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Other entries in Mombasa

Wednesday.. hump day...

So apparently there is hump day here too.. i.e. the day in the week that feels too hard to get through.  And why you ask, I don't think I was feeling it my self, but the girls certainly were.  After two really good practices monday and tuesday (and good because they were following direction and doing all the drills, then we played full court games for an hour each day which is their favourite part).    Today, they did not want to run (and it wasn't any hotter than any other day).  They did not want to respect their fellow players by keeping out of each others way when doing the passing, layup drills.  Then they were yelling at each other during the game.  So, I said, game over, go home and tomorrow come back when you are ready to play with discipline.  Also that if this kept up we would only do drills and laps and no game.   So I thought about this on the way home, and they really remind me of the teams I played on in grade 8 and 9 and some of my teammates.  We hated running, but we had to do it and always faster and longer if that's what the coach said.  If you bitched and complained, the coach would make you sit.  So.. really, they are not acting any different.  Sometimes you need to remind them that you don't want to waste time by being disrespectful to your team, cause then you won't improve.

Outside of coaching, I feel like the majority of my energy is going into being a pseudo social worker, which I was not exactly prepared for.  Like today, I took two girls to the hospital.  (Which was a trek through the village, past the airport, and then through "bush". There is no proper Matatus that goes between the two areas, and no cab anywhere near there.. so I wonder how do people make that trek if they are sick??  I am healthy and I was like.. god where is the shade!?!).  Anyways, so took the two girls: one for a wrist xray, she feel down at soccer two days before, but didn't really say anything.  We noticed her wrist was swollen late yesterday, and since I was taking a basketball girl for a T.B. & H.I.V. test today, I took the soccer girl too.   The soccer girl did infact have a broken wrist.  Liz (the M.O.Y.O secretary) has a friend who works at this hospital, so we got to bypass the lines, which as good cause they were LONG.  I felt a little bad, but really this hospital is a sight to see.  Most of the waiting area is outside, you need to pay a registration fee to see someone, who then writes in a book (that you need to by, which turns into your chart) and determines what actions need to be taken for your particular problem.  For the girl with the broken wrist (confirmed by x-ray), they took her outside and put a plaster cast on her arm, after making good and sure it was broken (i.e: poking her arm a few times till she  jumped!).  Again all was completed once the money was paid for each service performed (x-ray, cast, at least they print receipts for their services)

Then we went over to see about doing the T.B test and H.I.V. test. Both of which are free in Kenya, and if you are lucky and are near the city, you can have access to the drugs for free.  So the girl I suspected of having T.B. was confirmed as positive for H.I.V. so she likely has T.B too.    We don't have the results for T.B. yet, its a 2 day test where they collect 3 samples of sputum... but I am pretty sure she has it after the results of the H.I.V test.  H.I.V. test results come out VERY quick (within an hour, which is good), but I wondered how prepared she was to hear she was positive.  Just the other day, her mother fessed up to being H.I.V positive, (T.B. too) and having cervical cancer.    I wonder if the kid has had it since birth or if she was abused by her father years ago, cause she is 16 so I would have thought she would have developed some symptoms.. besides having the T.B.  I guess I need to do my homework on it a bit more.  So the first thing she told me was to not tell any of her friends, and I assured her I would not.  Later on in practice, she actually just sat down when it was time to play the game, and didn't want to play at all.  I will go with her tomorrow to get the T.B test results, and hopefully the medication, but its a pretty bleak situation now.  Its unclear how much time either of them (her or her mother has). 

So that was the unhappy stuff.. like I said, feel more like a social worker than a coach.  The other issue, was a kid who said that her aunt has accused her of stealing money and threatens to beat her if she doesn't bring home the amount that she has been accused of stealing.  She's done this three times now, and so Bokey wants to intervene in a more serious way.  He has sent her a note telling her how corporal punishment of children is not allowed in Kenya (yeah, whatever), but the aunt apparently can't read.  I spoke with her teacher to confirm if her story is true, and it seems like it.  However, Bokey doesn't want to be directly involved (which is probably best) and wants the headmaster to talk with the aunt.  So hopefully that will happen soon. 

Ok.. since its Wednesday its bar time for the volunteers.. I guess I should be off, its already almost 9pm, and I turn into a pumpkin at 10!

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