Monday, March 2, 2015

Another Day

Reposted from the CaringBridge site for Bayo Oyebade

By   31 minutes ago

Bayo's team of doctors came around this morning. One of the head doctors said Bayo will be discharged on Thursday. It seems that some of the junior doctors were calculating Bayo's days in a different way. This head doctor wants to make sure Bayo gets his full 10-day dose of medicine. Ok, so we'll plan for Thursday. 

I've made friends with a woman I met in the lounge where I nap a few days back. We had a great talk about Kenya, Nigeria and life in general. Her 19-year-old daughter is in the female ward recovering from meningitis. She was on admission back in Nov/Dec and basically recovered, but then in February, she lost the use of her legs--a residual effect from meningitis. So now she is undergoing physiotherapy and learning to walk again. She's really making good progress. We have developed a pattern of visiting each other on a daily basis--one day we will visit her, and then the next day she will visit us. 

I've met a handful of Kenyans during our time here--mainly taxi drivers, doctors and nurses. It is always so interesting to hear their impression of Nigeria and Nigerians. 

For starters, they simply can't believe that we have come from Nigeria to Kenya for medical treatment. I have heard this from the doctors, nurses, casual acquaintances, and taxi drivers. This just doesn't fit with their view of Nigeria as the "giant of Africa." They feel they are far behind Nigeria in many areas. They are largely influenced by all the Nigerian movies that air daily on their TV stations. 

I've heard a few of them refer to Nigerian women as being very strong and powerful. Once again, they are seeing a lot of this from the Nigerian movies, but I really feel that this is true. Nigerian woman are incredible leaders--and this skill increases with age. 

The women here love Nigerian clothing--and especially the beautiful headties. One nurse was talking about all the beautiful colors of headties that are available to Nigerian women, and how they find the perfect matching color. In general, women don't wear headties in Nairobi on a daily basis--maybe just for a special occasion. 

Well, that's all for today. I'm tired so good night!

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