Composting

I've spent the past few weekends in Eldoret, and finally got to spend some quality time in my garden. Since I will be able to grow vegetables year round here, my goal is to grow enough so that I barely need to buy any veggies at the market. So of course if I will be gardening all year, I need some great soil to work with! Furthermore, most garbage is burned in Kenya so I'm also trying to contribute as little waste as possible to the burning pit polluting the air in the backyard. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, burning 10 pounds of trash in a backyard bin produces as much air pollution as a well controlled incinerator burning 400,000 pounds of trash a day!

So here's what I did...

I bought a laundry basket type container and poked additional holes into the bottom to permit good air flow. (I had to get some help with this!!)






























I read that layering the compost can help speed up the process so I started with a layer of dry grass and leaves...













Then added a few scoops of cow manure and dirt...
Then came the compost material from my kitchen bin!












I picked a dark spot so that the compost won't dry out. It's also my attempt to keep the dog out of it but unfortunately that's been a bit tough...













There is a misconception out there that a compost bin will lead to rodents and insects inside the home and in the garden. This is totally false as long as you know what can and cannot be composted.

Here is a list!

Things that you can compost
-coffee grounds, tea, tea bags
-fruits and vegetables
-egg shells (but not the eggs)
-cardboard, newspaper shreddings
-paper
-wood chips, toothpicks, matches
-hair and fur
-leaves, grass
-animal manure

Things that you should not compost
-meat, fish, poultry, or egg scraps
-dairy products

I wish I knew more about this in the past! Even if you live in an apartment, it's possible to set up a small compost in the kitchen or on a balcony and use the soil for indoor plants or contribute to your apartment complexes landscaping. Here is an article for anyone interested in building one indoors http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/apartment-compost-guide.html

World Spirometry Day

October 14, 2010 was World Spirometry Day, and the clinicians from the chest clinic organized free spirometry screening outside the hospital. Spirometry is a tool used to measure lung function and can be useful in diagnosing various lung conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis etc.

Curious Kenyans gathered to see why people were exhaling aggressively into machines, and the brave individuals stepped into line. Most seemed a bit apprehensive, and I realized that culturally, it is not the norm to actively seek out problems in your body. One of my coworkers explained, "If I don't feel sick and I don't look sick, why should I go look for a problem? It will only ruin my spirit."

The idea of annual physicals is a foreign concept here, and preventable diseases are often identified in late stages when interventions are unfortunately futile. Preventive medicine has been a hot topic recently, and whether or not it is cost-effective to shift the healthcare focus to prevention in the US is controversial. In Kenya and in other low-resource settings, not only are basic preventive care services not readily available, but education is lacking to get individuals to proactively seek out these services. My coworker further confirmed this when he explained that his girlfriend (and many of her friends) refuse to go for cervical screening, and if something is wrong, she/they will go when the pain is severe enough.

I think that it is great that health services like spirometry and cervical screening are being introduced here. However, a tremendous need still remains for better education within the community about these services in order to encourage more individuals to proactively use them. I hope that I can remember this in the future since it's so easy to assume what people do or do not know about their own health!