrambled egg and rice on the side</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3cuOWHS5-SwB2AsUgVmUw0RU3tf0bAjaQH0AL0YZKZUBrFC5n6M5Z19av2lAQ5O8-F0sRFLJLaR5v-7RY9D3uwREpEyAh1GAXJIPDpzv5JLIx_3wCiYmx9zt9YMUK8GsgCXh56X4O5I/s1600/DSC_0650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix3cuOWHS5-SwB2AsUgVmUw0RU3tf0bAjaQH0AL0YZKZUBrFC5n6M5Z19av2lAQ5O8-F0sRFLJLaR5v-7RY9D3uwREpEyAh1GAXJIPDpzv5JLIx_3wCiYmx9zt9YMUK8GsgCXh56X4O5I/s320/DSC_0650.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chappatis appear to be a staple and you can walk out onto the street and buy them freshly made. I am really enjoying them! You can also buy mendazi, which are Kenyan donuts, not too sweet, not too heavy.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj652xTNLDH2YW1YCAYScCQCexAseiS9ojxBXwvgQKm7DZUMizvWjhGKpGJqvlGqx4L_3swvts3kEkjE4TsV3KmmQAsEJ4Mf1y4iTAPIXbFwy47mpwWgTb6psR2_kz1-xNC5z0obH19AiE/s1600/DSC_0786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj652xTNLDH2YW1YCAYScCQCexAseiS9ojxBXwvgQKm7DZUMizvWjhGKpGJqvlGqx4L_3swvts3kEkjE4TsV3KmmQAsEJ4Mf1y4iTAPIXbFwy47mpwWgTb6psR2_kz1-xNC5z0obH19AiE/s320/DSC_0786.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok so occasionally i have been known to eat fish. This is a talapia from Lake Victoria. It's a fresh water fish, fried on the side of the road. Completely unattractive to this veggie who doesn't like her food looking at her!!!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8UeL0e40A71uaMZY6qCrbQR1Lg6bCclAsQbpCxFwex5JMwqvp_FVCa8tmYTGWc2LENgp6lFgA8tWIFw_WJXkgYPeDNUiJcjckG_mBnlB-cFvDhIYLFQzi0PTIkgwNK_0gcfgFlsTTbE/s1600/DSC_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8UeL0e40A71uaMZY6qCrbQR1Lg6bCclAsQbpCxFwex5JMwqvp_FVCa8tmYTGWc2LENgp6lFgA8tWIFw_WJXkgYPeDNUiJcjckG_mBnlB-cFvDhIYLFQzi0PTIkgwNK_0gcfgFlsTTbE/s320/DSC_0791.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, when Magdalene weaves her magic with it, I must say it was probably the best fish dish I have ever had. This was at Magdalene's house, I made the ugali!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOO7OTpPOg-aaFp3-ldz8a1RJQwcQre3R0LrRBL1EmS0H0EuF1twrLeHLKdHxGc6ePBOi5vyer0l5RACry5lXNXhxdae9xTN6412lh-7jv_sOqgpD6uZz0paKTv4ZMhZM4QuqG2N4iTY8/s320/DSC_0863.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had company for lunch one day. The gorgeous Lucky and Frank. They were so funny trying to balance their plates and entertain each other. Frank pinched all of Lucky's cabbage, and Lucky didn't mind!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOO7OTpPOg-aaFp3-ldz8a1RJQwcQre3R0LrRBL1EmS0H0EuF1twrLeHLKdHxGc6ePBOi5vyer0l5RACry5lXNXhxdae9xTN6412lh-7jv_sOqgpD6uZz0paKTv4ZMhZM4QuqG2N4iTY8/s1600/DSC_0863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunlMe5fkLnalEiZ6LPbzJH_fuKLGaAGQ79Z8mrz_kSVZ-Pj4Lq8sSu5uF__LFJMl0XF8xSHOPDVbuczuT1_rWIE87rZzMFxXjjhdPPFV9Xye1ulUCmeCeiaoJPBN8NmpnAmA-nVk7YKg/s1600/DSC_0413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjunlMe5fkLnalEiZ6LPbzJH_fuKLGaAGQ79Z8mrz_kSVZ-Pj4Lq8sSu5uF__LFJMl0XF8xSHOPDVbuczuT1_rWIE87rZzMFxXjjhdPPFV9Xye1ulUCmeCeiaoJPBN8NmpnAmA-nVk7YKg/s320/DSC_0413.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What all good Aussies resort to in times of need!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6Jy-Xjfnf_giA2CSHHJPWdKyZL7KQR4ZjauBmvYtOc1lHHWVxxuQVbskJhFMY3RgEfpxgSmW2iabQG2PwBEKk5XWVBFwhXhpwZrznqpTiGdGWB0GSxgj4YL5iAOQroFDLaH_AV6B_pE/s1600/DSC_0204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6Jy-Xjfnf_giA2CSHHJPWdKyZL7KQR4ZjauBmvYtOc1lHHWVxxuQVbskJhFMY3RgEfpxgSmW2iabQG2PwBEKk5XWVBFwhXhpwZrznqpTiGdGWB0GSxgj4YL5iAOQroFDLaH_AV6B_pE/s320/DSC_0204.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mid morning snack.... obviously not for me!! Although sometimes I eat more than I should!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1J9m_B-HTycMFj_rroLTw0gBGBGwHSO55CZrkSu3C46EpLpghF3-ljpLfRpoltM4L0Lu8IM3HhJ0OvTF3StJn1qqEFN3Nv82joSOWy2y146d5nepTfI-jgzvT2duFzzcQNW9QKuIzZg/s1600/DSC_0239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1J9m_B-HTycMFj_rroLTw0gBGBGwHSO55CZrkSu3C46EpLpghF3-ljpLfRpoltM4L0Lu8IM3HhJ0OvTF3StJn1qqEFN3Nv82joSOWy2y146d5nepTfI-jgzvT2duFzzcQNW9QKuIzZg/s320/DSC_0239.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, sometimes I eat out. Gretchen and Peter treated me to Japanese after the elephants. This is the sushi bar, and that's what I ate! YUM. I've also had Indian which was southern Vedic style and also YUMMY!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYuOA5gkQkJ0GnyexELRectkwfzId3G9hwapYK7f2zTwy_gCpCr2lTB7OJtFVgy3682BcV090PiHANE3QdHDaS9XdT92uNGCOoiYLc1M8F4HGlNKczPa4yNthOvFbkaNmF_840TiorGc/s1600/DSC_0497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitYuOA5gkQkJ0GnyexELRectkwfzId3G9hwapYK7f2zTwy_gCpCr2lTB7OJtFVgy3682BcV090PiHANE3QdHDaS9XdT92uNGCOoiYLc1M8F4HGlNKczPa4yNthOvFbkaNmF_840TiorGc/s320/DSC_0497.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The infamous horned African melon. It's a lime green inside and looks like a cucumber. Tastes terrible. I though it might be a fruit. There are all sorts of tro</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pical fruits around, and i regularly have a hand of bananas that I share with the neighbourhood kids.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHkLmGrt8Ry_bMFpNvtCM39NfKTpZRvA3rrBDDkHObyfvCvxesf0EGZ1qlewB6rBTCoZ6gyMCVa_mfiIgSZIRpzQF0YlKoYXMG1Je1sXWa5geSxgHXgRxZnIcBBohMxsAch_pAEI6pgc/s1600/DSC_0347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHkLmGrt8Ry_bMFpNvtCM39NfKTpZRvA3rrBDDkHObyfvCvxesf0EGZ1qlewB6rBTCoZ6gyMCVa_mfiIgSZIRpzQF0YlKoYXMG1Je1sXWa5geSxgHXgRxZnIcBBohMxsAch_pAEI6pgc/s320/DSC_0347.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here are some of the older girls.....<br /><br />Enjoy and have fun and I'll post again soon.</span></td></tr>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-2698087039971012942013-07-04T07:41:00.000-07:002013-07-04T07:41:09.297-07:00There’s Something about Mary<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Warning. This one is sad, and the photos aren't in the right order. sorry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I first heard mention of Mary when I had just arrived here
at FreMO. She had attended for antenatal care, but when the time came to birth,
she either couldn’t make it to FreMo, or she decided that she couldn’t afford
our fee of 4800KSH and went somewhere closer, and cheaper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now here’s the thing. They were talking about her because it
turned out that Mary was carrying twins. She went to this other medical centre
where she was put in a room, and promptly left alone. This isn’t her first
labour, she has a 4 year old ‘senior child’, so it didn’t take long for a baby
to be born. She didn’t get any help from the staff at this centre. When the
first baby came, she called out for help, and everyone was surprised to find
that another one was on the way!!! Twins, now that certainly complicated things
for Mary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Welcome to Angela and Cecile! Hold onto your hats, because
here is the clanger. The other medical centre charged Mary DOUBLE fees because
there were two babies. Never mind that they didn’t do anything for the first
one! But wait, there is more. They sent her home within the hour. Can you
imagine? Both of the girls weighed around 3000gms so I guess they figured
everything would be alright. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivg58KsGjfGtTE1Crvg15k7f8kewHxPcRZuFeqPEHgWDeTUHFKLBGynJHvt1xcoYBnWPy0JVryPPyas9mGn7eYShL7GC91LPv9OEJ7ms4cH4_GuG9lDQSlAF091EMr3yAPWkfN4W9KzyE/s1600/DSC_0253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivg58KsGjfGtTE1Crvg15k7f8kewHxPcRZuFeqPEHgWDeTUHFKLBGynJHvt1xcoYBnWPy0JVryPPyas9mGn7eYShL7GC91LPv9OEJ7ms4cH4_GuG9lDQSlAF091EMr3yAPWkfN4W9KzyE/s320/DSC_0253.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary and the girls the first time I met her.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well it wasn’t. Vicki was still here at the time so they
went to Mary’s place to do a postnatal check when they heard that Mary had
delivered. Bless Mary but the twins weren’t doing so well and Vicki had
concerns about their weight, justly so. Mary came back to FreMo for a postnatal
check after Vicki left, but for some reason, the twins weren’t weighed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is where I come in. Vicki left me a parting message
that she was concerned about the twins and thought that they needed further
