Jambo! (hello)

Today was our second day working in Kenya and I was beyond excited.  After seeing the PFC facilities yesterday, I was stoked to see how the mHealth program and Clinic worked in concert.  While Petrina would be working in the clinic with Dr. Vincent, Samantha and I were going into the slums with PFC staff and CHWs (community health workers....so just a little side note.  CHWs are volunteers that work within a government program set up in order to monitor and track disease). Since the CHWs know the community well, I was excited that they would be coming with us. As we drove to the clinic, my heart raced, while my mind began building a wall of expectations on how the day would go.  It was hard to keep myself from having these magical, grand thoughts about how mHealth was really going to change how the residents of Murari slum received healthcare.

As we walked toward the slum, everything seemed to weigh in on me.  What if today was anti-climatic? What if we don't see enough patients? What if the phones don't work?  There were just so many things that could possibly go wrong.  Charles, one of the members of my team, knocked on the door to the first house and I was immediately pulled out of my own head.  We went house to house, telling various households about mHealth, the clinic, and seeing any patients we encountered.  The idea was to assess patients, get a brief history of their chief complaint and enter the data into the Sana program.  Back at the clinic, Dr. Vincent could read our mini-evaluation and decide whether to counsel us on how to treat the patient or have the patient come down to the clinic to be seen.  The idea at times still sounds too good to be true, kind of like when you get that call about a free cruise!  After putting the 1st patient's information into Sana, I couldn't keep my eyes off the phone while we walked to see our next patient.  Shortly after, Dr. Vincent replied and advised us on how to treat the patient. 

My mind was literally blown...hahaha..I couldn't believe it even worked! It all seemed too good to be true, I was so excited, and had to stop myself from literally skipping down to the next house. We saw more patients, entered more data, but at some point, the replies stopped coming.  Bummer! Of course I realized that the phone I was using stopped getting signal as we moved deeper into the slum.  Thus, the patient data wasn't being uploaded and Dr. Vincent couldn't reply.  It was of course disappointing not to see everything working out the way I had imagined in my mind...but we continued going house to house, seeing patients and using the Sana program though we couldn't get any replies.  It was just one of those moments were my dreams didn't match my current reality; but I realized that this was just one of the challenges that the Clinic and Sana were facing and would continue to face.  Eventually, we made our way back to the Clinic and I saw some of the patients we referred to the Clinic get treated, that was the moment when I was again reassured about the goodness of God. Psalms 145:9 says: "The Lord is good and His tender mercies are over all His works!" and that really encouraged me and changed my perspective.  As I sat there in the clinic at the end of the day, my eyes drifted to the bracelet on my hand, which says: "what if?"

Now, I started thinking, What if we overcome these challenges? What if the phones work all day tomorrow? What if there is actually a HIV/AIDS free generation in Kenya?

Tomorrow is a brand new day, and though it will bring new challenges, but I'm excited to see what it holds and look forward to working through those challenges.

Check out this link to PFC's Campaign: what if? you join us

Tutaoanana (See you later),

Mfon