2017

Happy New Year!

As my blog attests, I’ve begun this year with a touch of procrastination 😃. I can sadly attest that despite being employed this year, unlike last year, the workload is quite intense. The doctors’ strike which I thought would be resolved in 3 weeks time is still going strong, and that means that a vast number of patients are headed towards the less price friendly mission hospitals (of which PCEA Kikuyu Hospital – my work station – is a veritable member). Add to that the fact that the Medical Officer interns (paid by the government, but posted to PCEA Kikuyu) have shown solidarity with the medical union and walked out on us, let’s just say I’m busier than I had ever expected to be.

All things considered, I’m very hopeful for this year. I’m going to try and get on the old education horse, and see if I can get into a post-graduate program (in China, perhaps) so I can finally start training as a surgeon. Elections will be coming in August, which presents me with the first chance ever to vote in a Kenyan election. Over the 3 past election periods, during which I was eligible to vote, I’d always been out of the country so I missed my chances to bring about any change. I’m hoping that they don’t postpone the election dates because this time I have a vested interest in tossing out the incumbents; frustration voting all the way.

I’m also hoping to pick up a useful hobby or two. For some time now I have developed an affinity for plants – especially beautiful trees – so now is as good a time as any to develop a ”green thumb”. I hope to start off with some Bauhinia purpurea whose seeds I picked from the trees growing at the hospital grounds. Maybe after that I can move on to Cape Chestnut. With this being the year that the family house finally gets built in Ngong, I would love to add some nice flourishes to the land that will make it more homely.

Lastly, I am hoping to get to write more and read more. I think I’ve hit that dreaded plateau where I can’t seem to pick up a book and get some reading done. I get back so tired from work most of the time, and when I’m home I just want to de-stress by doing absolutely nothing – my own little kind of sensory deprivation. This year things change: I’ve got Wangari Maathai’s "Unbowed" to start with, and I’m sure I’ll pick up something else along the way. As for writing, apart from more blog entries, maybe it’s time for a new independent project; or perhaps I could just flesh out my old papers. I wish I could bootstrap the hell out of "the Hyacinth Economy", but it seems like I have to address my medical career first (wish I had come up with the idea while I was in college, much younger, and with a lot more time on my hands). Time will tell what happens.

Well, here’s to an eventful 2017.

God Bless