follow up. It wasn’t until a Friday afternoon that we managed to visit Mary to
check on everyone. One look at the girls and I was concerned. They were pale
with dark circles around their eyes. Their fontanelles were sunken. Their lips
and mouths were dry. They were drowsy and didn’t really move much when I
undressed them to weigh them naked. I asked how often they were being fed, and
mum said she woke them twice a day. I don’t know how long it had been since
they had a decent feed. We weighed them and they were 2800gms and 2900gms. I
thought that was ok, but later I found out that there is a known discrepancy
with the scale of around 300gms. I didn’t know that at the time, being the new
kid on the block. And I didn’t want to be the one to walk into a new work
environment and be all bossy. I was still learning how things worked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pRPWbV73yCm45wVzyV00mRtYiDyT_6A_xIhwZSg4vTXvGtNGRgjb_OGivPv-pjsjhda_W1_yfJk_wXoK8vY5SSmlSUu4PBbnWvvxCMxgFV0voS01SgsfL04voiCvTHP_No-sCGudcmY/s1600/DSC_0258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pRPWbV73yCm45wVzyV00mRtYiDyT_6A_xIhwZSg4vTXvGtNGRgjb_OGivPv-pjsjhda_W1_yfJk_wXoK8vY5SSmlSUu4PBbnWvvxCMxgFV0voS01SgsfL04voiCvTHP_No-sCGudcmY/s320/DSC_0258.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your's truly weighing the girls.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The postnatal check was performed partly in English and
partly in Swahili and I wasn’t party to all the information. We tried to get
the girls onto the breast. One was better than the other, and Mary confessed
she didn’t know how to feed them simultaneously. As she fed one, I weighed the
other, and while it was vaguely awake, we put it to the other breast. I took a
photo of Mary, in her house, breastfeeding both her twins together for the
first time. She looks happy! We took our leave but there was no real plan in
place to do anything further apart from telling mum to wake them and feed them
more often! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Z1KFnf39wdb5MV3SZMDWFYMO6XGnxavANWSDnsvVXGy1vnxsWKi8hp6whCEK6-EKsFndiAqtpso5PCqXNYpMSfjhHrSIvO9RZNqECaIlN8CRkGSofcqhW7HWwPiob5jUueG5Dmmmeyo/s1600/DSC_0261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Z1KFnf39wdb5MV3SZMDWFYMO6XGnxavANWSDnsvVXGy1vnxsWKi8hp6whCEK6-EKsFndiAqtpso5PCqXNYpMSfjhHrSIvO9RZNqECaIlN8CRkGSofcqhW7HWwPiob5jUueG5Dmmmeyo/s320/DSC_0261.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The scales on the floor to have it even.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once we were around the corner I spoke up. I voiced my
concerns for those two babies, and so did magdalen. I think she was waiting for
me to take the lead, but I’m not sure why that was? We decided to leave Mary
with a bottle of clean water that I had in my pack and instruct her to give
each baby a capful every half hour, hoping that we could slowly rehydrate them
to the point they might wake up and get hungry!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivaRA0qA28aAncUIQCOiDDKCN1CgcHm-nThj5PCPuaq9t1BjHkJ_QPcNOfsZyJcsYVizUwo4-gE1yY7FNY2MPlE4Syx4cTIXNbx8nPE4HGUoBVRyf_b7ZqKIB3Uk3CsDbNvRf3b9ki4Q/s1600/DSC_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivaRA0qA28aAncUIQCOiDDKCN1CgcHm-nThj5PCPuaq9t1BjHkJ_QPcNOfsZyJcsYVizUwo4-gE1yY7FNY2MPlE4Syx4cTIXNbx8nPE4HGUoBVRyf_b7ZqKIB3Uk3CsDbNvRf3b9ki4Q/s320/DSC_0262.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sleep over night when we intensively fed the girls</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On our return to FreMo we spoke to the boss. We voiced our
concerns about the twins. I knew their condition was extremely poor. I still
hadn’t figured out the true weight loss. Moffat, who is not a clinician but an
administrator with a lot of experience and knowledge, put it back onto us. He
asked us what we wanted to do. I thought about it and said that in a hospital
situation, the babies would be admitted for observation and rehydration, either
IV or NG tube or both. He just said do it. Bless you Moff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40pDA2D1Uzz9RbB5xuN52-09tct2XLbatsCkBzOM2HwuKpuhxPLCsbAraBMaLemaNWJtcb3_A8ZCvuwN9P_EM9N97Eq1JsKNw8C_Fn_NMvD_uBEhDtCO4I5mgPmNRDyccMw00jZqLgPk/s1600/DSC_0271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi40pDA2D1Uzz9RbB5xuN52-09tct2XLbatsCkBzOM2HwuKpuhxPLCsbAraBMaLemaNWJtcb3_A8ZCvuwN9P_EM9N97Eq1JsKNw8C_Fn_NMvD_uBEhDtCO4I5mgPmNRDyccMw00jZqLgPk/s320/DSC_0271.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Syringe feeding</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We called Mary and explained what we wanted to do and
invited her to come in. She did. She was there by the end of the afternoon and
we settled her into our postnatal room. We started with oral 10% glucose and I
syringe fed them small amounts as they could tolerate to give them an initial
boost. We syringe fed, because we couldn’t find an NG tube. Plus, they were in
such poor shape that we didn’t want to traumatise their oesophagus at all. Then
we started to express mums milk so that they could have that too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mary was a trooper. She let me express her, but the milk
just started to flow. Then the other breast started of it’s own accord and she
just sat their holding specimen pots under her breasts catching the liquid
gold. We kept syringe feeding for a while, but then when the girls got their
energy back we started to cup feed. Cecille was bigger and better than Angela
but they were both going OK. Soon Cecille decided she didn’t want to bother
with the cup and was back at the breast. Angela was a little more of a concern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxcDMumpv9y-skW5qedov7wF3NSnOxlDUQEJZGU0CrFi75eBAbT4U55En6F88xDnmgUBFyCjIJ7g-VbJW_tmkm7rt9vY8t7S-2opxs8FcgXFClZmUHAtK8ELuwE7mKsJtNw9PsgKOxUk/s1600/DSC_0287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxcDMumpv9y-skW5qedov7wF3NSnOxlDUQEJZGU0CrFi75eBAbT4U55En6F88xDnmgUBFyCjIJ7g-VbJW_tmkm7rt9vY8t7S-2opxs8FcgXFClZmUHAtK8ELuwE7mKsJtNw9PsgKOxUk/s320/DSC_0287.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first time Mary twin fed. This is at her house<br />the first time we went there.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had started with half hourly small amounts, then hourly
and I gradually lengthened the space between feeds as they had more and more.
They were cold and their temperatures were down. I wanted to put the electric
heater on but there was no power point in the postnatal room, and no extension
cord available. Needless to say there is a power point there now. We continued
in this way over night with me popping back in at 3 hourly intervals. By
morning the girls were doing much better. We wanted to keep Mary in all
weekend, at our own expense, but Mary had problems at home. There was no one to
care for the senior child at home. So by morning tea time she was ready to up
and off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqmDA_IB-3DhaTp2j4vkGKymxtkm5XGePoMDMkA2ordYgIug-K0vFtlolcSNiqMX1qTWSgwwrG8W7KC_I07XUZqKRvoitROPVMaF9I3QQzSnkLM07Q1dGeRQD53FGM0n4-3y7od68GrQ/s1600/DSC_0429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqmDA_IB-3DhaTp2j4vkGKymxtkm5XGePoMDMkA2ordYgIug-K0vFtlolcSNiqMX1qTWSgwwrG8W7KC_I07XUZqKRvoitROPVMaF9I3QQzSnkLM07Q1dGeRQD53FGM0n4-3y7od68GrQ/s320/DSC_0429.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weighing the girls the last time I saw them<br />before they went up country</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Change of plans. I gave Mary the feed charts that I had made
up for the twins, and showed her how to continue filling it in. We made
arrangements to visit her on Sunday to check and weigh the babies. She was
agreeable to this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPNgAd8ELFhohqUe4PhXMztJjMkZpsoN5cmq0s1RAaSRvBr28ruI1Jas9SbIF8X-bF8og_3o_yQAWDL5pjW3oiFkQJ2lEE2G3GVwGXXfLGAMTNEuRdOj7IQ9edApxckY3btLMTp9OLSM/s1600/DSC_0432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPNgAd8ELFhohqUe4PhXMztJjMkZpsoN5cmq0s1RAaSRvBr28ruI1Jas9SbIF8X-bF8og_3o_yQAWDL5pjW3oiFkQJ2lEE2G3GVwGXXfLGAMTNEuRdOj7IQ9edApxckY3btLMTp9OLSM/s320/DSC_0432.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Same day, both together.<br />Mary's hand for perspective</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sunday came and we went off to visit Mary in the afternoon.
It was later in the day because of a labouring mumma we had been looking after.
