Livestrong Kenya: Not as a cancer survivor, but as a cancer preventer

First of all, Robert Kent please come join me over here, your help is greatly needed…

AIDS is truly a ruthless evil that is oppressing so many in Kenya. It is something that almost seems uncontrollable. Its more than just a result of one sexual sin but is the result of a whole system of sin. I heard one scholar say that he once went into Kibera, the slum here in Nairobi that is home to 1.2 million, at a late hour in the night, a very dangerous thing to do, and was shocked at what he saw. All of these young girls began approaching him saying “16 shillings, 16 shillings.” He asked his guide what these girls were doing and his guide replied that these girls were offering themselves for the night for only a quarter. They had worked other jobs during the day, but didn’t make ends meet so their brothers and sisters who they now take care of because their parents died of HIV. If they don’t do this, their family could starve. So AIDS isn’t just spread here through a bunch of a bunch of adulterers, but as a result of this whole systemic oppression of poverty. I believe that and actually question how those girls got jobs. Its next to impossible for a girl to get a job.

This post isn’t about AIDS though. It’s about a great evil that seems to be building steam (or more so smog)fast. It’s also about a great evil that can possibly be prevented if actions are taken and leaders rise up.

This posts by no means has any scientific basis, just theories.
So many people here look rather odd. So many people here are magnets for my eyes. I can’t look away from their faces or their necks. These aren’t the Masaai who have stretched necks and hold plates with their earlobes. These aren’t tattoo artists who have highly decorated faces. Instead, these are business men and women, slum dwellers, bus drivers, and everyday Kenyan.

But probably 1 in 15 or so has been tainted with a tumor. I know not what the cause is of all these tumors, but I may have an idea. People don’t do anything about their tumors unless they are very wealthy or become extremely sick. People can’t afford to get checks ups or pay for any treatments for cancer. There is no such thing as health care here. Even Edward who has been suffering off and on from pneumonia isn’t quick to go to a hospital. He just doesn’t have the time or the money to get a full check up. So these tumors, as you can imagine, grow to be quite larger.

AIDS may not take the most lives here in the next 20 years (in fact I hope that it is suppressed so greatly that it is at the bottom of the list) but if things even continue to digress, cancer may kill more people then. I’ve met so many people who are HIV positive and also have cancer. One has terrible stomach cancer that is eating her up. Another has lost an eye and simple covers here eye with gauze everyday. And I haven’t even had the chance to engage in conversation with some of these tumor infected men and women.

A great Christian, teacher, writer, activist, and doctor has enlightened me with a possibility of the cause of these tumors and many instances of cancer. His name is Matthew Sleeth M.D. and he’s authored a book entitled Serve God, Save the Planet (Don’t worry, the book was printed on 100 percent post consumer paper). He isn’t out to be an cynical environmentalist who has one more thing to say about global warming, but just simply presents what he has seen in his line of work over the past 20 or so years.

Dr. Sleeth was an ER doctor and eventually because chief of staff at that hospital. It was a quite an achievement for a boy who grew up on a dairy farm and had suffered from dyslexia. He discovered that his passion for people’s well being led him into a different direction that practicing medicine when he began to see an increase in chronic diseases such as cancer and asthma. He mentions these facts in a sermon he taught at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids: when he was in high school it was unheard of to have asthma, he knew no one out of 1200 students who did have this disease, but now had done many surverys amongst young people and found as many as 1 in 4 have it; in third world of Central America he says its just rampant; and cancer, when he started medicine, some 20 years back, the chances of a woman getting breast cancer were 1 in 19, but today are 1 in 7 and 1 in 6…He thinks the cause of this great increase in these diseases is directly caused by the environment that we live in. Because of the increase in the consumption of fossil fuels and neglect to environmental consciousness, he says, more and more people are losing their lives way too early.


Maybe you have different beliefs. Maybe you even have facts that can support your beliefs. But go sit a few hours behind a running car. Go sit a few hours behind a running 18-wheeler. You will get sick. And again, I’m not medical professional but if the Surgeon General can prove that inhaling cigarette smoke can cause cancer then I think its very possible that the emissions from our cars can do the same…the millions and millions of cars that we drive.
Sleeth even asks the question-Why are there so many Cancer Reseach Centers and not any Cancer Prevention Centers.

