It’s a different world

I am still amazed that I am in a different country. I keep soaking it all up and snapping as many pictures as I can while enjoying the moment.

We pulled up to Shell gas station and there were people waiting to assist us. We all stayed in the car while they pumped the gas for us. Very interesting because in California, we have to pump our own gas, but here in Africa, people are employed to do it for you. Guess how much gas is? Between .80 cents and .90 cents US. Ours is almost 4x higher. We got all gased up for the Safari we will be doing later to go see the animals.

Now, we are headed to Masai Mara where we will be sleeping in tents, going on a Safari and going to the Masai Village. Off we go! Ready for a 5 hour drive!

Finally we arrived. I truly didn’t know what to expect, but this is much better than I expected. Nothing like the tents I imagined. I was pleased!

We even have a toilet inside and a shower with hot water. The toilet might take about 10 minutes to flush again after the last flush, but that’s better than peeing outside.

Well, That’s it for now, you will hear from me later! (This post is 1 day late due to no wifi)

2 shy of 1000, but 998 will do!

Wow, I can’t believe today was the last day of clinics! It was so sad to leave all of the people we were serving and caring for. In 2 days we saw 998 patience, provided medication, hygiene and nutrition education and prayer. Working together as a team and having God first was the only way this was possible. I did over 30 cervical cancer screenings on my own, and over 90 total as a team within two days. I never imagined I would be doing vaginal exams, maybe one during clinical rotations, but not 96 exams. 

When I first found out I was going to be in the cancer screening area, I had so much joy! To be able to catch someone’s cancer early on is big. Cancer has messed with so many people dear to me and I want to either make a difference and try to prevent them from getting it, or catch it during the earlier stages. 

Over the past two days, I got to work with some amazing women who were ages 28,28, 29 and 30. They took me in as a little sister and tried to teach me everything they knew. 

One patient told me I was an amazing doctor and thanked me for caring for her. Although I’m not a doctor, that gave me so much hope and it confirmed the things God has planned for me. 

The people trust us to care for them and they don’t question our skill, or our procedure. It’s amazing! 

I had the privilege of holding a beautiful baby while his mother was getting seen by the doctor. Something about children that can make your whole world light up even when it seems so dark.  

Through it all, today I learned that you don’t have to speak the same language to show love, love comes in many shapes, sizes, colors, and languages. God is love, and He loves all! 

Riot vs. celebration

8:00 am

Yesterday, around 9:40 pm, I finally hit the rock, oh I mean the bed, it’s just a bit hard.

My body was so tired after only sleeping about 3 hours in 2 days. Things were feeling great, my body was relaxing, before I knew it I was out! I thought I was in a deep sleep dreaming since all I could hear in my sleep was so many loud noises, screaming and horns non stop. I realized I wasn’t dreaming, it was reality. I started to think OMG, they must have announced the results of the presidential election and people are unhappy. I was a little resistant to get up thinking people would be terrorizing and messing up the city like they do in America. Finally, I decided to get up and peek out the patio window. After glancing, I realized people were so excited and filled with joy that they were screaming loudly, honking horns, and making various types of noises as they celebrated their current president being re-elected. 

I peeked it the window for a while before I realized I needed to get rest to be prepared for the next day. I wondered how I was going to sleep with all the noise going on outside which felt like it was coming from inside the hotel because of how loud it was. Benadryl was on my mind because I knew if I took it I would be sleep shortly after. I decided to lay down and pray for God to give me rest. By the time I opened my eyes again, it was 6:27, 3 minutes before I scheduled for my alarm to go off. 
Breakfast was great, had an omelette and some potatoes. 
This wonderful chef woke up at 4 am to make sure the food was prepared for us. As I started to have a conversation with him, he told me he was 26 years old and graduated from college recently! 

9 am 

Yesterday we went to go visit the site we are hosting the medical camp at today. They told us that some people wait a full year for this camp to come so that they can get aid. Just to get to a hospital would cost their whole life savings. Since we bring free aid right to them, this is something they look forward to. 