Mary had continued with the feed chart up until 9pm the night before. I asked
why she had stopped. Her simple answer was that the next door neighbour who had
a clock had gone to sleep and couldn’t tell her the time anymore. To find out
the time, they called out to each other through the corrugated iron walls. That
made me stop and think about the things we take for granted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We weighed the babies. They were the same. BUT, they were
hydrated, they were peeing and pooing and they were waking for feeds. They were
moving their skinny little arms and legs and I was happy with all of these
things. We made arrangements to come back in two days. But Mary had a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her father was very ill in a remote area of Kenya, and had
been calling her back to see him before he dies. What do you do? It’s a 12 hour
or more, depending on what’s happening on the roads, bus trip. She would have
to keep the two babies on her lap and possibly not have a seat for the senior
child either. How do you breastfed twins on an African bus, that would
typically be shoved full of people, animals and stuff to the very limits? We
advised her for the interests of the babies not to go. She asked us to call her
father and explain the situation. We did. But it was only a temporary reprieve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We came back in two days. The babies could have been the
same weight, but the scale isn’t that accurate. It measures in 100gm
increments. They could have even lost a little weight; from where tho I had no
idea. There were already skin and bone. Why weren’t they gaining weight? Mary
had milk, she was feeding them regularly. It was time to feed the mumma. We
bought greens and bananas and avocadoes. Well I did. When we returned the
husband had turned up. Mercy advised him that Mary needed more nourishment and
described a bone marrow soup that he was to procure the ingredients for <u>and</u>
to make. He agreed and left straight away to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I asked Mary if there was anything else that she needed. She
said yes, that she needed Pampers (any disposable nappy here is a Pamper). Now
what to do? I am here to support FreMo, not to sponsor any single family. I
graciously declined and pointed out that the traditional cloth (flannel) nappy
that she had been using was sufficient. She said that their skin was suffering
from the urine. I pointed out that their skin had looked fine when I undressed
them. I gently suggested that a little barrier cream like Vaseline (which she
already had) would be perfect, and to not let them sit in a wet nappy for an
extended length of time. I didn’t want to start Mary using Pampers because they
often leave them on for very extended time frames, and then dry them out and
reuse them if they aren’t ‘dirty’. Plus who will then buy them when I leave. I
thought that changing to Pampers would be worse than her current system. She
accepted this, what else could she do? Then she came out with it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her neighbours were giving her a hard time. They thought
that she had a sponsor. Why else would Mzungu’s be visiting her in her home so
often? They were putting pressure on Mary to ask for Pampers, and probably lots
of other things. What a predicament for her to be in. And to think that I was
responsible for it. I was simply doing what I had come to Kawangware to do. I
explained it to Mary in this way, and suggested that she could use the same
explanation to her neighbours. I am not rich in money where I come from but I
have lots of knowledge, skills and the time to share it with others. I have
come to Africa to support FreMo, so that they can continue to support their
community in ways that are needed. Like helping Mary free of charge when we are
essentially a private organisation. She said something in Swahili that I didn’t
catch. Mercy said she was embarrassed because we were helping her even after
she went somewhere else to birth because it was cheaper. We arranged the next
meeting to be at the clinic, so that I wouldn’t cause Mary any more trouble
than necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We wanted to see her a few days later in an effort to give
the twins time to gain weight. Mary didn’t come. We called her and she said she
had no one to help her carry the second twin. We waited. We called. I worried. Finally a week later she came in. We went
through the usual process assessing the girls, but they still weren’t gaining
weight. They were still under their birth weight and they were nearly a month
old. They were certainly in better condition than before, but I think that they
were using all their energy to actually feed. I spent some time with Mary and
her friends talking about the first milk and the behind milk. We spoke about
patterns of feeding and allocating one breast to one baby for each feed. If
that was too hard to remember, then maybe one breast per baby per day. Either
way, they both needed to have the first milk and the behind milk. It seemed
that Angela was still the one that was struggling, so I suggested that every
time Cecille fed she needed to wake Angela and feed her. Since Mary had done
such a good job of syringe feeding and expressing before, I also suggested that
she express milk for Angela during the day and cup feed every second feed to
give her a rest. We talked about hygiene so that the girls wouldn’t get food
poisoning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had been dwelling on Mary’s inability to move around
easily. You see traditionally, mothers of twins stay at home until the babies
are big enough to be slung onto her back. She will then have one on her back
and one on her front. When babies are small, they are bundled up into great big
loose cocoons of blankets and carried in the arms of the mother. Once they can
tolerate it, they are then strapped to their mummas backs. But when there are
two babies, it’s hard to carry them. There are no pram, they can’t afford them
and the paths are well, not paths! I had been trying to figure out how to tie
the lessu’s around Mary so that she could carry them both. That way she would
be a little more independent. I suggested we try to find a way. Mercy was
doubtful. Mary was tolerant. I tried a couple of different ways in an attempt
to mimic a sling, but it didn’t work. Peninah laughed. I guess if there was a
way, someone would have figured it out by now!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary being very tolerant of my attempts to<br />tie her up in knots</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That was the last time I saw Mary. I don’t know if I will
see her again. We rang when she didn’t come to the next appointment, but she
had gone up country to her family. I’m happy with that idea as I think some
nurturing by the women of her family and village is exactly what she needs. We
rang her last night. She said that she was fine, and the babies were fat. Let’s
hope so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">PS. Mary turned up
today. She came to weight the babies. I also asked if she needed immunizations
but she said that she had them done that morning. I did think it was odd as the
babies would have been weighed at that point, but we were all so excited to see
the girls that I didn’t think more about it. As you can see, the girls a
gaining weight, plump and ‘bonnie’. Mary is also very happy. When I was left
alone with them, Mary asked me for some money for her friend who was ‘helping’
her. It seems that this is why they came to FreMo, to see me, to ask for money.
It’s a difficult position to be in. Mary’s husband has a job, and I am here to
support FreMo. I’m very happy that the babies are doing well.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy0mbSrKGM6reb_JwWYEG9TI07DcaDvtdvAv9HaznIKM89Bdm0Pei5gwIVF_oRPahkoSF_YQeWQg6mL8himTEjg1tGllQjVMyIWEm2mGDhyphenhyphenhySX6dlBdIi1GlmfS-ObD9Ehh3V2MqlZo/s1600/DSC_0351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPy0mbSrKGM6reb_JwWYEG9TI07DcaDvtdvAv9HaznIKM89Bdm0Pei5gwIVF_oRPahkoSF_YQeWQg6mL8himTEjg1tGllQjVMyIWEm2mGDhyphenhyphenhySX6dlBdIi1GlmfS-ObD9Ehh3V2MqlZo/s320/DSC_0351.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One is still bigger than the other<br />but at 3600gms and 3400gms<br />we are happy.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXNAINbvSVA87swAc2AzqKA6yGjE8L-We5fAumJrIuoTcfC6X2YrTvgwFwFqPxEQgBowbJZ_fdJBF_SbM-GnKs1dPS94skM4dbS7Ti8dJNz_oTEnwLUgu9MJhCK5guLABZqD1d2JbtgY/s1600/DSC_0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsXNAINbvSVA87swAc2AzqKA6yGjE8L-We5fAumJrIuoTcfC6X2YrTvgwFwFqPxEQgBowbJZ_fdJBF_SbM-GnKs1dPS94skM4dbS7Ti8dJNz_oTEnwLUgu9MJhCK5guLABZqD1d2JbtgY/s320/DSC_0353.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFOsmjsnTuZZKBOeN4u6oNT5KrffpfwhMvguHbDtNJ024-mvbBv__b3D-vr88srmHwwIk0X-iPArv0zhVyXtEpfIBf1gYqTm5YCVcGLYI_1AuxvkLTIxXm_KGxWjGTr_0w8Tb55sfTWw/s1600/DSC_0357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZFOsmjsnTuZZKBOeN4u6oNT5KrffpfwhMvguHbDtNJ024-mvbBv__b3D-vr88srmHwwIk0X-iPArv0zhVyXtEpfIBf1gYqTm5YCVcGLYI_1AuxvkLTIxXm_KGxWjGTr_0w8Tb55sfTWw/s320/DSC_0357.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No they don't look happy but they are fatter!</span></td></tr>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-90232768816507593572013-06-29T07:05:00.000-07:002013-06-29T07:06:48.984-07:00Quilting in Nairobi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This post is dedicated to my quilting friends. To my midwife
friends, hang in there! More for you soon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As some of you know I've been a quilter for a very long
time, and when something is an intrinsic part of you, it is always with you.
It’s like being a midwife, you always notice the baby that is breastfed, you
see the mother walking at the shops with the symphasis pubis dysfunction or the
OP position. It’s just something that IS. So it is the same with quilt makers, we see
patterns and designs where you might not notice anything. We are always on the
lookout for the next idea, pattern, thread or fabric.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So it is no surprise that quilt making has been part of this
adventure. Read right to the start of this blog and you see the quilt that was
raffled as a fund raiser for FreMo. You’ll also notice the occasional post
about the project I am working on here, in my spare time. I will never be bored
if I have some stitching to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bQX2DS79rxI20iWdjzM9hDBLLm256f6ip7cyboZPXBJX2bLItvayA4YohdvVyjMUlnYJeE3fgw4T9xgVA56fLm0xlEXOHj73F9MN-EqPPrXJbeTq1_0HxIZrjkAC4zq68I0_pOKV9-I/s1600/DSC_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bQX2DS79rxI20iWdjzM9hDBLLm256f6ip7cyboZPXBJX2bLItvayA4YohdvVyjMUlnYJeE3fgw4T9xgVA56fLm0xlEXOHj73F9MN-EqPPrXJbeTq1_0HxIZrjkAC4zq68I0_pOKV9-I/s320/DSC_0077.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">all the centre blocks finished and laid out<br />started the yellow border<br />just need to sew them together in this order</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before I left Australia, I made contact with the Nairobi
Quilters Guild, and a lovely lady named Gretchen. Once I was here we planned to
get together for the NQG meeting in June. They meet once per month and I missed
the May meeting by the skin of my teeth, and I will miss the July meeting
because I am attending the ICM East African Conference. Love those tax deductable CPD points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So Gretchen and I agreed to meet early on Thursday morning
so she could take me to the meeting. But I have to move back a step. The story
starts on Wednesday as the two days melted into one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Molly arrived with Flora in early stages of labour late in
the afternoon. (names have been changed) This was her second baby, so we didn’t expect too much trouble.
