March 5th, the road to Gilgil

After a strong cup of coffee and a restless sleep we are on our way to Gilgil, passing through the outskirts of Nairobi and out into the countryside. Driving here is a bit intense. The narrow, winding road to Gilgil is a two-lane highway, and, like the British, Kenyans drive in the opposite lane. Mutatus (small buses packed near bursting with passengers) go sweeping past our car every few minutes. Lines of traffic merge into the opposite lane to overtake semi-trucks in unison, and, not infrequently, an emboldened driver will drift into the far shoulder to pass ahead of the passing train of cars. Usually with traffic coming up fast in the other lane.

The Great Rift Valley

So, when not involuntarily clenching my teeth and silently reciting prayer I was able to look out the window and enjoy the passing scenery. This is truly a beautiful and majestic country. The road to Gilgil winds over a high plateau overlooking the Great Rift Valley stretching out into a wide plane below before rising again into desert peaks thousands of feet high. 



As we drive, Suzanne mentions that Lake Nakuru has been polluted by the cut flower agribusiness industry, which grows tulips and roses using heavy pesticides for export mainly to the Netherlands. It seems that the flower industry is responsible for much of the peasant migration towards the cities, buying up the farmlands outside of Nairobi. Many former farming families live in tent housing communities along the roadside, no longer able to support themselves or their children through agriculture, but left without work opportunities.

The rolling hills of the high plateau are speckled with gardens and brightly colored cement homes: blue, orange, red, and lime green. Shepherds bring their goats to graze along the roadside. They are weathered and upright elder men carrying long wooden staffs, emptily gazing at the passing traffic beneath wool caps.

Although this time of year is the dry season in Kenya -- and many are worried about a prolonged drought -- the climate on the plateau is slightly temperate. This allows farmers here to grow pale green cabbage and kale in broad furrows rising up in mounds of dark, red earth. Because of the temperate climate in the high country, evergreen  trees such as cedar (not a Thuja plicata, if there are any botanists out there) and a species of long-needled pine form lush stands of woodland. After passing through a dense highland forest we begin our long descent into the Great Rift Valley below, driving another 40 km across the plains before turning off the highway towards Gilgil. Herds of zebras stroll through the dusty landscape, lethargic in the heat. Family's of baboons groom one another by the roadside, chasing after the occasional banana peel or empty chip bag tossed from car windows. David mentions that baboons can actually be fairly dangerous if you happen to be of the feminine persuasion. Apparently, a baboon will not threaten or attack a male human, even a child, but they are known to become aggressive towards women of all ages. Fair warning.

My first impression of Gilgil is that it is a bustling, crowded place. Bicyclists ride along the curb with impossibly massive stacks of crates bound to the back with twine. Vendors serve dusty bottles of coca-cola and fanta and plantain fries in paper napkins behind market-style stands. Every street we drive through is lined with a row of bright cement storefronts, including grocers, furniture houses, Western-style clothing stores, and bicycle repair shops. As we make our way slowly through town many people look up from their conversations to see the new "muzungus" (Swahilli for white people) in town.

...

The road to Wana Duma leads through a gated community and is like driving over a series of speed bumps. Pulling through the main gate, a good-natured dog, Bahati ("lucky" in Sawahili) comes to say hello. Wana Duma is housed in a townhouse-style abode split into two rentals. Susan, the co-manager of the Wana Duma project, welcomes my dad and I with the Swahili greeting, "karibu-sana." Inside, Susan introduces us to Mercy, a teenage girl suffering in the latter stages of HIV/AIDS, who slowly rises from the couch to extend her hand in greeting. Mercy is incredibly thin and is having difficulty with her appetite, but still has a bright spark in her eyes matched by, as Suzanne forewarned, an incredibly sharp wit. Unfortunately, Mercy contracted tuberculosis recently, and her doctor was forced to take her off anti-retroviral drugs so TB drugs could be administered, and the disease worsened considerably. Apparently, the current generation of AIDS drugs might have saved Mercy, but she has been on a regimen of the prior generation. However, this is not because the new drugs are unavailable. In fact, they are sitting on shelves in nearby hospitals, and, because they are generics, the current anti-retrovirals cost a paltry $300.00 (compared to the $10,000 copay many Americans pay for the same medicine).

This generation of drugs was, however, unavailable to Mercy because the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has determined, in its wisdom, that it is more cost-effective to “use-up” the older generation of anti-retrovirals before breaking into the new batch.

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Dr. Steve gets a bottle of probiotics from his bag to help Mercy with her appetite, while Susan introduces us to Doula, a young, kind-hearted Samburu man on school break. The Samburu are the indigenous people who live in the northern part of Kenya, while the Maasai are the indigenous people to the south. The central region of Kenya (where Gilgil is roughly located) has traditionally been occupied by Kukuyu people.

Doula

At Wana Duma, I pick up a book by Johan Buch Steen titled, “The Maasai People” and thumb through the pages. According to Buch Steen, of all these groups, the fiercely independent Maasai have resisted westernization and modernization most stringently, taking little to no interest in the procession of colonial and neo-colonial powers occupying their country. The Maasai are nomadic cattle-herders, erecting their camps centrally around a fence of spine-covered acacia branches, which protects their herds from prowling lions. According to Maasai belief, their rain god, Enkai (the Masai are monotheistic) gave them rights to all the cattle in the world, so cattle raids across the country are common. However, because the Maasai are deeply respected by their countrymen, these raids are rarely prosecuted.

Further, the Maasai marry in age sets, and sexual jealousy is forbidden among men or women of a given age set. This means that a Maasai warrior has the right to any woman of his age set, marking his intentions by placing a spear outside of the hut he intends to spend the night in. Although colonialism and globalization have threatened their culture, many Maasai still live in the traditional way, herding cattle across the plains of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.

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The interior of Wana Duma is modest and clean, and is arranged in a welcoming and warm fashion with handmade wooden furniture and textiles, a small library, and silk screen artwork hung from the walls. Making our way to the back of the house, my Dad and I get settled in our room and begin to get unpacked, bringing the bag of supplements to the upstairs treatment room and setting up a small natural pharmacy overlooking the courtyard.

Dr. Steve, Miriam, and Lucy

Already there are patients to see. Miriam, a comely young women from town, arrives with her two young sisters, Lucy and Sarah. Miriam is involved in the Wana Duma project, and works around the house on most days. Because Miriam's mother has passed away from AIDS and her grandmother has also passed, Miriam has assumed responsibility for her younger sisters. Although Lucy contracted HIV in the womb, Sarah is fortunately HIV negative. Dr. Steve goes through a series of health and lifestyle questions with Miriam and her sisters, taking notes at the desk, and checks the sound of Lucy's lungs with his stethascope. A physical exam reveals that both girls are in wonderful health, with bright, cheerful dispositions and strong levels of energy. After Miriam and her sisters leave, Dr. Steve takes a look at four more patients, selecting different immunity supplements and discussing lifestyle and nutrition concerns. Despite the various infectious diseases that the children are dealing with, such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, most have a strong constitution and appear to be in good health.

After seeing patients, Suzanne, Susan, Dr. Steve, and I enjoy a simple meal of mashed plantains, yams, and stewed arugula, and then head off to bed early.