Hospital Visits and Trips to the Choo

This afternoon we had an interesting adventure. I came home and the boys ran out to meet me as usual. But on the way into the house, Ian slipped and fell and dove headfirst into the doorframe. The iron doorframe. I picked him up and he had a deep gash on his forehead just over his eye. The other side of his forehead had a very big bump. So I grabbed him, called Okoyo, the one who works here, and we took him to the clinic nearby, certain that he would need stitches. I think in America, they would have stitched him, but here she decided not to. He washed it, put an antiseptic, put a powder on (I didn’t catch the name) that would help it heal together and covered it with cotton. She gave him a shot of penicillin and some liquid ibuprofin. We’re supposed to take him back again tomorrow and the next day to see how it’s healing. Ian did very well and was very brave, maybe because he was so shocked by it all. On the way home, Okoyo tied Ian on my back so I finally learned how to do that. I made sure to take a picture. After we got home, he was back to normal (and ran with the others with me to the choo – see below).

I’m not exactly sure how it started, but the boys and I have a tradition that they escort me whenever I go to the choo (the outhouse/toilet). I think it started one day when they were in need of something to do so as I was going, I told them, “Let’s run there.” So now every time they see me come out of the house or out of my room with a wad of toilet paper, they should “Kimbieni! Kimbieni!” (Let’s run! Let’s run!) and they run with me to the choo and wait outside until I’m done and then run back. They’re so cute. I kind of wish I could bring them home with me, but the reason I don’t have my own children yet is that I’m not ready to be a parent. If they had no one here to take care of them, I would take them, but they have parents and grandparents.