Good on Molly, we didn’t get too much trouble and the labour was text book. She
worked hard, she moved, she swayed and she took on the suggested movements to
help that baby out. She was the model patient. The only issue was Molly has
HIV. At least we knew that this mother was positive. Some mothers come in,
without any antenatal care and we don’t know. We have the facilities to perform
the tests, but not in the middle of the night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Molly had done the best she knew how and was taking her
medications to decrease the viral load in her system so that it reduced the
chances of transmitting it to the baby, and she had already procured the
medicines for her baby. She was prepared. One thing we had to be careful of was
that Flora didn’t know of her friends HIV status. So we were silent on the
topic. I was glad of my own supply of personal protective equipment, which I
used to ensure universal precautions against accidental transmission to me were
maintained. The hospital doesn’t always
have everything WE would consider necessary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The beautiful Charlene Michelle was born at 0240hrs in the
morning. Isn’t she just lovely?? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes my camera won't focus!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now my problem was I had to meet with Gretchen in just over
five hours. We waited for the placenta, no active management here. We started
to tidy up. But by 0300, I suggested to Phillip that he take over, and I headed off to bed. He was happy for that so by the time I hit the sack it was 0330. I
set my alarm for 0700 but my body clock wasn’t going to let that happen. I was
awake by 0600. I figured if I went back to sleep I would probably sleep all
day. If I did wake at 0700, I would probably feel worse, so I got up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Molly and Charlene were sleeping comfortably when I went
round to the hospital. I greeted them and Molly was just so thrilled with
herself. I had a quick breakfast and scooted off to find a matatu to take me to
the meeting point. It wasn’t hard and I was early so ordered a double
cappuccino in an attempt to arm me for the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gretchen arrived and we did the trip the long way round because it
was quicker. Nairobi traffic is just shocking. I got a good look at parts of Nairobi that were new to me, and
I’ve decided that I would never be able to drive in that traffic. The quilters
were very hospitable and made me feel welcome and at home. There was a sales
table to enjoy, but I didn’t buy anything. Some ladies were leaving the country
and were selling parts of their fabric stash. But from the prices on the fabrics, I
gather that the American prints are very expensive here, because their ‘bits’
were still fairly expensive. The library was well stocked and I even saw some
Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazines ( none that I was in tho!!!). The tea and coffee was already set up so I
grabbed another, and the first biscuit I’ve had in over a month and settled in with
my Apple Core quilt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The meeting was typical and I sat patiently waiting for show
and tell. The ladies all brought something and I was surprised to find that
there wasn’t a lot of what might be interpreted as African influence… but there
was some. At the end of show and tell I found out that they had just staged a
large exhibition somewhere in Canada, so there were a lot of the African design
quilts over there. The slide show of the exhibition was fabulous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Luckily, the meeting finished at lunch time, and I was taken
home again where I promptly went to bed! Thanks to the Nairobi Quilters Guild
for your hospitality and to Gretchen for the lift. But don’t worry girls, there
is definitely fabric shopping going on, and you’ll have an opportunity to see
it when I get back.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And here are some pictures of quilts!!!</span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-53066097842736284722013-06-15T06:01:00.001-07:002013-06-15T06:01:22.765-07:00These Shoes Were Made For Walking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This post is dedicated to my friends who work in the
homecare department in the hospital I work at. I hope you enjoy!!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are two main reasons why we get out and pound the
pavements. One is marketing and the other is homecare. But first a little
background.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmOxW4h7_HeSr7KyOSagxn6GZRWnzY3lQORL9JMwG6S2uSz5HTtROBqPD55MC7xde6UXbdoXKEwGy32CzxXSTPgXFYdDdqgUqH7aR-pG711-hp6MkLPvOzzB1If8UAv9wrnmoEiyHJgKA/s320/IMGP1295.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pounding the pavement.... the view back over Kangwangware<br />from the railway line... on our way to Ngong.... yes we walked<br /> the line!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmOxW4h7_HeSr7KyOSagxn6GZRWnzY3lQORL9JMwG6S2uSz5HTtROBqPD55MC7xde6UXbdoXKEwGy32CzxXSTPgXFYdDdqgUqH7aR-pG711-hp6MkLPvOzzB1If8UAv9wrnmoEiyHJgKA/s1600/IMGP1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">FreMo is basically a private hospital. It has the facility
to provide most care including antenatal, birth (normal), postnatal and now,
thanks to our fundraising, immunisation. The local public hospital just down
the road provides antenatal care, but not birth. So when the women get to 36
weeks of pregnancy they are told to go find somewhere to deliver. That’s why we
do marketing. We hang around town on the busy days handing out leaflets and
inviting women to come and check us out. They come and birth without too much
antenatal input from us, and their hand held records usually have the basic
information required, and I mean basic. Once they have delivered, they might
spend 12 hours or so in with us then we start what we call ‘outreach’, but you
know it as homecare.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVs3ZVaogDjwWSmoc4T_-uLy9xiJesaP67QyUZJbn47LOaMt0fLM482AY3dhelX5Wd8RDv3UB6bZH7NBNqoN1WGMSyYrTxuhaHj2_T0E52HayBEs3iFsXE55oRz83pPh4IL8gCHwNDKk/s1600/IMGP1248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVs3ZVaogDjwWSmoc4T_-uLy9xiJesaP67QyUZJbn47LOaMt0fLM482AY3dhelX5Wd8RDv3UB6bZH7NBNqoN1WGMSyYrTxuhaHj2_T0E52HayBEs3iFsXE55oRz83pPh4IL8gCHwNDKk/s320/IMGP1248.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Magdalene and myself at a home visit.<br />Of course, I get to cuddle the babies...<br />But this IS Kendall whom I helped her mum with!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We do outreach every week day, and we usually see the mumma
and baby at home within the first 3 days. Then they are invited to come for a check-up
at the hospital and then we usually determine when we need to see them again.
If there are no problems, we continue to visit every fortnight for two months.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqPU9FgA02JhjEraTA30g_-oDGdbPdxusbI0jvvscZO19FdQTKTjeJ-d775X_EBBrN7q7dBFNHjzBaMLw8bIXbslGKMd64WAhOLJHEMnAkBp_uc7JGBalF67HAWbUDy3-hUTAPS1Dsdc/s1600/DSC_0171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqPU9FgA02JhjEraTA30g_-oDGdbPdxusbI0jvvscZO19FdQTKTjeJ-d775X_EBBrN7q7dBFNHjzBaMLw8bIXbslGKMd64WAhOLJHEMnAkBp_uc7JGBalF67HAWbUDy3-hUTAPS1Dsdc/s320/DSC_0171.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eunice Popped back in for a check up!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJxL9btt016-sa3cKe0GEcMP42E_Gq-NbzYSyY8o_oriigmBEQQ6xXpb356GL_9T3SwFg6OQvgnFdyYzYq2xKkZvT9rbo-yN3RA6Bmf-uL6lUbYFSN5IKQXw9mOvV-zM8SgbA5mJ8tSE/s1600/DSC_0188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJxL9btt016-sa3cKe0GEcMP42E_Gq-NbzYSyY8o_oriigmBEQQ6xXpb356GL_9T3SwFg6OQvgnFdyYzYq2xKkZvT9rbo-yN3RA6Bmf-uL6lUbYFSN5IKQXw9mOvV-zM8SgbA5mJ8tSE/s320/DSC_0188.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mercy and Magdalene navigate a rather<br />rickety bridge .... and then turn to check on me<br />and make sure that I make it over...</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZt6udX8K9atQdetDPWLfDXk2CTGoF7rZkiq4DdMMPOTFkWNFDWjZkWzBjQzRuCWbW2CGL_g19XKpxTO4yB7SaQXzWd848JfgSBAgFdXlBwn3MsMqs78rJZt1uhyNSXMqar6J8BBtd48/s1600/DSC_0189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZt6udX8K9atQdetDPWLfDXk2CTGoF7rZkiq4DdMMPOTFkWNFDWjZkWzBjQzRuCWbW2CGL_g19XKpxTO4yB7SaQXzWd848JfgSBAgFdXlBwn3MsMqs78rJZt1uhyNSXMqar6J8BBtd48/s320/DSC_0189.JPG" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The postnatal check on the baby is extensive. At each baby
check we weigh the baby, measure the heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature
as well as the additional details that we know so well. We check the umbi and
clean it with spirits and advise the mums to do the same. They don’t. Some mums
prefer to use charcoal to dry it out. All the mothers have their blood pressure
checked as well as the usual checks and balances. When we return to the
hospital the information is transcribed into a postnatal register that the
government keeps (we have one for antenatal as well as birth!!).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDkmAOnM75Fqk8JVeJxhbQiPDQf-pLOcYTdAvivGIE6vPlHnbe-JG0nJAnXdOKzO8VIEE2-qPWOX10HrmBttSnwCUwR79muTAFxWezZPO4GFXG1if5OO-U0TJhsyyYMkr6qUWOfX5aq4/s1600/DSC_0232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDkmAOnM75Fqk8JVeJxhbQiPDQf-pLOcYTdAvivGIE6vPlHnbe-JG0nJAnXdOKzO8VIEE2-qPWOX10HrmBttSnwCUwR79muTAFxWezZPO4GFXG1if5OO-U0TJhsyyYMkr6qUWOfX5aq4/s320/DSC_0232.JPG" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What we don’t do. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcWAJ5B_7P3LtRfEeOdqht_sbBRoWbM1GIJAje1lBQSdZfNM2ff9TcGA-x2zpOQehKlG6sfSn6E04hiSjaNTBbHT0mwKmQwx8YF-hAORLOxzhiwBM38LRjVWcYTehONPodaXhoP53y1YI/s1600/DSC_0230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcWAJ5B_7P3LtRfEeOdqht_sbBRoWbM1GIJAje1lBQSdZfNM2ff9TcGA-x2zpOQehKlG6sfSn6E04hiSjaNTBbHT0mwKmQwx8YF-hAORLOxzhiwBM38LRjVWcYTehONPodaXhoP53y1YI/s320/DSC_0230.JPG" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We don’t talk about SIDS and safe sleeping. We don’t talk
about how to make up the cot linen for the baby to sleep safely. We don’t
discourage co-sleeping and we don’t discuss overheating. Most all of the women
live in corrugated iron shacks, one family to a room which is usually 3-4m
