18 hours in the air

I am feeling so many emotions this week – disappointment probably being the most predominant. On June 22, I had to leave Kenya. The departure was unanticipated and it feels like in the blink of an eye I’ve transported back to North Carolina. The good news is that I arrived safely home and will complete the work on the PNA from IntraHealth’s Chapel Hill office. I will soon reunite with Cathy and Leigh to begin data analysis and report writing. I am excited about the writing – especially the gender components of the assessment. So, despite not physically being in Kenya in July as planned, I will carry-forward on this important piece of work for IntraHealth.

I am not happy about leaving the team in Nairobi. I feel like I am abandoning them and I am disheartened to physically disconnect myself from the work on the PNA in the field. But this is the nature of my work – spontaneity, flexibility, working with teams via Skype and email. Though it is easier to be in the field, sometimes safety trumps physical location and we have to make alternative plans. I am more determined than ever to support this team and look forward to going to the Chapel Hill office on Monday to reconnect with both the Chapel Hill and Nairobi teams!

Since returning to the US I will admit to being enthralled with reuniting with my family and friends. I’m enjoying sweet tea but really missing my Kenyan coffee (good thing I bought some Dormans to bring home)! I also miss the cooler Nairobi climate – I was greeted with 100+ temperatures in North Carolina! The actual flying time to get from Nairobi to RDU is about 18 hours but the journey is much longer if you factor in layovers and travel time to and from the airport. I had to layover in Amsterdam on my way back and while the stay in the Netherlands was very short, it was nice to walk around by the canals. It is around the time of the summer solstice so in northern Europe, it stays light out very late. At 11 pm, the sun was still up!

This is not the end of the blog! I guarantee you I have much more to say about public health and human resources for health. I also assure you that I am not deterred in the least from traveling to Kenya or other places where we do our work. I have been so motivated by the commitment and hard work by my colleagues and local collaborators in Kenya. I cannot put into words how inspired I am by the sacrifices that some people make in our field of work. There are two sides to every coin – the good and the evil – and I choose wholeheartedly in the good. I choose to undertake my role as a leader in global public health and do my best to support programs that improve the lives of families around the world. I choose to encourage and believe in the good of my fellow global citizens. And after these last three weeks in Kenya, I choose to believe in myself. I have personally come thru a lot and feel confident in not only my ability to do my work but in my ability to do it well. Though this experience has not turned out as I planned, I have learned oh so much to carry with me for the rest of my life!