Kenya 2002
My Medical Missions Trip to Africa
By Charles McGhee

I have wanted to go to Africa for many years.  My dream finally came true this year when I got to go to Africa on a medical missions trip.  I went to Kenya and worked on the coast near Mombassa with our headquarters in Mtwapa, a small town on the coast.

Mercy and Truth is the organization that sends medical teams to other countries at the request of a Pastor or missionary in the area.  You do not have to be medical to go but you will do medical and medical related things.  They send teams just about anywhere in the world.  Their web site is www.mercyandtruth.com. 

The trip cost is about 2500.00 and I earned it from my 4H earnings in the exhibit hall and the sale of my auction birds at the 4H auction.  I also won some money at the Michigan State Fair for educational exhibits.  Most of that cost is the airline ticket and very little is food or housing.  My visa was 50.00 at the border.  I did not have to get any vaccines, as none are required for Kenya .  I did take some medicine for malaria prevention and every night I slept under a mosquito net.  Those pesky little flying bloodsuckers really liked me especially in the evening and after dark.

We left Detroit and flew to Amsterdam in about 9 hours.  We met the rest of the team, which included my mom a veterinarian, Erin a nurse, and Donna a health care worker in Kansas City .  After a layover of several hours in Amsterdam we flew to Nairobi the capital of Kenya and spent the night at the Mayfield house.  The temperature was about 60 degrees F.  They were freezing we were refreshed with the cool air.  The next morning we flew to Mombassa, which is a large city that is on an island.  We were met by many people who were yipping and jumping.  We rode in the matatu, which can be public or private and consists of a vehicle that is about the size of a Nissan minivan and holds, at my highest count, 30 people!!!!  This time it was a private matatu so it had about 11 people with 8 bags.  We had so many bags because we packed our clothes in our backpacks and put 69 pounds of medicine, lab supplies and toothbrushes, in each of our checked baggage. Whew it was tight.

My mom and I stayed at “ Momma Betties” place.  She is a local Kenyan mom with 2 daughters and a husband.  They also have a hired man who lives between the garage and the chicken house.  His name is Kenga; he was like a brother to me.  She lives in Kikimbala.  Their home was nice and made of stone with a thatched roof.  We did have running COLD water and a toilet to sit on.  Most Kenyans did not have either.  Momma Bettie had one faucet in her kitchen and used a stove that looked like one of our camp stoves.  I loved it.  She fixed us African food every night and we ate it African style, with our fingers.  My favorite African food was wali wa nazi.  It is coconut rice and very delicious.

We spent the majority of our time doing health care clinics.  Some days we saw over 100 sick people and vaccinated over 900 children for measles in one day!  Many of the people would walk over an hour to get there.  All of the medications we brought were given away for free to the people.  These people were so poor and many of them had been sick for a long time.  The most common illness was malaria.  The second was elephantiasis.  Most people that were dying were dying from HIV infection.  Many people did not want the HIV test because they either could not afford it or just did not want to know.  We did not do HIV tests.  We did do malaria tests.  We brought the microscope that worked off of the sun.  Most places did not have electricity. 

I did several different tasks.  I gave out toothbrushes to the children and I was loved for that and the sweets I also gave.  Many kids would see me and after hearing about me would say,” Jambo! Sweets!”  Another job I had was to fill the syringes with the liquid for the vaccines.  Sometimes I recorded the vaccines and Vitamin A supplements given.  The days were long and we skipped lunch a lot but that was ok.  We sometimes would buy a Coca-cola and it sure tasted good.  It is so funny to see that very where you go.

The men from the bible school helped with the evangelism and registration.  The bible school is called New Tribes and is run by the pastor who invited us to come to Kenya .  It was very good for them and us.  We have been invited back.  Many people could see we care about the poor and the sick.  Even one Tylenol was a blessing to them.  They also liked it when my mom would pray for them.  One man sick and unable to walk and in so much pain said he slept well because of the prayers.  Many people like that man would have to have someone walk to the house where we were and wait for us to come home late at night or wait early in the morning.  These people would then walk mom and a translator, for Swahili, back to their huts.  Even though she is a veterinarian they wanted her advice and medicine if we had anything.  Mostly we had Tylenol, antibiotics, cough and cold medicine and tons of vitamins.  We worked with other healthcare people locally so it was ok.  But they waited so patiently for us to be home. 

Most of the people live in mud huts with one or two rooms, a dirt floor and a thatched roof.  No electricity, no running water and the toilet was a hole in the ground.  They were very hospitable and would offer us black tea or maybe roasted cashews. 

I have so many more stories to tell but one thing for sure I am glad I am a US citizen.  It is always good to be home.  But I do want to again and stay for a years or so.