Yesterday we first went to Kenya Methodist University. It was founded in 1997 with 11 students and to over 9000 students on 5 campuses today. The main campus is in Meru, near where we are staying. They have several bachelors and masters degree programs, but focus a lot on agriculture, business, and nursing.
We toured the campus after meeting the Bishop that runs the university. He explained that on 6% of students that reach 8th grade go to college. Not 6% of all children, 6% of all the kids that first attend school, second reach 8th grade, third pass the test that allows them to go on to high school, fourth finish high school, and fifth pass the test that allows them to go college.
That is a lot just to go to a university. And that is a lot that don't get the chance at high school or college. Education is very important here, but some still can not afford what is considered free education.
The university itself was beautiful. We walked through the men's dorm and it felt just like an American dorm with music blaring, people yelling, and others watching TV. But there were no vending machines in the building.
The library was FULL of students actually studying. But they only have 60,000 books, which seems like nothing for a library. And the computer lab with Dells was full of students. Which all goes to show how important education is for the people of Kenya.
Once finished with the university we went back to the Bio-Intensive center for lunch. Then it was on to Maua Methodist Hospital. We were met there by a Methodist missionary from Texas. Bill walked us around the compound and explained all that went on in the hospital. While it was interesting to see how that did so much with so little, the sanitary conditions were still shocking. The furniture in use for hospital beds and the rest looked similar to what you would see in movies showing the hospitals of the 50's.
But at the same time, they had two X-ray machines, both donated, and the best nursing school in Kenya. They had 90% graduation rate from that school. But it was a bit disturbing to see the mortuary next to the kitchen. The bodies that were not claimed by the family were simply put in a large pit and then covered with chemicals to help the bodies decompose. And this was fifty feet down the hill from the kitchen.
The babies that we visited at the hospital each received 2 baby hats and there seemed to be a total lack of privacy in the rooms. We were simply told to walk right into the rooms without any checking with the parents to see if they wanted visitors. One mother was in the middle of breast feeding her child and seemed unsure of our presence, but then continued feeding her baby while we stood there.
Tony and Laurel (Rose)
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