Gonga Hospital, Sunday, January 22

Today was another incredible, but “easier-to-take” day. We traveled to the Gonja Hospital, which is located high in the Pare mountains, roughly a two-hour drive from Same. The first part of the trip was fairly “smooth,” meaning that there was a rough gravel road wide enough for two cars. After that, we drove on a “special road” the rest of the way. This road was very bad, full of holes and gullies, winding its way up through the mountains. The scenery was incredible, though by the end, the rough road and the heat made the drive quite uncomfortable.

As we approached the hospital, there were people everywhere wearing beautiful, colorful clothing, lounging in the sun, and conversing with each other. When we got out of the vehicle, we obviously drew a lot of attention (as we do everywhere, being “wazungu” – white people). We were given a tour of the hospital and learned about many of the problems that face medical staff. I found it interesting that the hospital was constructed high in the mountains so it would be at an altitude such that malaria-spreading mosquitoes wouldn't be a problem.

After having a delicious lunch, we headed back toward Same. We stopped part of the way down the mountain to visit and marveled at the expansive view of the mountains overlooking the plains toward Kenya.