square. Sometimes the walls are brick but the roof is still iron. A curtain
will separate the sleeping section from the living section. There are always
lace curtains. The sleeping section usually has one single bed for everyone,
and the living section will have a sofa crammed in with everything else. The
‘kitchen’ is any accumulation of surfaces that might hold utensils with a
cooker of some sort (gas, charcoal or electric) featured somewhere, usually on
the floor. Food is not stored, it is bought every day. Babies sleep in the bed
next to mumma with everyone else, and are usually wrapped in several layers. I
counted 8 layers on one baby. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wboIok_dPootfY3RZnJM8KPM4vSs-tce6za2Zl0bHh8vuyUzK7C5_jiCcipClA5zq-qPMm1dFH7QObmRtzh28m00GAGQOuYD29t0fVXivz0aJnL_pIvNO457CebfMF0hfbIBGSHd2uk/s1600/DSC_0286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wboIok_dPootfY3RZnJM8KPM4vSs-tce6za2Zl0bHh8vuyUzK7C5_jiCcipClA5zq-qPMm1dFH7QObmRtzh28m00GAGQOuYD29t0fVXivz0aJnL_pIvNO457CebfMF0hfbIBGSHd2uk/s320/DSC_0286.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary at home with her twins. Her's is another whole story on it's<br />own. Here you can see the sleeping side of her home.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Breastfeeding rates are 100% and there is a new
definition to on demand… read all the time. Physiological jaundice hardly gets
a mention, and when it does, mums are encouraged to feed the baby outside
occasionally. There is usually only one window (and door) per room and they are
usually very dark.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhis47WZNj_rvFeiMoxf16SGZ0FKzAifS-3yzxEqXNjUzfdrfCqFKoa_yzlh5V2PcK1-EEb9dBH5m2zsg7t8AWGTJSjKsj7bj0sSipCYP8PZPtCckbnD0Z-cnYwZkzm3CS5rfXkkXthcM/s1600/IMGP1297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhis47WZNj_rvFeiMoxf16SGZ0FKzAifS-3yzxEqXNjUzfdrfCqFKoa_yzlh5V2PcK1-EEb9dBH5m2zsg7t8AWGTJSjKsj7bj0sSipCYP8PZPtCckbnD0Z-cnYwZkzm3CS5rfXkkXthcM/s320/IMGP1297.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kids filing our of school.... a photo because I liked it!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now here is the thing, girls. We walk. We walk all over the
slums, everywhere, over drains and rubbish piles, past the pigs and goats
shuffling through the rubbish looking for something to eat. We walk through the
markets and through compounds taking short cuts. We walk sometimes for 4 hours
with our equipment in packs on our backs. As we walk we constantly hear the
work ‘Mzungu’. Yes that’s me. Crazy drunk men want to shake my hand, children
want to touch me, and mothers just look as I pass by. Often I say ‘Habari’ and
in return they chorus ‘Muzuri Sana’ – good thanks. We travel in three’s with
Magdalene the midwife, myself (I get to do the baby checks and have nice
cuddles too!!) and Mercy. We are known as 3M!!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAS6A8o3euNY2_YIZOD4GPWvzdVTtx9dVC3mhCZY7fbFs2TJHxlHDuWWnQAuh4EdvavAK6kV6FMMQugM5P-rADOjKJTjLHWI0TNlLw3Y97iHA4kODQqLM3uQVhVSdKiPra_aVGKq3DqY/s1600/IMGP1257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAS6A8o3euNY2_YIZOD4GPWvzdVTtx9dVC3mhCZY7fbFs2TJHxlHDuWWnQAuh4EdvavAK6kV6FMMQugM5P-rADOjKJTjLHWI0TNlLw3Y97iHA4kODQqLM3uQVhVSdKiPra_aVGKq3DqY/s320/IMGP1257.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rubbish and Dust!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mercy!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now what can I tell you about Mercy. She is one of the hard
workers here. Her job is multi pronged but titled ‘Midwifery Assistant’. She
does everything from feed the women, clean the floors, hang and fold washing
and put it away, wash the dishes, fetch and carry and most importantly, she is
our GPS. She knows these slums back to front and upside down. Considering there
are no real street addresses, she manages to find everyone. She phones and lets
the mothers know we are coming, and if it is difficult to find, she arranges to
meet a relative somewhere close by. She translates for me, laughs at my
attempts at Kiswahili, explains things as we go and best of all she documents
our findings for us. Sometimes she’ll even buy something in the markets on my
behalf if I don’t want to pay white woman’s prices!! And not because she asked me to, but I will leave Mercy my shoes when I leave, seriously, these shoes stand up to everything. That must be a recommendation to nurses and midwives everywhere!!! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dirty dusty hard working feet!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could these shoes look any worse for wear???</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8AghfADLngquGr4gZ7qxUhhiJZWeIEURofNxoX6wE1piEAt6kH8VCCEcT5PCGY15Z934nhwHGLCSY3bt23hZ-DWOB1TDqFTBUWknvutJ5MAGJpQNbXnNFvIUqkDcwHfoj_2v8Q17XGg/s1600/IMGP1310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8AghfADLngquGr4gZ7qxUhhiJZWeIEURofNxoX6wE1piEAt6kH8VCCEcT5PCGY15Z934nhwHGLCSY3bt23hZ-DWOB1TDqFTBUWknvutJ5MAGJpQNbXnNFvIUqkDcwHfoj_2v8Q17XGg/s320/IMGP1310.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shoe shine boy in progress and<br />below... after... good as new!!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the way, did I mention we walk? Everywhere? Seriously, If
I don’t lose weight doing this there is something seriously wrong with me!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-25708881758764551702013-06-12T05:29:00.002-07:002013-06-12T05:32:43.323-07:00Immunization<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I sit writing this there is a 12 year old boy in an
intensive care unit in New Zealand suffering from Tetanus. The article said
that his parents thought they were doing the right thing by withholding
immunizations. Five years ago, we had an outbreak of whooping cough in
Australia. One of my friends contracted it and he very nearly ended up in
intensive care himself. As it was he spent some time in hospital and was very
sick for a long time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Debate will always rage in the western context regarding the
appropriateness of immunizations. And honestly, I’m not sure of all the reasons
people use to withhold them from their children. But this blog post is not to
incite argument or rhetoric; it is simply to document my experiences here in
Kenya.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3kL2V7gl7cFMkrec6NKMBNZLWH2Fi-FyvXqPU5lZ8evaHqPcdr90cKdqtLUxb-OsXxR5n1JpbRa_Bqu9YStT1wPEFykt5vaNg9zX3_NgzEkSTLJ51nAhVz-Mw-RnVxTZb7tufNmNVng/s1600/DSC_0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3kL2V7gl7cFMkrec6NKMBNZLWH2Fi-FyvXqPU5lZ8evaHqPcdr90cKdqtLUxb-OsXxR5n1JpbRa_Bqu9YStT1wPEFykt5vaNg9zX3_NgzEkSTLJ51nAhVz-Mw-RnVxTZb7tufNmNVng/s320/DSC_0439.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Magdalene with the cool carrier<br /> getting ready for our first day.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In Kenya, it is a legal obligation of all parents to
immunize their children. The parents don’t actually have a right to consent or
withdraw from the system of immunization as the government will mass immunize
in the field, ie at school or elsewhere irrespective of the parents views.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCa3FINVRz9d-1GffZnkAduoIIFejJ4lsSYdDsvIOXe41ByOBZj5NQ0pnROTVoLl8smKkqH-sYOnEHT4mo-ZTWIBiMLTTo1go2foEVRCx7CSJUlOiESosW91SDdQBfqaNMdO5yXtcZH8/s1600/DSC_0446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCa3FINVRz9d-1GffZnkAduoIIFejJ4lsSYdDsvIOXe41ByOBZj5NQ0pnROTVoLl8smKkqH-sYOnEHT4mo-ZTWIBiMLTTo1go2foEVRCx7CSJUlOiESosW91SDdQBfqaNMdO5yXtcZH8/s320/DSC_0446.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preparing the first jab. See the one and only kidney dish?<br />No it was in use elsewhere. And we went through many<br />syringes due to their poor quality.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So given that here in Kangwangware and more than likely many
other places, the levels of hygiene that the western world might be accustomed
to are difficult to achieve let alone maintain, the risks of disease are much
higher. There is no running water, sewerage systems or garbage disposal. Good
health means that you aren't sick and that you have something to eat.
Protecting children from disease is an essential. Parents understand what it is
like to lose a child to disease or malnutrition. So they agree to immunize.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKmpQWPi7x1vt532IJ_PsmL8geVUCoDCLX5Wt75BkRkVwoII7L_bcG8ZWYjMa7Gr-4HI1Denk33msh-gWExvK-OM_ZwGwMTvTavHPTuZMEYfW2FOPd19U3Vw97tDVaraddqOMM_ybh6A/s1600/DSC_0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKmpQWPi7x1vt532IJ_PsmL8geVUCoDCLX5Wt75BkRkVwoII7L_bcG8ZWYjMa7Gr-4HI1Denk33msh-gWExvK-OM_ZwGwMTvTavHPTuZMEYfW2FOPd19U3Vw97tDVaraddqOMM_ybh6A/s320/DSC_0440.JPG" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Noel of 'Baptism of Fire' fame was<br />the first to line up with the<br />Beautiful Trisha.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Open wide.... it's only Polio Vax!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Achieving immunization capabilities for FreMo hasn’t been easy. In the three weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the frustrations that Magdalene and Moffat have been up against in what should be a simple effort to set up the service. Moffat has more stories of the 3 year journey it has been for FreMo, but they are not mine to share here.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1xznb45mPQdwzViaoGJ8boMP8WJvvFSLRtFx6v1NZqS7PTXVlG-JR76YoFIctHea-zgxZnpKZT8kvJQu1MZdiDK8XfHXudCbWiZC0H34-RbosxNmU0YLmqJtqXCz_Afiepo53bP0P4Q/s1600/DSC_0452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1xznb45mPQdwzViaoGJ8boMP8WJvvFSLRtFx6v1NZqS7PTXVlG-JR76YoFIctHea-zgxZnpKZT8kvJQu1MZdiDK8XfHXudCbWiZC0H34-RbosxNmU0YLmqJtqXCz_Afiepo53bP0P4Q/s320/DSC_0452.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A beautiful bubba getting naked<br />ready to be weighed</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Below are excerpts from my diary documenting their progress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Magdalene and Moffat were discussing the adventure
Magdalene is having trying to obtain immunizations for the clinic. If it’s not
a wrong fridge thermometer, it’s incomplete paperwork from officialdom or other
such issues. I find it frustrating and I’m not really involved. Magdalene went
all the way to Bagathi Hospital today by matatu to pick up the immunizations.
