I was told to be ready for 6:30 and therefore made it out of bed just after 5:30 to shower, get breakfast and read. It turned out that we left after 7:30, which meant I could have delayed my breakfast as I knew later in the day I would be hungry. I was travelling to a small village 44km outside Kisumu to provide medical aid to hundreds of people who couldn’t afford to get treatment in a hospital.
We would be working with an Australian charity called Hands of Hope who had provided the drugs etc. A number of doctors, dentists and nurses had been organised to give the villagers a proper assessment. I started the day in the Pharmacy dealing out scripts although most of the people could only speak the local language ‘Luo’ and I was forced to rely on the nationals to translate. We stayed in the village for around nine hours and saw to over 1500 people – a successful day!
The charity consisted of eleven Australians who were all around my age so it was nice to have a different source of conversation and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Having contact with other internationals makes the culture shock a little easier as I was able to share my experiences and difficulties. The Australians would be moving into my apartment the following week for ten days and I am excited about this due to the fact it will act as another source of company.
I was happy to take this opportunity on my day off and be of some use because I have come here to serve people and that is in no way confined to legal practise. Today I feel happy and very much appreciate this experience – one never really grasps the difference between the UK and Africa until they see it with their own eyes. Most people here earn enough to cover the basics and anything else is unknown. And when I say basic, I mean mostly substandard of how we see life.
I arrived back at the apartment around 9pm and made a banana sandwich which was a taste of home, before climbing under the net.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Kenya Day 5
Court at 9am for a criminal case about a guy who was charged with stealing two batteries from a car. The batteries where worth around £100 and if found guilty he could face a maximum 14 years in prison which doesn’t seem reasonable. Peter was defending the man and gave a good account for his defence. It appears the police had inconsistent evidence to convict – only time will tell.
CLEAR are in place to represent people who can’t afford professional legal fees. This case may save a man from many years in prison and bring justice (that is of course if he is telling the truth and didn’t commit the crime).
We went immediately to the Kisumu High court for a hearing regarding a couple fighting custody rights of their children. I was unable to ‘sit in’ on this occasion. Following this and a scary ride on the back of a motorbike we returned to the office. Peter left for court with nothing for me to do so I went to the internet café to send some emails.
That evening on the way home I prayed that God would put people around me as I wouldn’t feel lonely. I returned home to meet a Kenyan couple (Dentist and Nurse) who invited me to have Kenyan tea and asked if I would join them the next day to help with medical care in a remote village 50Km outside Kisumu. I agreed as I had no other plans and prepared for a 5am rise and a trip close to the homeland of one Barrack Obama!
The internet was working so I sent emails to various people and read before bed. I felt God had organised my weekend to keep me busy and I praised his name.
CLEAR are in place to represent people who can’t afford professional legal fees. This case may save a man from many years in prison and bring justice (that is of course if he is telling the truth and didn’t commit the crime).
We went immediately to the Kisumu High court for a hearing regarding a couple fighting custody rights of their children. I was unable to ‘sit in’ on this occasion. Following this and a scary ride on the back of a motorbike we returned to the office. Peter left for court with nothing for me to do so I went to the internet café to send some emails.
That evening on the way home I prayed that God would put people around me as I wouldn’t feel lonely. I returned home to meet a Kenyan couple (Dentist and Nurse) who invited me to have Kenyan tea and asked if I would join them the next day to help with medical care in a remote village 50Km outside Kisumu. I agreed as I had no other plans and prepared for a 5am rise and a trip close to the homeland of one Barrack Obama!
The internet was working so I sent emails to various people and read before bed. I felt God had organised my weekend to keep me busy and I praised his name.
Kenya Day 4
I slept in until 8am, had a shower and breakfast and put on a shirt and tie (no jacket). I made it to the office in under 15 minutes, which was very convenient. The office was warm and Peter the advocate gave me a breakdown of what work the CLEAR Kisumu office carries out. Due to the time of the year and lack of funding, most of the prison visits and legal education have finished; hence I am bound to the office much more.
I was given a recent criminal case to read to in order to get a feel of what goes on. Nothing is typed and instead hand written so I was unable to understand what was happening until Peter explained. This caused a mini crisis in my head and sent me into a period of worry – would I struggle to understand everything here just because the writing is illegible? In addition, the office did not have wireless and so I am unable to use my mac for anything but word processing during the day. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any work for me to do and I’ve been left (for the time being) to wait. This has been a steep learning curve moving into an African office despite being warned! I continue to remind myself of why I am here and ask God for patience and contentment until things pick up.
