This week I have been working with the cough monitors in order to learn exactly what their function is. You might be asking - what the heck is a cough monitor?
My mentor implemented 'cough monitors' in Eldoret in order to help identify active tuberculosis cases. The cough monitors are trained, and then assigned to a location either in the hospital or in the community. They administer a 6 question survey to assess whether or not a patient needs to get a sputum smear. Every patient in the hospital is screened with the survey within 24 hours of admission, and patients in the community are provided educational pamphlets to encourage them to get screened (for free!) if they are experiencing symptoms of TB.
Today was my best day yet in Kenya. I went out into the community with Nyakoa, an Eldoret cough monitor, to visit a patient with active TB infection and hand out pamphlets in several crowded areas in town. The patient that we visited lived in the 'slum' part of town. It was a difficult reminder of how many people in Eldoret are still living in absolutely unacceptable conditions. The houses are made out of mud and covered with an unstable piece of metal. Each house is about 15 x 15 feet and they are arranged right next to each other in long rows. I was swarmed by about 10 kids before our meeting ended - they were all under the age of 6 and barefoot. Of course I had urges to scoop them up and bring them home for christmas, but of course this would not be the sustainable option for improving global health.
After our visit, we headed to the slaughterhouse to talk to the workers. One man attempted to scare me away by waving 4 cow hooves at me, but otherwise the pamphlet distribution went smoothly.
Then we were off to Kennit, which is one of the largest factories in Kenya. It produces sweaters and blankets for a large portion of East Africa as well as exports to Germany, Italy and Great Britain. The director offered to give us a tour and I happily accepted.
Here are some pictures: (sorry that these are blurry! I was trying to be discreet and could not steady my camera well in the process)
Women sewing sleeves to sweater bodies.
This is the 'sorting room'. The two women in back sort through the yarn to grade it. The lower grade sweaters are sold for less in the markets and the higher grade sweaters go to the better stores in Kenya and get exported out.
Cough monitor at work! This motorcycle taxi driver is getting a slip to get his free screening at the district hospital this afternoon.
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