Trip to Kijabe and Nairobi- Week Five

Tuesday morning we left at 7:00am from Kimilili bus stop to travel to Kijabe. Leonard Wanjala was our company. In Kijabe we want to visit a hospital and an orthopedic workshop.
After a bus trip of 11 hours we arrived in Kijabe, the journey took that long because the rood was very bad and we waited more than 2 hours because of a traffic-jaw. At 18:30 we arrived at the Hospital of Kijabe. We had a dinner and slept in a guesthouse that was part of the hospital. In the morning we visited the orthopedic workshop and got a conducted tour and spoke with the employee’s. It was very nice to see the methodical and the working system, and to see the careful. There was a quality workshop with very good tools and materials.

At noon we left Kijabe by matatu and went to Nairobi. In Nairobi we wanted to do some research for the wheelchair project. After an hour traveling we arrived in Nairobi. We checked in at the YMCA hotel in Nairobi-city and we went for a tour in Nairobi. The next morning Alex Juma joints us. Alex graduated this summer his course orthopedic technology at the University of Nairobi. After breakfast we went to see the orthopedic workshop of the hospital of Nairobi. He is the right person to show use. We went for a tour and saw the work they do there. After the tour we went to the Kenya Medical Training Centre to see the course of Alex and see the educating system and the workplace. They have a lot of materials and developed tools. It’s a high quality workshop.

At noon we went by bus to go to APDK, this is an orthopedic company with a lot of products and cares for disabled people. We saw the orthopedic workshop were they do measuring and plastering and were they make braces and shoes. We went also to their wheelchair factory; it is the biggest in Kenya. They make tricycles and crutches and have a shop were you could buy products. They make crutches from reduced materials. APDK works with a very good system to produce the tricycles, the take care about their product.

At APDK there is also an orthopedic centrum with departments for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and also a orthopedic workshop.

On Friday we traveled back to Kimilili. It was nice to see another part of Kenya and we also learned a lot of the things we saw in Kijabe and Nairobi.

Next week we’re going to finish the designing of the tricycle and start building it.