We left the States almost a year ago; as we prepare to come back for our first visit, we keep thinking about why we came in the first place. We had good jobs, a great community, and as a doctor I knew there were plenty of people in the States I could help. But.
But we truly believed Africa could use the manpower more.
But there are hardly any family medicine providers in Kenya, and I wanted to be part of training this new generation of medicine here.
But I had a chance to openly be a Christian with my team and my patients, and that is priceless.
But I have so much to learn as both a believer and a doctor, and I know Africa can teach me a lot of it.
We came here really wanting to focus on serving in long-term ways, hopefully leaving something useful behind. We wanted to focus on passing on what our educations had given us for skills, knowledge, etc. to others. We wanted to be part of the church here in Kenya. It’s only been a year, so I certainly don’t claim we’ve accomplished all these things. A lot of our goals aren’t really closed-ended, finite goals anyway. But I’ve really enjoyed the chance to spend time learning how to work with a lot less, pray with patients, work as a Christian, and try to teach all levels of future providers. I’ve taught about 35 different learners between Clinical Officer Interns, Medical Officer Interns, and Family medicine residents. Many of them will go on to be part of Kenya’s and East Africa’s primary care health system. I’ve seen over 1500 patients. It has been an honor. I’ve also learned so much from the Kenyans and Ex-pats I work with.
We’ve been prayed for, cheered on, given pep talks, and financially support by so many different people from all over the U.S., and will keep trying to thank every one of you. If you’ve been part of our village, I hope you know how valuable you’ve been. We hope to see as many of you as we can next month and share about what we’ve done together in person – until then, thank you so much! Asante sana!
Haley
Team Ryley 