Everything was in place and we’ve been telling women to come to have their
children immunized. They are coming and we are turning them away. Today is the
day. But no, the cold carrier (I think she means esky) wasn’t available. They
are locked away in the store room, waiting to be used. The man with the store
room key is nowhere to be found. There was nothing to be done but come home
without them. Of course this latest turn of events caused us to discuss their
inefficiencies again. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing like a bit of boobie to sooth<br />after an immunization!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And again…..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Magdalene returns in triumph. We have immunizations as </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">well
as cold boxes. And yes, they are small esky’s. She calls a meeting and tells us
of her adventures. Apparently they didn’t want to give her much stock, but she
talks them around as it is our first order. Moffat immediately goes into
marketing mode and decides the best way to do it is to turn FreMo into a
telemarketing center. Off they go and pull all the charts of birthed women
since September 2012 and start cold calling. It takes all afternoon.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And of course, more photos of beautiful babies.</span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-23300382908390025792013-06-06T03:00:00.000-07:002013-06-06T03:00:17.469-07:00The Secret Life of Tee Shirts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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AKA Where all unloved Tee Shirts end up!<w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s an understatement to say that life in Africa is
different. Things just work differently. Don’t get me wrong. Lots of things are
exactly the same…. It’s just different. For instance, let’s use shopping at the
supermarket as an example. Each aisle has a worker in it, usually wearing a lab
coat printed with the supermarkets name, and it is their job to keep that aisle
stocked, clean and to provide customer assistance. So every time you enter a
new aisle in the supermarket, you meet a new shop assistant – and they live up
to the title – they assist you! Another example is Margaret at the fruit stall.
She will sell me anything I want on her stand, one thing, multiple things, half
a thing peeled nicely and in a plastic bag, or even fruit salad, and she will
do it to order while I wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little boy outside his family grocery store<br /> - not quite a supermarket!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So sticking to the theme of shopping, the markets in Kawangware
are pretty well insane. They are open everyday to varying degrees but Tuesday
and Friday are market days. This is also the days that we go ‘marketing’ to
promote FreMo to pregnant women. I’m really good at this because my whiteness
is a beacon for attention, and I get it. Then I just leave my fellow Kenyans to
actually do the talking! For my friends at work, just think Homeless Connect in
the biggest possible way! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every Tuesday and Friday the stall holders receive a new
shipment of stock. It comes in great big bales that have things squashed into
it much like wool is pressed into bales. To be there for the opening of the
bales is something to see as all the treasures come tumbling out. It seems that
the bales are all second hand clothing, and that most of it comes from the
western world’s charity shops. There are all sorts of brand names to be
discovered if you are willing to stand in the sun, flinging clothing around
with gay abandon. Some of them still have the charity shops price tags on so
you can see which country they come from. It seems to me, that Africa is the
dumping ground for the charity shops who can’t sell all their stock. The
clothing sellers are standing in the midst of it all calling out to would be
customers, telling us that everything costs 50KSH. That’s about 62 cents AUD.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But let’s get back to tee shirts. I’m having the best time
checking out the tee shirts. People are walking around wearing tee shirts that
are completely, shall we say, inappropriate. The other midwives I walk around
with are totally oblivious, and I think they think that I’m a little crazy.
Well really, a grown woman giggling to herself in the open for no apparent
reason?!? I accosted Josephat, our
pathology technician who was wearing this QR National tee shirt. This one comes
from Queensland Rail when they were going public and selling off shares in the
company. My partner works for QR so I thought this was a hoot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Josephat sporting a QR National Tee</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Walking around the slums I’ve seen a young gentleman
squeezed into a tee shirt from the Springfield Baptist Preschool Choir. Is that
Springfield in America or Australia – I’m not sure! Then there was the biggest
guy wearing a purple Curves tee shirt. For those who don’t know, Curves is a
women’s only gym in Australia. I don’t think he realises that! Then there was
the woman wearing a tee shirt with a picture of a young girl on it. It was pink
and had the script ‘For ever in our hearts’ with her name and breast cancer awareness
ribbons printed on it. Actually quite bazaar when you think about it. It's no wonder some of these tee shirts end up at the opportunity shops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So the uniform at FreMo is pink tee shirts for the girls and
blue for the boys with a teddy bear on the left breast sitting next to
children’s building blocks with ABC written on it. I asked where they came from
and was told that they chose the design because of the babies and they get them
from a lady they know. I thought they looked familiar but when a new member of
staff received theirs; they left the tag hanging around. The tag reads
‘Corporate uniform of ABC Learning Centres, Australia’. And now we know what
happens to unused uniforms of companies that go bankrupt. I hope he had to give
them away and that someone here is making a living from selling them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boaz being cool and smiling!!!<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are also multiple sports club tee shirts to be seen,
many many many tourist locality tee shirts, so many in fact that I seriously
wonder why any of us buy those tee shirts from places we visit? Do we ever wear
those tee shirts before we give them away? They seemed like a good idea at the
time! And then there are the university tee shirts usually from America. Today
I saw St Helens College, University of Minnesota, as well as others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ll keep walking around, checking on peoples chests as now it's getting cooler, the sweatshirts are appearing and guess what? The same principles apply! And
I’ll continue to scheme ways to recycle more shirts! BTW, not many photos in today’s
blog as it is a tiny bit conspicuous carrying around a gigantic camera in a
slum! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And a little PS for those keeping track. Here is a photo of the latest of my quilting efforts. The blocks haven't been sewn together yet, just spread out to see how they look. And I've just started on the purple round. Watch this space!</span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-38978675856336719202013-05-31T03:25:00.000-07:002013-05-31T03:36:01.338-07:00Baptism of Fire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve been hanging out with Vicki Chan. She is here until
Tuesday so I am having a fairly thorough orientation into FreMo, Nairobi,
Kenya, the staff, the markets…. Everything she can think of she is sharing. For
that I am grateful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Saturday we started the day with a meeting. It wasn’t
long before the meeting turned into an active birth workshop with Vicki and the
other staff. There are two midwives here – Magadalene and Penina. Mercy is the midwifery
assistant. Fred is our doctor and he lives not far away. The other staff are
clinical officers. Their role is that of junior doctor for all the non
maternity cases that walk in the door, and a cross between PHO/Registrar for
maternity. I say that but I have never, ever, ever seen a doctor care for a
woman in such a midwifery way as these clinical officers do. It is beautiful to behold.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmiLdvJN1SHrVz7og7pmC62pKInP2zPFsEFZuAmeARn5fhpgB-Yek7vxM87TjgPQL_jUn7YEEWWC3wvW4mtrsJ_psOa8VyFldyePaGXerVqesAHmhmya8V6xq0yVTSLxuy6L1CHL52WzE/s1600/wiggle+it.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmiLdvJN1SHrVz7og7pmC62pKInP2zPFsEFZuAmeARn5fhpgB-Yek7vxM87TjgPQL_jUn7YEEWWC3wvW4mtrsJ_psOa8VyFldyePaGXerVqesAHmhmya8V6xq0yVTSLxuy6L1CHL52WzE/s320/wiggle+it.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocking it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvqPLHiZSSJbrA6ZopBsHdrolQ2d0WJv1P1MJTyMvAoTU1g2S29GNx6JDdx3x3zKYR3mvNgUkKmtdA6fksJvwzkGjRefp7Kl0EwxGUmx6_GjLsI3yyZJvBz6dkcQS5-VPWikoeWyQqRY/s1600/shake+it.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvqPLHiZSSJbrA6ZopBsHdrolQ2d0WJv1P1MJTyMvAoTU1g2S29GNx6JDdx3x3zKYR3mvNgUkKmtdA6fksJvwzkGjRefp7Kl0EwxGUmx6_GjLsI3yyZJvBz6dkcQS5-VPWikoeWyQqRY/s320/shake+it.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shaking it!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Vicki is a totally complete and accurate encyclopedia of
active childbirth. In the couple of hours we spent together I think I’ve learnt
more about active birth than I ever had. If you ever get a chance to have a two
day workshop with Vicki, then do NOT hesitate.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCo5rdG7Z1vtjAy_MWKZYMaBnAa4NjJA8gaQjeXut0C1B7q6JoDiRJmqvGLneyr4YNpaInHiQTZ8df3Zwrp83tyxlqOwQcBdSNyD-QaabRJS85WG1d3N54gppCoxEolgJ1uCEc5wQ73ys/s1600/rock+and+roll.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCo5rdG7Z1vtjAy_MWKZYMaBnAa4NjJA8gaQjeXut0C1B7q6JoDiRJmqvGLneyr4YNpaInHiQTZ8df3Zwrp83tyxlqOwQcBdSNyD-QaabRJS85WG1d3N54gppCoxEolgJ1uCEc5wQ73ys/s320/rock+and+roll.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolling it!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">And yes, next door in the other birthroom was a woman in
labour. She struggled. It was a difficult birth. She put everything and more
into having that child. Everything we learnt that morning about active birth
and promoting decent and encouraging strong labour we put into practice that
afternoon. We wanted to transfer, but mum and husband said no. She needed medical intervention, but they
couldn’t pay for the care WE were providing… in a different hospital, she would
be held prisoner until the family came up with the money</span><span style="text-align: left;">.</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4ox80SVi8EM1W55JQiq_3JaYiD2y8AHG1eGqp3AJlHKDe1WFDuk25KmOaHQ2kTOLovB7-O0XepR4s4hQ2MefBzUkIZ-vZY9XtJvhR7VKOHWleyImP6f5nXsA9pjadeyAZUHpf1UtAls/s1600/eunice+and+obama.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4ox80SVi8EM1W55JQiq_3JaYiD2y8AHG1eGqp3AJlHKDe1WFDuk25KmOaHQ2kTOLovB7-O0XepR4s4hQ2MefBzUkIZ-vZY9XtJvhR7VKOHWleyImP6f5nXsA9pjadeyAZUHpf1UtAls/s320/eunice+and+obama.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exhaustion or Relief... you choose!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It costs 4800 Kenyan shillings to have a baby at FreMo.
