Day one in Nairobi

Blog by Deborah Shefler

You need to be here to appreciate how beautiful it is. The weather is perfect, crisp in the morning and evening, warm in the afternoon, sunny all day. The Mennonite Guest House, where we stay, is a treasure. It's a large, rambling old stone structure in the middle of a spacious, flower filled, mature garden. The rates are reasonable, the rooms clean and adequate, and the food quite good, including tea in the English tradition. Kay reports that the bird watching is superb. The very professional staff are lovely. Not surprising that this hotel is popular.

Carol and Kay turned what could have been a wasted first day into a highly productive one. Due to concern about pre-election demonstrations, we decided not to go to Kibera today. Instead we had a dozen trainees come to the hotel, where we were able to conduct training in a more relaxed environment than is usual at our clinics. It was gratifying to see how much these trainees have learned, both practically and didactically. Several have been doing lots of screenings and treatments. This is an impressively quick and committed group, some of whom could easily transition to train the trainer.

Since my last PINCC trip about 1.5 years ago, PINCC's testing and training materials have gotten even better. What's still the same is the spirit and congeniality of the volunteers. We all look forward to an action packed, exhausting and memorable week.

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