One week 'till blast off!

Well, it is officially one week before I leave for Kenya!  I have so many emotions going in so many different directions that I am physically having trouble keeping up.  The preparations are well under way and I finally made a dent in packing last night (although it is a significantly small dent). Because women are required to wear dresses below their knees in Kenya, most of my wardrobe is void. After a treacherous search for long dresses and skirts that I didn't feel absolutely hideous in, I've decided to just buy most of my clothes when I get to Rota. I want to try and assimilate in the culture as much as possible and starting with my wardrobe seems appropriate. There are a lot of other things that I have had to get ready too.  Preparing for the attack of mosquitoes means buying mosquito nets, LOTS of deet, and taking anti-malaria medication.  I also already received most of my shots when I was in Europe this summer since it was much cheaper.  Just 1 more to go for a total of 6!!  
I've been in close contact with the head of the clinic in Rota, Silas.  He as well as the founder of Humanity for Children, Brad, have really made me excited to go these last few days!  Brad and I discussed a lot of what I will be doing once I get there.  In the clinic itself I will be helping with simple medical procedures, triage, or anything the doctor really needs.  I'll also be going out in the community and presenting educational sessions about washing your hands, boiling water, using a condom, etc. In addition, I found out that I'll be going in to the homes to help with the childbirths for the women who can't make it to the clinic in time.  I think that will definitely be quite the experience!  

This week I've been saying most of my goodbyes so i have of course been emotional.  Although 7 months really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, it seems like forever!  Thankfully, I'll still have internet in my house and will be able to use it to keep in touch with everyone from back home. I'm going to be living about 7 km from Kisumu which is the 3rd largest city in Kenya.  The town where the clinic is located is Rota and it is literally right off of Lake Victoria 15 km from Kisumu. I'm a little nervous about my travel plans but Silas has been very helpful in making arrangements.  My flight leaves Wednesday afternoon from St. Louis to Detroit.  From Detroit I fly direct to Amsterdam and have a 2 hour layover there. Then I'll have about a 9 hour flight to Nairobi where i'll arrive about 8:30pm.  Silas' friend will pick me up from the airport and I will stay one night in Nairobi.  The next morning I'll get dropped off at the bus station and start my journey to Kisumu.  I've read a number of different time scales but the 160 miles journey is going to take about 7 to 13 hours :P  At least I'll have the night to recover from the flights!  


Love, Saskia
P.S. To Check out more information about the organization go to www.fightforthechildren.org