Currently that is about $57.60. For that they get birth, a room, food and
postnatal visits. And not surprisingly, many women can’t afford it, some work
on a payment plan so they start paying it off when they know they are pregnant.
Some can’t pay, and Moffat works with them. Sometimes they continue to pay
little by little in the postnatal period. Sometimes they don’t. Moffat is
working on a system where instead of insisting they pay what they can’t give,
he gives them a plot of land in a block he is renting, gives them a startup
fund and they can grow vegetables there. They can use them to feed their
families and they can sell them to finance their family and to repay debt. He
gives this to the women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, 26 hours after this woman went into labour, Neil Obama
was safely brought into this world to join his three sisters and older
brother. We all breathed a collective
sigh of relief, shed our emotional tears quietly and whispered our gratefulness
to whichever higher being was watching for her that night.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYbd-kaCUeRG7JEU9LyhHp-yfufmnGDUlxIpX9oVP0e0zRAM5KragwV0FdB1ZDvP1CMDEkAT3b11ogdERzOyj5BuLyezSbsjlQ11xOSd8LPQZRgDfFvmPf4tL_Fe-Y73QgBcAA7ZKFeY/s1600/new+obama.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYbd-kaCUeRG7JEU9LyhHp-yfufmnGDUlxIpX9oVP0e0zRAM5KragwV0FdB1ZDvP1CMDEkAT3b11ogdERzOyj5BuLyezSbsjlQ11xOSd8LPQZRgDfFvmPf4tL_Fe-Y73QgBcAA7ZKFeY/s320/new+obama.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome to the world</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwFb2hrRoSTCfQ9bn8CuAF3pQcH1sA4HDc4PXdy0nGZ5cuZUgQ5SHTUI1ItzjWWoFfQ3jeqGrEr4tj7DNbuW3P-2Zugw4I-ddmJgxN_H_Pfg7OAzvOwrrgHPl1D6KvvhlNt6prTwwNiJ8/s1600/me+and+obama.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwFb2hrRoSTCfQ9bn8CuAF3pQcH1sA4HDc4PXdy0nGZ5cuZUgQ5SHTUI1ItzjWWoFfQ3jeqGrEr4tj7DNbuW3P-2Zugw4I-ddmJgxN_H_Pfg7OAzvOwrrgHPl1D6KvvhlNt6prTwwNiJ8/s320/me+and+obama.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My turn for a cuddle while awaiting the placenta</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But wait, there’s more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is only one staff member on overnight. We are living on site so it doesn’t seem
right to simply walk away when there is business about. We continued that
night…. Another multi with a K36 delivered through what looked like infected
liquor…. Baby took a couple of breaths and decided it was too hard. After about
5 minutes of active resuscitation (the best you can do with only a neonatal
ambu bag) she decided that she would breathe by herself. There was another
collective sigh of relief.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7UnhXFNmVn48Hg6DSOBBfrhRhXtBdsLgx-RgiDwQKMIkZPtyL4afg7tD2AhtfTpCMf7egRsoJqhP2dqBMyTYf8V5yfchmCsYt4ZIlfRfsBm6D4xHf1A2cG3a42_BrZuuruNxTENtL6k/s1600/marion+and+ivy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7UnhXFNmVn48Hg6DSOBBfrhRhXtBdsLgx-RgiDwQKMIkZPtyL4afg7tD2AhtfTpCMf7egRsoJqhP2dqBMyTYf8V5yfchmCsYt4ZIlfRfsBm6D4xHf1A2cG3a42_BrZuuruNxTENtL6k/s320/marion+and+ivy.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mum and Ivy at their home visit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0oBnlacCIoZPkZRHUwOzrwkW56cZ1_Hqxd-mliVdNikluQzpuM3UeG5OoEcxCvVvtkox2w6Wuwlii2Y5az0pIX2mlsxDME4ZqnsKs45yrU0K9qWqQAIZqtMsPR4Q4-Gx7ysGbce4b4g/s1600/ivy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0oBnlacCIoZPkZRHUwOzrwkW56cZ1_Hqxd-mliVdNikluQzpuM3UeG5OoEcxCvVvtkox2w6Wuwlii2Y5az0pIX2mlsxDME4ZqnsKs45yrU0K9qWqQAIZqtMsPR4Q4-Gx7ysGbce4b4g/s320/ivy.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ivy looking sweet as!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Meanwhile next door,
an 18yo primip was going slowly. In the wee hours of the morning we detected
fetal distress at around 6cms, high head, slow progress. The decels were deep,
long lasting and variable. There was no need to rupture the membranes to know
there was also meconium liqor… the thickest, greenest I have ever seen. Again,
she refused transfer. We talked with her about her baby dying… she knew more
about life and death than we did…. She would rather die here than go to a major
hospital. We slowed down with the fetal monitoring, listening in around every 5-10 mins. We only needed to know how active to be with the resuscitation when the
time came. The Mamma asked us to pray for her. Vicki did – out loud and with
passion. There were more tears. The young mamma was so brave, she worked so
very hard and pushed that baby out in under an hour. The beautiful little one came out crying God
Bless Her and yet again, we are grateful for a miracle</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eljRzD-bVkqBM-AmiSRHq4cahuaKYMJKvknIre9-l7imGWZVTaPhsNpp_3qcjhGz_Xuo5SkzawSdYH0yz7QR_pjRc02xpCkH3EPtPPBiCzSJILdA7beHn3aox4f4Dgx9KW8gFutsTV0/s1600/noel+bonding.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eljRzD-bVkqBM-AmiSRHq4cahuaKYMJKvknIre9-l7imGWZVTaPhsNpp_3qcjhGz_Xuo5SkzawSdYH0yz7QR_pjRc02xpCkH3EPtPPBiCzSJILdA7beHn3aox4f4Dgx9KW8gFutsTV0/s320/noel+bonding.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vicki helping mum to bond with her baby </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is Vicki and I doing a selfie with that euphoria when
everything turns out ok, at 5am at that silly time all night duty people will recognize after we have been awake since 6am the previous morning.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwwvWPVou3osTKH49wHbCbaTSKOZRB8ok3eypY-_79z6skxWAB90c4qfOgawqZi-ajwljGcYM0VBf44xFs7Xf-gcLtw3T48yn3GznmpIr9hRgCAmjuJfWW3oVbDPutUPZh8H_KAgzUZ8/s1600/selfie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQwwvWPVou3osTKH49wHbCbaTSKOZRB8ok3eypY-_79z6skxWAB90c4qfOgawqZi-ajwljGcYM0VBf44xFs7Xf-gcLtw3T48yn3GznmpIr9hRgCAmjuJfWW3oVbDPutUPZh8H_KAgzUZ8/s320/selfie.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking fab after being awake for 23 hrs..... but wait, we<br />didn't get to bed for another 4 hours!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44AG8nFSPNDoDlXfbdyJRwl0YR2f6jfTAAyhOCq8O5jUK-XyPJP8PSrwRJaV23Z7RVsXwEmpCOfpiVoFigZjvwK8u5tmu7qn0-UvL-6KslvSjW3z-wb0jx4bneR4uGx1rAEpEZgSH6J8/s1600/quiet+night.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44AG8nFSPNDoDlXfbdyJRwl0YR2f6jfTAAyhOCq8O5jUK-XyPJP8PSrwRJaV23Z7RVsXwEmpCOfpiVoFigZjvwK8u5tmu7qn0-UvL-6KslvSjW3z-wb0jx4bneR4uGx1rAEpEZgSH6J8/s320/quiet+night.JPG" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">FreMo in the quiet and still of early morning. Three mammas
and babies resting quietly, two midwives and a clinical officer taking a cup of
well earned Australian style tea. We
have definitely earned it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And so, off to bed…. But only for a couple of hours.
More adventures to come!!</span><span id="goog_1855269829"></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-28369518895749045662013-05-28T12:47:00.001-07:002013-05-28T12:49:20.728-07:00It Begins....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Welcome to Kenya … Have a nice day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And that was it, a little flourish and the visa was stuck in
my passport. I didn't wait to examine it, I was in and off to collect my
luggage and find Vicki Chan and Moffat Osoro. Welcome to Kenya indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This may sound crazy… but it looks like Africa. The trip
from the airport was exactly what I was expecting, road works, all types of
transportation you can possibly imagine, animals and a sea of humanity on the move. The
trees were distinctively different and the smell, yes the smells.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was made to feel very welcome at FreMo and was greeted
politely and kindly by everyone. I’m still working on the names but I know I
will get there. If any of you have taken
the time to look at the <a href="http://www.fremobirthcentre.com/" target="_blank">FreMo website </a>or <a href="http://vicki-chan.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Vicki’s blog</a> it is exactly as it
looks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The view from the street....</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inside the main corridor...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the corridor that takes me to my room. I have to
walk down it at an angle or my clothes get caught… it is cement at this end,
but rocks at the other end. If I have my backpack on it is difficult. I call it my room but I have two, and they are
separate to FreMo and behind their complex. There are other rooms here, one is
for Vicki, another is a FreMo storage… and yet others house whole families in
them. Therefore I feel privileged to
have some privacy, as I know I will be retreating here simply to take time out,
or for my complete and total sanity’s sake!! After dark, the security man,
Eric, walks me here and waits to make sure I am in. He carries a big stick!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My front room....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My bed room...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My <a href="http://www.lifestraw.com.au/" target="_blank">LifeStraw Famil</a>y for filtering the water….. it works
really well and tastes good. I do have to carry jugs of water from FreMo’s
kitchen to here, but that is OK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So. Here I am. It feels comfortable; the people of FreMo make
it feel familiar. They are good, friendly people doing a hard job in difficult
circumstances. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-74763021820995990692013-05-09T22:43:00.002-07:002013-05-10T04:36:12.671-07:00Excitement<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well I’m officially on leave. I’m in my first week of having
four months away from my paid work. I don’t know what that feels like as I’ve
never done it before, and I guess I’m still settling into the idea of not
seeing my work colleagues (or the women I care for) until August. That seems
like an age away! In my last couple of weeks at work I spent some time with the
midwife taking over my role while I’m away, working together, talking together and
introducing her to people who can help her so that I know she will be ok. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">During the course of this activity many people gave me their
best wishes and asked me if I was excited about my upcoming adventure. The answer is – I’m not quite sure. It’s hard
to describe how I feel. I remember being excited when I planned the big
European adventures of 1988 when I left Australia for a period of time which
ended up being 5 years. I don’t feel
like that. I remember planning the move back home. It doesn’t feel like that.
