07.17 // Check-in

Hi all!

I’ve been having some trouble transferring my photos from my memory card onto my laptop, so no photos on this post until that’s sorted 😦

This will be a short update post, with more a few more lengthy ones to come this week. Stay tuned!

07.08-07.10 // Lake Elmentaita

Lake Elmentaita is a soda lake about a 1.5 hours outside of Nairobi. It’s fairly close to Mt. Longonot, which I had hiked the weekend prior. This weekend was organized by Dee, a friend of my roommate Ogake’s. We rented a large cabin as a group of 11 people, and our rental also included a cook for the weekend. There are quite a few things to do around the area, including a short hike in the gorge to the waterfall, hot springs and a visit to the lake to see the flamingoes. It was a nice weekend outside of the city with a fantastic group of people.

07.11-07.15 // Work

During the week, I work at the Lea Toto clinic in Kibera. Kibera is the largest slum in Africa, with many of its residents living on less than $2 a day. I work as a researcher, and I’m currently looking at the reasons adolescents are non-adherent to antiretroviral medication for HIV. After a month (!) of waiting, I was finally able to start my research this week. Lea Toto has a large database with most of the clinical information I need – CD4 count, viral load, socioeconomic status, etc. The very first thing I did was pull all this information for all the kids currently enrolled in the program in Kibera – all 392 of them! The data doesn’t come organized the way I need to it, so I spent a day or so reorganizing it all. The next step is to classify the kids as either adherent, or non-adherent. This isn’t actually recorded anywhere in the database, so that’s something I have to do manually. Some are really easy to classify, but for some I actually have to go physically look at their file and read through it to get a better indication of how they’re doing. Following that, I read through the files of the non-adherent kids and look at different reports to try and find the reasons they cited for being non-adherent. Most of the time, when a child is suspected of being non-adherent, they will be sent to the counsellor who will assess them and provide them with adherence counselling. Sometimes, the counsellor or the social worker will write down what the child said, and what the plan of action is, but this isn’t always the case. For some of the more complicated case, they will be brought up in the Multidisciplinary Team Meeting (MDT). The MDT is a weekly meeting held between all departments in Lea Toto to discuss certain cases and in order to come up with a plan of action for the child. I can gather a lot of information from those MDTs. So that’s what I’ve been up to for the last week or so. I pull files, read through them, and record tons of information of my big ole spreadsheet.

I’m not only involved in the research at work, I do other things as well. Sometimes I’ll help out in triage if they need the help. When I’m doing triage, I find the patient’s file, record their weight and height, find the z-score on the chart (this is how they determine whether or not a child is malnourished, or if their growth is stunted) and then send them to see the clinician.  I also have a weekly meeting with my supervisor at the KEMRI (Kenya Medical Research Institute) on Mondays. Another thing I do is mobilization. Mobilization is when a counsellor goes out into the slums and into people’s homes in order to do a rapid HIV test. I enjoy mobilization because I get the chance to see areas of Kibera that many people wouldn’t normally get to see, and I have an idea of what life in the slums is like. As a mzungu, I get a ton of attention, especially from kids. They will come up to you, ask how are you and shake your hand. Some of them have never a mzungu before, and they’re very curious.  It’s the strangest feeling ever to receive so much attention just because of the colour of your skin. There’s a school next to the clinic, and I’ve met quite a few of the kids there. When they go out for lunch, I will see them and they’ll shout my name and wave at me. I feel famous!

During mobilization, I don’t actually do the test or the counselling. I tag along with the counsellor, and usually I help out by recording the information they need in the logbook. My Swahili is improving week by week, and every time I go for mobilization I’m able to communicate a little bit more. I’m able to say things like what’s your name, how old are you, when was your last HIV test, etc. I’m hoping to be at least conversational by the time I leave this country.

On Tuesdays and Thursday, I have Swahili lessons with George. We have private lessons with mwalimu Carren (teacher) for six hours a week. I’m lucky that Ogake speaks Swahili, so I can practice the things I learn in classes at home. My coworkers in the clinic are also very good at speaking to George and I in Swahili to that we get a lot of practice. It’s actually a fairly easy language to learn!

07.15 – 07.17 // weekend in Nairobi

I wish I could say I did some touristy things this weekend, but really all we did was go clubbing. The clubs in Nairobi are cheap, huge and they basically don’t close. Most of the better clubs are in a neighbourhood called Westlands, which is easily accessible by cab (it’s not safe to walk around at night). There are some clubs which are frequented by expats, and then there are the local clubs where there will often only be one or two mzungus present. They’re normally outdoor clubs in huge compounds, and they will have different areas with food, bars, pool tables etc. Nairobi has a thriving nightlife scene, and it’s not unusual to get home at 4 or 5 in the morning. Sorry, mom!

On Saturday, Tom and George hosted a party at their apartment. We invited Vickie, a friend of ours from the clinic, and she went absolutely above and beyond. Vickie invited all of her friends to the party, and they cooked for us! They made us nyama choma, which is the unofficial national meal in Kenya. Nyama choma is fried meat, and it’s served with rice, roasted vegetables and kachumbari, which is a tomato and onion salad, sort of like salsa. Afterwards, we went out clubbing as a group. This type of thing is so typical of Kenyan hospitality that I’ve been enjoying since I’ve arrived. People are so kind, and will go absolutely out of their way to make sure I’m having a good time in this country. Photos to come!

I promise to upload a few posts this week, complete with photos, trip essentials and extra details. Until then, kwa herini!