The afternoon was much better as I bought something to eat and worked through some documents, which outlined more of the work carried out in the office. I decided to just go with the pace of the office and maybe devote more time to learning the local languages.
On the way home I stopped at the supermarket to get various items. Tonight I knew I was coming home to an empty flat for the first time so was prepared. I read a little and attempted to get connected to the internet but to no avail. Lillian was still there when I got back so we chatted for a while. I cooked pasta, sausages and mixed vegetables which made me feel ill. Bed early as I have a criminal case to attend in court at 9am.
I was given a recent criminal case to read to in order to get a feel of what goes on. Nothing is typed and instead hand written so I was unable to understand what was happening until Peter explained. This caused a mini crisis in my head and sent me into a period of worry – would I struggle to understand everything here just because the writing is illegible? In addition, the office did not have wireless and so I am unable to use my mac for anything but word processing during the day. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any work for me to do and I’ve been left (for the time being) to wait. This has been a steep learning curve moving into an African office despite being warned! I continue to remind myself of why I am here and ask God for patience and contentment until things pick up.
The afternoon was much better as I bought something to eat and worked through some documents, which outlined more of the work carried out in the office. I decided to just go with the pace of the office and maybe devote more time to learning the local languages.
On the way home I stopped at the supermarket to get various items. Tonight I knew I was coming home to an empty flat for the first time so was prepared. I read a little and attempted to get connected to the internet but to no avail. Lillian was still there when I got back so we chatted for a while. I cooked pasta, sausages and mixed vegetables which made me feel ill. Bed early as I have a criminal case to attend in court at 9am.
Chroncile Article - 4
A heat wave? Surely not in January! Granted I am sitting directly on the equator during the summer season yet my subconscious still half expects the first month of the year to yield sub zero temperatures and be exposed to road gritters (which will ironically damage the car more than the snow and ice). Yesterday, the temperature clocked 36 degrees and I’ve still managed to contract a mild cold. Your guess is as good as mine…
With these sunnier climes comes the inevitable pastime of sunbathing. Personally I was never a big fan of lying prostrate on the ground until my back sizzled, leading to days to applying the latest sun care moisturiser (then again I went to see High School Musical on Ice at aged 20 so who am I to talk)! Nevertheless, since I had a couple of days off work, I felt the time was right to give lying in the sun the respect it deserved, especially as I had come all this way. My main goal was to shake off the well-formed ‘farmer tan’, which had developed during the months of November and December. (The ‘farmer tan’ being the general tanning of the arms and face only – I would know as I grew up on a farm!)
My shirt came off, much to the disgust of the locals around me who were forced to wear sunglasses in order to deflect any unwanted rays from my white chest. I should note at this point (and not to name names) but my mother suggested I buy sun cream when I arrived in Kenya, not considering there isn’t much of a market for the product out here. Hence I eventually applied copious amounts of extortionately priced Factor 40, which in reality allows one to return to their native country a shade lighter than they arrived. After one day I felt it was for the best that I retire from sunbathing and return to promoting legal aid and good governance in Africa. That is, with the farmer tan still intact!
With these sunnier climes comes the inevitable pastime of sunbathing. Personally I was never a big fan of lying prostrate on the ground until my back sizzled, leading to days to applying the latest sun care moisturiser (then again I went to see High School Musical on Ice at aged 20 so who am I to talk)! Nevertheless, since I had a couple of days off work, I felt the time was right to give lying in the sun the respect it deserved, especially as I had come all this way. My main goal was to shake off the well-formed ‘farmer tan’, which had developed during the months of November and December. (The ‘farmer tan’ being the general tanning of the arms and face only – I would know as I grew up on a farm!)
My shirt came off, much to the disgust of the locals around me who were forced to wear sunglasses in order to deflect any unwanted rays from my white chest. I should note at this point (and not to name names) but my mother suggested I buy sun cream when I arrived in Kenya, not considering there isn’t much of a market for the product out here. Hence I eventually applied copious amounts of extortionately priced Factor 40, which in reality allows one to return to their native country a shade lighter than they arrived. After one day I felt it was for the best that I retire from sunbathing and return to promoting legal aid and good governance in Africa. That is, with the farmer tan still intact!
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