Now that I am a certified EMT, I am always curious what different trainings are offered and what it takes to become an EMT. I was shocked to hear it takes 3 years to become an EMT. Something that took me less than 2 months. 

The EMTs are similar to nurses in the USA. They do “family Planning” aka birth control implantations, vaginal examinations, lab work, and much more. 

I’m so excited that today I get to work in the cancer screening section at the medical camp! Cancer is dear to my heart and I can’t wait to provide care in this area. 

Dreams can become a reality!

Ken-ya believe I am on my way to Kenya?? This still is not real to me and I know that God is going to transform me in so many ways while I am gone.
My dream to go to Africa all started when I was a child, and I experienced racism at a young age. My mother always made sure to be transparent with my siblings and I about things we may face and what was going on in the world. Since I went to school in a predominately white neighborhood, I was ALWAYS the only black kid in my class and all the other (3) black kids at the school experienced the same. I always got questioned about my hair growing over night, and if I ‘cut my hair’ on the days I took out my braids.  At first it didn’t bother me, but over time, I started to become annoyed and didn’t want to feed into the nonsense. I started to just say ‘yea’ to make conversation end faster. I will never forget the day I was playing at the playground with a group of kids, and a girl (name I will not disclose) told me that I couldn’t play on the monkey bars because I was black.  It was that moment, that my heart began to ache. It was that moment that I experienced racism first hand. Not through the stories of my ancestors, but me and my own story. It was that day that I learned that I was going to love every difference, because it made me unique. I started to question my mom more about being black, and i became curious to what my ancestors experienced and understanding who I truly was. As I grew older, my desire to go to Africa became stronger and stronger.

That dream is now a reality. Soon, I will be in Kenya and no, I Ken- not believe it!!!

Every journey has some stops, and I was blessed with the opportunity to stop in a Dubai! The airport is absolutely beautiful! 

Of course after a 16 hour flight with very few bath room breaks, the next stop is the restroom. Completely different set up than our bathrooms at home.i was not expecting to see a hose to spray your butt or a toilet leveled with the ground. They also had sanitizer to clean toilets instead of seat covers. 

This was the beginning of a shock for me. I can’t wait to get to Kenya! Please continue to check out my blogs so that you can see all that I am experiencing. Thank you!!!

(Post has been delayed 14 hours due to wifi issues. Hopefully you still follow along on this journey. Please feel free to comment)

It’s so hard to say goodbye

Just 2 weeks ago I was all anxious about my trip to Cambodia, and now it’s over! 10 days goes by so fast especially when you are doing what you love. I have never seen people so strong, caring, kind, loving, innocent etc. in my life. This was all a dream, well at least until I came to Cambodia. Now I can finally say I know people who fit into these categories! I wanted to just bring all of the kids back with me to America, but that would not be possible. I want them to have the same opportunities that I have had. But I had to stop and realize that removing your self from an environment and being placed in another does not solve the problem. There is a lot to be done, and it is possible!

People always want others to take a walk in their shoes, but how about you go try walking in someone else’s shoes and see what their life is all about! It’s not easy being in their position, but now I have a new perspective on life and the lives of others.

Every time a new year comes, people say they are going to change and “it’s a new me”, but it’s almost the middle of the year, and I have already implemented change. It’s one thing to say it, but doing it is the key. Well Cambodia, until we meet again!

God can turn Something so messy into something so beautiful!

This whole entire trip I was excited to be able to ride an elephant, and when that plan failed, I began to say I wanted to see the birth of a child. Why? Honestly I didn’t know at the time why I wanted to, except for the fact I thought it would be interesting!

