Down But Not Out

The past two days have brought a wave of illness throughout the compound. I fell victim to the epidemic yesterday despite my obsessive compulsive hand washing and sanitizing. It started with an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion after my morning run, then proceeded to my head and nose. I truly believe that if my body were not rejecting every morsel of food that I try to eat then I would have been able to stave off this plight, but in my weakened state I fell victim with the rest of the inmates. The only real medical advise I was given was by saintly Monica at lunch who offered me an orange mystery powder which, despite tasting like bile, did make me feel better.

So, I have spent the entire day within the confines (ten foot brick walls topped with an electric fence) of the IU compound.....I found myself wandering around at one point quoting lines from Shawshank Redemption: "Funny thing these walls. First you hate em'... then you get used to em'... after a while you start to depend on them. That's what it means to be institutionalized." Although I was able to lose myself in preparing lesson plans for this fall, I realized that I cannot spend the rest of my days locked behind these walls. As much as I detest the cratered, muddy, cow-poo filled streets of Eldoret I need to find something to take me out of camp. Even though my daily goal may not be as grand or important as many of the objectives being pushed here; I am a worker and I need a job.

Daily Observations:

1. They must be administering the cows here laxatives. I've seen cow patties before, but my GOSH this is disgusting.

2. Do not expect any type of medical attention here unless you are literally on your death bed. When I finally told her that I was feeling really bad Dr. Jill prescribed me a tall glass of get over it with a teaspoon of come see me if you are dying....."other than that there is nothing else you can do."

3. Although I still object to the term "developing country" there are some people here (Marc, Rose, Jill, Joe, and more) who have really made progress and continue to amaze me with their perseverance and hope.

Until next time,

CG