Kenya 2013: Projects Kick Off

On Monday, we started two of the three projects here. The AHA team of Will and Ken, started the day trapped. For reasons unknown to us, the front doors of the hotel were pad locked closed, from the inside. There was speculation surrounding the night clerk possibly taking a nap, but we were not able to confirm the theory. We discussed why we would need to lock the front door when there is a 10 foot wall surrounding the property and a security guard at the gate, but it was unanimously decided to change the topic before we came to any unsettling conclusions.

From the reports received, other than a couple of momentary power outages, the AHA team working at Gertrude's Children's Hospital had a great day!

David and I traveled to Thika with Kevin and John to start the Fire Training Academy. It was an honor and a joy to meet with the 16 or so Kenyan fire fighters and EMTs and help start the first NFPA fire fighter 1 course in Kenya. The enthusiasm and energy was infectious.

One of the first things that became evident was that we had some minor language and terminology issues. While discussing fire fighter protective gear, Kevin learned that what we call bunker gear or turn out gear, they call a tunic and leggings (jacket and pants). We struggled for a few seconds with the term leggings and Kevin made the final decision that, under no circumstances could we call our bunker pants leggings. We did explain to everyone that in 'Merica, leggin's are things that women wear, not salty firemen (or salty firewomen for that matter!)

As it turns out, the group was generally very experienced, with the 80 year old, Mobassa Port Fire Brigade Chief, with 33 years on the job, clearly the top dog. Those students with less experience made up for it with unbridled enthusiasm and the first few modules flew by. Below are some picture of us working with ground ladders, including the massive, 50 foot bangor ladder.