Preparation and Perspective

In addition to personal belongings, I have packed items that I will be donating to the medical clinic and surrounding villagers. These include vitamins, calcium tablets, scabies medicines, easy to read medical guides, antifungal cream, first aid teaching materials, antibacterial soap, toothpaste, handkerchiefs, painkillers, cough medicine, and hand sanitizer. I also have some funds to buy mosquito nets upon arrival to give to the locals. My items will have a small impact at best, but disease is rampant in the slums and it is my hope to prevent at least some of its advance.

Personal preparation is requiring more forethought and planning than trips I have taken in the past, as I will be staying with a host family and will have limited access to running water and electricity. Stringent TSA regulations make this difficult, and I will have to buy most of my personal care supplies overseas.

Although I am excited to be contributing as much as I can to the Kibera slums and the clinic, I am going in with a firm sense of my overall role. As a temporary visitor to a place with decades of rich history (Kibera started when Nubian soldiers were given plots of land there in exchange for fine service in WW1), there is a  limit to what I can do and the change I can bring. As disheartening as that seems, I remain optimistic at the personal change I will indubitably undergo. Personal development can serve as the catalyst for future activity, and I look forward to applying gained perspective to present and future activities.  

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