It feels a mix of nervous anxiety with a tinge of heightened expectation at the
unknown. I’m heading into an adventure that has been five years in the planning
and it could simply be that it’s a long time coming and I’ve used all my
nervous excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It might simply be a
case of I know what I don’t know as a practicing midwife. For the last ten
years or so I have been working in the antenatal arena and am considered an
expert in my field. What does that mean? It means that I know the systems
within our hospital inside out. It means that when a problem arises we refer
quickly and easily (via medical opinion/referral) for blood tests, scans or
medical opinion. AKA ‘We have the technology’.
For some time past I have been asking myself what would I do in certain
situations if I didn’t have the technology at my fingertips?? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have spent the last eight months or so “upskilling” in the
birth suites. I spent all of my time there asking myself what I was learning
that would help me care for women in Africa. The answers were mixed… I now am
proficient caring for women with an induction of labour, an epidural, active
management of 3<sup>rd</sup> stage and can ‘catch’ a baby at LSCS. I’m fairly
sure there will be none of the medicalization of birth where I am heading. Will
I be able to support a woman in natural labour, with non medical pain relief
options and natural 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> stage?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know that I will be
well supported by the staff who live this as an everyday experience. I know that
I will be challenged in many ways, least of all mentally, emotionally, physically and
spiritually. I will see things I’ve never seen before, and things that I’m
hoping I will never see. I know I will
learn many things that will help me continue to grow as a person and as a
midwife. And if I achieve that I will be happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Am I excited? I guess the answer is Yes. Twelve days left before I leave. Talk to you all again then.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-56312851595758746232013-04-01T02:34:00.001-07:002013-04-01T02:34:56.864-07:00Adventures in Fundraising<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my own philosophies in life is ‘if you don’t ask… you
don’t get’…. So sometimes I just ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think I’m almost ready for my journey. Well the organised
part of me should be as there are only five weeks left until I finish work. Needless
to say the last few weeks have been fairly busy as well. I've been pleasantly surprised with the
support that has come from various place and I've had donations of equipment that
I haven’t really known how to deal with. The airline I’m flying with will
only allow their standard luggage allowance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I really do think I need to
take some clothes with me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So then I remembered that the hospital I work at supports
their sister hospital, which is also in Nairobi, by sending a container once a
year with used equipment in it. So, I
asked the question… is there any space in the container to send a few things?
Sure there is… but I had to get it to them in 8 days’ time. They were packing
the container and I didn't want to miss the deadline. So I packed up some of
the things that I had already collected, and then put the call out for other
things that I hadn't planned on taking at all because of the aforementioned
lack of luggage space. Once again, my beautiful quilt group came to the fore
and answered the call for old towels – which will be very useful. I’d also
sourced some knitted items (mostly jumpers and beanies), some baby clothes, some toys, some books, and lots of medical
equipment that is clean but no longer sterile, or is now out of date. Another company gave suture materials and also
some theater clogs!!! So they have all been packed and are slowly making their
way over to Africa…. Yay!! I even had a random visit from a midwife who'd spent time in Ethiopia and had a contact for someone who was giving away a couple of fetal heart rate dopplers. I'll be picking them up tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The actual fundraising has been going well. I’m very happy
with the response to the quilt. I’m still selling tickets and it will be drawn
on May 2<sup>nd</sup>, so if you still want to get some tickets, please see the
previous posting for the details on how to get them. It’s funny how people react when you start to fund raise My department at work have fallen behind the ‘gold coin donation morning
teas’ really very well and I’m sure some of the doctors are putting in more
than a gold coin… in fact one of the older more crusty doctors often finds
creative ways to give me money! Thanks hunny!! I think he thinks that I haven't noticed! Another couple of doctors have
also donated $200 each and some donations have come from quilting friends as
well. Thanks very much one and all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part of my getting ready to go has included my sewing kit. Those
who know me know that I need something to do for those quiet times. I've had
this little kit stashed in the cupboard for a while now. I started this years ago,
but didn't get very far at all. So I've been cutting squares of fabrics to take
with me to make into a quilt. It will be made using an Apple Core design on the
principle of a charm quilt which means no piece of fabric is repeated more than
once. I've also been tidying the fabric stash as I go. I’ll keep you posted
with the progress of my quilt as well. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for keeping up with my progress and feel free to pass on the blog to anyone you think might be interested.</span></div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-15739735122936075182013-02-26T23:52:00.000-08:002013-02-26T23:52:59.278-08:00Twists and Turns<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have a good
life. I have an easy life. I've had my share of </span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ups and downs, but in reality - it's still been
an easy life. I've always had people around me who care, I've always had
somewhere to live and food on the table and clothes in my cupboard. I have a
good job. I've never really lacked for anything. I'm fortunate that I
have all this and still, can see that I am fortunate. I thank my parents and
God for giving me a social conscience, and I think that is why I still have
this need to go to Africa. I believe that I have something
to contribute.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Things have changed since I last wrote. That
happens. There have been some changes to my travel plans. It seems that
our government has changed it's travel advice for westerners living and working
in Somaliland to 'Do Not Travel'. After talking it over with my very supportive
better half, we thought it best to look elsewhere to see how I can continue
the pursuit of my dream and still work as a midwife in a 3rd world
country.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After looking at many options I have now
arranged to work with Moffat and Fred at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://fremomc.brinkster.net/" target="_blank">FreMo</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Medical Clinic and Birthing Centre
in Nairobi, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kenya. Midwives that I work with have visited the clinic in
their travels and there is also a midwife here in Queensland who also supports
this clinic. Reading her<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://vicki-chan.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> makes me
realise that I can also work there and have the type of experience I am open to
- one of learning and sharing. Talking with Moffat via email gives glimpses of
his passion to bring good health care to his community. I am looking forward to
going now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Because FreMo is located in a
slum, and they are doing the very best they can under extremely difficult
circumstances I have decided to </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">fund-raise</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> in an effort to help FreMo. Their new
project is the setting up of a second birthing room, which is appropriate for I will possibly
be working in this room. To that end, I am raffling off one of my patchwork quilts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">This is a new quilt and pieced by myself from fabrics
that I have hand dyed and hand painted. My friend Jane R. did the most wonderful
quilting which really sets off the quite simple medallion style of the quilt.
You can join in this raffle by sending moeny directly to Moffat's PayPal account
(moffat2002US@yahoo.com). For every $5 donation I will allocate 3 raffle
tickets to you. Simply post the receipt in the comments box below and I will
allocate your tickets.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My leaving date is still the
end of May. My current employers are still very supportive of my endeavours and
have gone so far as to put together a mission box of equipment for me to take. Hiccoughs
aside - the 5 year plan is progressing well.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Hanuman; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Henry David Thoreau, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Hanuman; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."</i>Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-751435057795799229.post-718810008315177682013-01-07T01:45:00.002-08:002013-01-07T01:53:25.360-08:00The Five Year Plan<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">I always knew that I wanted to be a midwife. It seemed like the
kind of job where I could look after people, not have to deal with sickness and
also make a difference in people’s lives. Working with women and babies is the
bonus. Well that is the short answer anyway. Most of my early years of work,
higher education and travel revolved around becoming a midwife. I achieved my
midwifery qualification in London in 1991 from St Mary's Hospital in</span> Paddington<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: yellow;"></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>before returning home to Australia in
1993 and I have worked in a large tertiary hospital ever since. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Now that my son is of an age where he can (supposedly) be
responsible for himself, it is my time to have another adventure. I've been planning this adventure in one shape or form for the last five years. It's been through many permutations however, I've always
wanted to work somewhere in the developing world, where I will have a cultural
challenge and where just maybe, I can contribute in a positive way. Working
with refugee women here in Australia has simply strengthened that goal. If
anyone of you hasn't heard of the</span> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals"><span style="font-size: large;">Millenium </span></a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Developement <span style="color: blue;"><span class="apple-converted-space"></span>Goals</span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"> then reading more about that will give more insight into the
why. I can't do much about numbers 1 and 8, I don't have much influence in
number 2 but numbers 3, 4 and 5 are directly related to the work that I do, and
number 6 is my other sphere of specialty - HIV in pregnant women - and number 7
is how I try to live the rest of my life. But, more about that later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">I was reading a fabulous book called </span><a href="http://www.halftheskymovement.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Half the Sky</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> which galvanised my thinking in many ways and also
introduced me to </span><a href="http://www.ednahospital.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Edna Adan Maternity Hospital</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"> in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Somaliland.<span style="color: black;"> I
could relate to her mission and was impressed with her dedication. I wrote and
asked if I could work with her and 6 hours later she responded with a
resounding yes. Now what to do? I had spent the last 9 years working in an
antenatal clinics. I needed more experience in birth suites so late 2012 I
moved out of my comfort zone and started working part time in our birth suites
and part time continuing to care for pregnant women of a refugee background.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">This<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>blog <span style="color: black;"><span class="apple-converted-space"></span>is an attempt to share this journey
with friends and family and work colleagues who may be interested, instead of
splashing it all over facebook. Stay tuned for more to come, it’ll be
slow to start with, as I don’t leave until end of May. However, I will add
occasionally before then.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<em><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;">"If one advances confidently in the
direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined,
he will meet with success unexpected in common hours."</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;"> -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="background: white;">Henry David Thoreau</span></span></em><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Michellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675864346559751459noreply@blogger.com5