When the first set of students went to volunteer at the clinic, they came back saying a baby was Born the other day. That made me think that it was more realistic and that I would be able to actually see a baby born. When the time came for me to go to the clinic, I went with 2 of our nursing students. We were in the room with one of the Cambodian nurses while he was doing an assessment and I started to look outside the office and noticed a pregnant woman. The next time I turned around she was gone. I began to question where did she go and found out she was going into labor! I got excited and the nurse agreed to let me watch then the others came as well. Once we were in the room, she asked if we wanted to help and we said yes of course. This did not seem real, I couldn’t believe it was actually coming true and I was about to see my first birth experience! One of the nursing students said ” we may not be able to see it, because it can take hours or days”. Our shift was only about 3 hours and the first 2 had already passed. I told them no we will. Next thing you know, the baby was ready to come out!!! Seeing the babies hair really made it reality. As the head worked its way out, tears of joy surfaced our faces as if we were delivering our own babies. Then the entire body slide our so fast it was amazing!! Then to find out it was a cute little baby girl made it even more exciting! I couldn’t believe the mother did not make a sound and she had no medication for pain. Cambodian people are so strong, there is nobody in America I know that is as quiet as a mouse during labor!

At that moment, it became even more clear that the medical field is where God wants me to be and that gynecology is possibly my specialty! God always has plans that we cannot see and He has ways of making it clear what our purpose is and I am grateful for this wonderful experience. Can’t wait to have a child of my own so I can experience that joy again!

Time for dinner!! Yum!!

Language as a barrier?

Sour sdey!

I bet you are wondering what the heck I just said. It means hi in Khmer. Imagine being in a foreign country not knowing how to to speak their language do you think you can survive?? Of course you can. I had an amazing experience today working in the schools with the children. They want to learn so bad and they try really hard. At first I had no idea how I would do eye check ups and communicate effectively with them so they understood exactly what I wanted them to do, but I was wrong! They understood so well and they enjoyed getting stickers once they were finished with their check ups. “Head shoulders knees and toes” seems to be a big hit and they are learning more words everyday. We even made earrings out of stickers!!!

Well gotta wrap it up time to go shop at the night market!

Lea hery (bye)

Sunrise!!

Today was an amazing day filled with many interesting things. Visiting the temple and watching the sunrise! A sunrise that is nothing like in American. So bright red that you cannot bare staring at it. Something so beautiful that a camera could not savor the moment nor capture the true image that the human eye perceived. The beauty of being in another country!!

Water does the body well!!

Ever imagined living without filtered water? Drinking from the same place that fecal matter is present? How about walking very long distances to get water? Or cherishing the water you get so you can’t make it last? I’m sure just like me, that’s not a thought that ever once crossed your mind!

I never knew how exciting a family could be just to have clean water. I had the privilege of donating 2 water wells thanks to all of my donors (too many to name) and of course giving all honor to God! When I heard we were going to visit 3/6 wells today, there was excitement that grew inside of me. Not really knowing what to expect but I knew something great was awaiting us! The first well we went to see was our personal team well which 14 of us contributed $18. Now imagine what we all can so and what a difference we can make with just $18!!!

When we approached the 2nd well, we were greeted by a woman who gave us hugs and picked us up off of our feet. Yes, our feet were lifted above the ground. She was so excited!! As I walked to the front of the well, and read the sign I begin to experience a joy that I could not explain! I was so excited! I took pictures with the family, and as I began to walk away as tears filled my eyes. I did not want them to see me cry, but I just couldn’t hold it in. Everyone wondered who Willie and LaDerris were and I replied my grandpa and dad. To be able to have a well in honor of them that the people in the village were so thankful for meant the world to me! Something I will never forget and I know they won’t either.

Lastly, we visited a well in one of the schools. Immediately all of the children were waving and saying hi to us. We arrived at the well and noticed it was donated by one of our team member’s families. They called a few kids to come take a picture and the whole school came over it was awesome!

We take so much for granted and I used to complain about drinking arrowhead water when there are people who don’t even have clean water. Something to really think about. Well that’s it for the night. Long day tomorrow! Be grateful for what you have because It can always be worse!

Money money money money!!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well from my experience, a picture is worth about 16,000 in Cambodian money!! I just wanted a picture with the children to show my niece, but I didn’t know it would cost me. But hey, anything that helps is ok by me. At least I know I will be sneaking pictures now on…. Ok ok just kidding guess I will be taking them alone!