Kenya in My Heart

Today I was emailed by one of my friends at Duke asking me what I thought about my DukeEngage program and whether or not I would recommend it. I was surprised by just how quickly I responded saying yes.

I have been back from Kenya for almost two months now. I have been reluctant to write my final blog post due to laziness, tiredness, and the fact that I was home for summer. But also, I felt as though I needed time to process—to see how much I would learn from the experience and evaluate how it affected me.

While I was in Kenya, I told my dad that I am a changed woman. He laughed. Now that I am back, I realize that I am still the same old Alexis. Before I stayed in Kenya, I also went with the very idyllic hope that I would be changing the world, making a huge difference. But Kenya is still Kenya.

I realize now that no one can simply “change the world.” I did not make a huge difference in the hospital I was working at. Volunteers like me come and go every year. What is important is the small changes you make, the people you meet, and the little things you take from it. Although I did not cure AIDS, I did help to create a VCT center at my hospital for more people to be tested for HIV. Although I am not a changed woman, I do know more about another side of the world.

I will always remember certain things about my stay in Kenya:
-drinking tea at all times of the day
-little kids screaming “how are you? how are you?”
-being a mzungu
-the sticky mud roads
-the squished matatus
-all the fried foods (at least I know how to cook Kenyan food now!)
-the lack of running water
-the pit latrines
-my strategy to wash myself in a bucket shower
-ugali (the staple food)
-being on “african time”
-my lovely princess mosquito net
-doing laundry while showering
-all the skirts I had to wear
-the incompetent electricity
-the VCT opening (over 100 patients tested!)
-my going away party at the hospital with lots of dancing and singing
-being given a live chicken to take on the plane
-my welcoming homestay family
-the friends I made at the hospital
-the friends I made at the FSD office
-the friends I made with other interns
-and all the experiences I had at the hospital, at home, with friends, and while traveling

Although the world is not changed and I am not changed, there will always be things that stick with me. I have learned that development takes time and that there is no easy solution to the problems that face the world. And that even though America and Kenya are two completely different countries, we are all one and the same.