Goodbye for now Eldoret...
Merry Christmas!!!! (I found this hat in the local grocery store and thought it was hilarious...)
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Holiday Break
I am going back to the states for the holidays so I am taking a vacation from the blog. Thanks for reading!! Please check back in mid January for a new post!
Goodbye for now Eldoret...
Merry Christmas!!!! (I found this hat in the local grocery store and thought it was hilarious...)
Goodbye for now Eldoret...
Merry Christmas!!!! (I found this hat in the local grocery store and thought it was hilarious...)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Child Contact Register
I realized today that it has been almost 6 weeks since I have posted about my side project. Originally, I was interested in targeting the children on the wards with TB in order to find the adult source cases in their home. However, after exploring the wards a bit, I realized that there was a lot to fix in terms of peds TB diagnosis before that project could be feasible.
Anyway, after several weeks of reading about childhood TB, I finally came up with an idea that I am really excited about! All of our active TB cases are managed in two TB clinics in AMPATH (one for the positive sputum smears and one for the negative). The World Health Organization recommends that all active cases are asked about the child contacts in their home since children are very much at risk of getting infected in the home. In fact, >60% of childhood TB cases have or had a recent positive household contact in the home! Unfortunately, TB in kids is neglected by many TB control programs because it contributes little to transmission (children are usually sputum smear negative...meaning they are not contagious) despite the fact that TB is a major cause of mortality in HIV infected children.
I really think that many of the active TB cases who are treated in AMPATH have children at home who are also TB infected or have TB disease. My side project is to create a child contact register to record information about all of the children exposed to TB in the household. A clinical officer is responsible for filling out a child contact form for each active source case, and it has actually made them educate parents more about TB symptoms in children and encourage parents to bring their children in for HIV testing!
One of the first patients who came to clinic today was an HIV+ male who had pulmonary TB. When we started asking about his children, we found out that his 6 year old daughter has been coughing for the last 2 months and she is not getting better with any medicine. Then the dad told us that she has not been tested for HIV, even though him and his wife are both positive. The clinical officer did a great job educating him, and he promised to bring his daughter back in January for HIV testing and TB screening if necessary! When the project got started, I was just excited about finding the kids who might have TB, but I also think that this will be a useful tool for getting more children tested for HIV!
We also had a hospital employee bring his children in because they had been sleeping in the same room as their uncle who has pulmonary TB. They are completely asymptomatic but check out their chest xrays! This is a classic picture of hilar lymphadenopathy that is often seen in TB in children.
Child 1 (adenopathy on the right with some atelectasis)
Child 2 (adenopathy on the left)
Other kids are not fortunate enough to have a father who is a hospital employee. Many children are brought in much later once they are symptomatic for several weeks or months. My hope is that the register will help us bring these vulnerable kids to care sooner rather than later.
Anyway, after several weeks of reading about childhood TB, I finally came up with an idea that I am really excited about! All of our active TB cases are managed in two TB clinics in AMPATH (one for the positive sputum smears and one for the negative). The World Health Organization recommends that all active cases are asked about the child contacts in their home since children are very much at risk of getting infected in the home. In fact, >60% of childhood TB cases have or had a recent positive household contact in the home! Unfortunately, TB in kids is neglected by many TB control programs because it contributes little to transmission (children are usually sputum smear negative...meaning they are not contagious) despite the fact that TB is a major cause of mortality in HIV infected children.
I really think that many of the active TB cases who are treated in AMPATH have children at home who are also TB infected or have TB disease. My side project is to create a child contact register to record information about all of the children exposed to TB in the household. A clinical officer is responsible for filling out a child contact form for each active source case, and it has actually made them educate parents more about TB symptoms in children and encourage parents to bring their children in for HIV testing!
One of the first patients who came to clinic today was an HIV+ male who had pulmonary TB. When we started asking about his children, we found out that his 6 year old daughter has been coughing for the last 2 months and she is not getting better with any medicine. Then the dad told us that she has not been tested for HIV, even though him and his wife are both positive. The clinical officer did a great job educating him, and he promised to bring his daughter back in January for HIV testing and TB screening if necessary! When the project got started, I was just excited about finding the kids who might have TB, but I also think that this will be a useful tool for getting more children tested for HIV!
We also had a hospital employee bring his children in because they had been sleeping in the same room as their uncle who has pulmonary TB. They are completely asymptomatic but check out their chest xrays! This is a classic picture of hilar lymphadenopathy that is often seen in TB in children.