We may drive millions of more cars, but never before have I been so thankful for the EPA. The emissions here in Kenya are TERRIBLE. I should really take up swimming now because I’ve learned to hold my breath for longer than a minute. Only 15 percent of Kenyans drive, but you would never know that in Nairobi. Every road has an archway of black smog hovering around it. Ever been behind an old 18 wheeler when it turns on a green light at an intersection. You know all that black smoke that is emitted out of its cab when it has to rev up its engines to pull so much as it comes from a complete stop? That’s what most vehicles emit here ALL THE TIME. Kenya didn’t even start using unleaded gas until last year.

And maybe you drive a car here in Kenya. Maybe you’re one of the few who also actually uses the air conditioner and rolls the widows up instead of having them cracked for your AC (I actually don’t know if this “few” even exists, I’ve yet to meet a person who uses their air condition in their car). Ok, so you’re a bit safer. What about that 85 percent though that don’t have cars, who walk right next to the street, for there is no where else to walk, or who ride in the public transportation system, the Matatu, which always has its windows down and has seats where you can actually see the carbon monoxide caked onto the headrest. These people might accidentally breath in some of these toxins.

If Dr. Sleeth is right, these abnormalities that I see on so many people, these tumors, could be caused by all this sickening air pollution.

Edward even suffers now from pneumonia. He grew up running and trained to be an Olympic athlete (and nearly made it). He believes the health problems he’s having now could be a result from all the smog he breathed in (and breathed in hard at times) when he would run and train along side the road. He also said that his kids used to always be sick when school was in session, because the road ran right past the school.

And the government….I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START. Critics of America and outspoken reformers please refocus your attentions. The American Government is truly a Utopia compared to this political piece of flying toilet. Downtown, if you litter and a city councilmen or watchmen catches you, you could be thrown in jail, beaten, seriously threatened and abused, or robbed of all your money through fines. However, in most of the slums you can’t walk on the ground without stepping on a piece of trash. What hypocrisy! Why would they be so legalistic in one area, but then totally neglect the real issues of the slums? And another thing these heartless pharisees did was outlaw all public cigarette smoking on the streets. Why don’t you go smoke a pack of cigarettes and then go stand behind a Nairobi dump truck for 30 seconds and see which causes you more harm “law”makers.

They deserve a bit more credit, Nairobi was the most dangerous city in the world 5 years ago and I’ve yet to feel unsafe or threatened now, but some serious reformation is needed. Maybe Senator Obama can shift some of his focus on Kenya at some point in his political career. They’d all follow him in a heartbeat (he’s highly adored here, since his father is Kenyan.)

There are so many struggles and so many hardships and so many evils here in Kenya. Poverty, AIDS, starvation; they are all taking so many lives. What if AIDS had gotten more attention when it started spreading? Could we have prevented it? What if we had used our brilliant weather technologies and predicted drought before it happened and sent food to the people before everyone was starving. These are all HUGE What Ifs where we can second guess if we best used our resources and efforts.
Well What If, we prevented another one of these What Ifs. Here is an opportunity where with a little bit of education, support, and activism, an evil can be prevented from reaching the status of great evil or systemic evil. How amazing would it be if cancer were prevented from engulfing this whole continent just as AIDS has? I know there are so many HUGE problems in Kenya, I just don't want another to be added to the list.

What if we prevented yet another atrocity from escalating here in Africa? Would it give up the hope that change is possible? Would it inspire us that we really can bring the Kingdom and eradicate all these hells on earth, these hells in Africa?
Change is possible.

Otherwise…Lance Armstrong I have a song for you…Its Only Just Begun
…anyways, there’s my rant and reflection
I’m to interview many women from HIV support groups today. There still remains so much to tell,
-benajah

And again, to find a whole new way to live out your calling as a human being, check out Serve God, Save the Planet by Dr. Matthew Sleeth

And also check out http://www.servegodsavetheplanet.org/