Final Traveler Reflection

Hello again! Since being home for nearly 2 months and having plenty of time to reflect on my experience, I remain in a state of awe and gratitude toward my time spent in Kenya. Seriously, when I think about my last six months, I can’t believe it was real life! In my time at home, I have gathered a few final reflections and wanted to share a bit about what has stuck with me since leaving.

            First and foremost, I continue to be grateful for the multitudes of people that I met in Kenya and for the ability to say that I have friends all over the world. The people I was surrounded by in my day-to-day life in Kenya made my experience there. I would have had such a different perception of living in Kenya if it hadn’t been for seeing the clinic staff each day, the promise of seeing regular patients frequently, or coming home to a diverse range of stories from my various roommates. This has become even more evident to me as I have stayed in contact with Arafa and the clinic doctor since leaving or when I see Instagram posts from the other volunteers that I became friends with. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, Kenyans are truly some of the nicest, kindest, most selfless people on the planet. From the kindness occasionally showed to me by strangers to the care I received from the volunteer house “mom,” I remain shocked by deep the Kenyan culture of kindness runs and hope that is something I can continue to reflect in my life. I also recognize that I was in a unique and fortunate experience to get to share a living space with such a vast array of people from so many walks of life. From a Japanese bank executive who lives in Dubai to a high school math teacher from Austria to a travel guide from Ireland, I literally met people from every continent in just 6 months. I learned so much from all of these people and even gained some potential life-long friends and am so grateful to be able to say that.

            Second, I still can’t believe how much hands-on clinic experience I gained in my 6 months of work in Kenya. I was recently looking through photos and come across some from a day that we performed a lipoma removal. When I saw the photo of me holding this 1-pound lipoma after we removed it, I was overcome with the thought of “wow, that was me, I did that.” I have a similar feeling thinking about how comfortable I become with skills like talking with patients, taking patient history, drawing up medications, and contributing to the medical decision-making process. These are all things I wouldn’t have considered myself to be comfortable or competent in prior to my time in Kenya but can now say with full confidence that I am. While I recognize the “wow” feeling is fairly common to have after a life-changing experience, I still often have to take a step back and remind myself that my time in Kenya was truly real life.

            Additionally, I have often reflected on how much I was able to do in my time in Kenya. It is easy to focus on everything you missed out on after-the-fact but, the more I have thought about how I spent my time in Kenya, I have shifted that perspective to focusing on all that I did see and accomplish. Just to name a few highlights, I spent a week at the beach, participated in multiple medical camps, saw 4 out of the big 5 safari animals in person, went to many craft fairs, and experienced meals from a vast array of cultures. I have so many memories of random but fun and rewarding things I did in Kenya and can genuinely say I felt that I got the most out of my time there. I think back on the many days hiking through the Karura Forest, or the time I went on a tour of a coffee farm, or the chill afternoons spent soaking up the city at a local restaurant with immense gratitude and contentment. I even appreciate the time I was able to spend just hanging out in my apartment, reading or watching TV or playing games with my roommates. It was no secret that the work I was doing and my work environment was very heavy and taxing and my time recharging was just as crucial as my time exploring out and about. It would have been easy for me to feel pressure to constantly have a full schedule and to live a very go, go, go lifestyle. While seasons of my time in Kenya did feel that way, I am glad that I consistently gave myself time to regroup and do things that helped me retain a semblance of normalcy.

            Overall, as I have said many times, even weeks out from my time in Kenya, I remain incredibly thankful for my opportunity to live this experience. My previous reflection might make it seem like everything was perfect and fantastic all of the time and that was far from the case; I definitely faced many ups and downs. Between the small annoyances of traffic and laundry and the larger issues that come with working around extreme poverty, my time in Kenya was certainly far from perfect. But, when I look back, the positives outweighing the negatives are the only things that come to mind. The uber ride conversations overshadow the hours spent sitting in a hot car in rush hour traffic. The lasting connections to my patients left a far greater impression than dealing with changing visa laws and the internet and power outages I frequently faced. I think about all of the wonderful and delicious meals I ate at home and out much more than I think about the meals I didn’t enjoy all that much. While I recognize that it is easy to look back on an experience with rose-colored glasses, it is important to remind ourselves that the good does outweigh the bad in most situations. The reminder is particular important when the situation is something as complex as living and working abroad in a completely different culture from the one you are used to living in.

            To wrap everything up, I am so honored and glad that I got to have this experience and am eternally grateful to the Lumos Foundation for affording me this opportunity. I can look back on my 6 months in Kenya as the most formative experience of my life and will take the lessons I learned there with me for the rest of my life. Thank you!