Child 1 (adenopathy on the right with some atelectasis)
Child 2 (adenopathy on the left)
Other kids are not fortunate enough to have a father who is a hospital employee. Many children are brought in much later once they are symptomatic for several weeks or months. My hope is that the register will help us bring these vulnerable kids to care sooner rather than later.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuigoin 8k
This Saturday, I had the ultimate Kenyan experience. Since October, one of the research assistants in the TB office has been talking about a cross country meet he organizes in his small village. He has been hosting this event for the past ten years to empower the young children in the community to get involved in healthy activities. He heard that a group of us would love to run so he graciously invited us to participate!
My mentor arrived in Eldoret last week and she happens to be a marathon runner so we had a great group representing the US.
We started out at Emmanuel's home where we met his family and walked around his beautiful farm.
Afterward, we headed to the center of the village to watch the races. Here are some highlights...
The older men 2k winners
The women's 8k...check out our competition...
We came in last, but we finished!
The highlight of the day for me was when I was asked to give away the prize for the men's 12k and the guy in charge plopped a sheep into my arms...
This event really brought the entire community together, and it reminded me of the impact a few people can have if they remain dedicated to something they truly believe in. This event started with one volleyball tournament 10 years ago and now it has grown to several volleyball matches and multiple running events that attracts thousands of people from the surrounding villages. Living proof that major things can be accomplished with little resources!
My mentor arrived in Eldoret last week and she happens to be a marathon runner so we had a great group representing the US.
We started out at Emmanuel's home where we met his family and walked around his beautiful farm.
Afterward, we headed to the center of the village to watch the races. Here are some highlights...
The older men 2k winners
The women's 8k...check out our competition...
We came in last, but we finished!
The highlight of the day for me was when I was asked to give away the prize for the men's 12k and the guy in charge plopped a sheep into my arms...
This event really brought the entire community together, and it reminded me of the impact a few people can have if they remain dedicated to something they truly believe in. This event started with one volleyball tournament 10 years ago and now it has grown to several volleyball matches and multiple running events that attracts thousands of people from the surrounding villages. Living proof that major things can be accomplished with little resources!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Imani Workshops
Imani means ‘faith’ in Kiswahili. The workshop was created in 2002 in Eldoret, Kenya to provide income opportunities and counseling for women who have suffered from poverty, hunger, and stigma associated with HIV/AIDs. Imani Workshops is a branch of the Family Preservation Initiative under the Indiana University/Kenya Partnership’s Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) program, which provides HIV preventive and treatment services to more than 100,000 adults and children in western Kenya.
The bead makers (they were absolutely thrilled to be in this picture and made me take at least 4 different shots of them posing!!)
The workshop...
I will be hosting an Imani sale when I am back in the states for the holidays. Below is a link to an album with some of the items I will be selling. All of the proceeds will go directly back to Imani to support higher salaries and additional job opportunities at the workshop!
Please let me know if you are interested in any of the items and I will try to bring your requests back to the states!
The women at Imani make handcrafted jewelry, kenyan bags, aprons, shirts and handmade paper products like journals, picture frames and cards. The women are empowered by working at Imani to make a normal life for themselves despite the difficulties associated with HIV/AIDs.
I visited Imani for the first time a few weeks ago, and I was very impressed. Many of the items are made from recycled material: old donated Oprah magazines (apparently they are the best for jewelry making!), recycled hospital paper, and scrap metal.
Here are some of the women grinding hospital paper...
The bead makers (they were absolutely thrilled to be in this picture and made me take at least 4 different shots of them posing!!)
The workshop...
I will be hosting an Imani sale when I am back in the states for the holidays. Below is a link to an album with some of the items I will be selling. All of the proceeds will go directly back to Imani to support higher salaries and additional job opportunities at the workshop!
 |
| Imani |
Please let me know if you are interested in any of the items and I will try to bring your requests back to the states!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Eldoret 12km race!
So I was somehow convinced to run a 12km race this past Sunday. A bunch of us are training for a half marathon in February so we thought it would be good for training purposes. Anyway, my training buddy from the group got sick last minute so I ended up running by myself for most of it!
What we did not realize is that this was an intense qualifying race for Kenyans...aka I was about 100 meters behind within 30 seconds and then couldn't see the rest of the women after the first mile...
This led to some amazing comments from the Kenyans cheering on the sidelines that I would like to share with you:
1) Keep trying...Never die!
2) Unataka bota bota?? (Do you want a bicycle taxi???)
3) Good try!
4) Ooohh Mzungu!! (laughter) Will you finish??
5) Push it dada! (sister)
I decided to embrace the embarrassment and started yelling back "haraka haraka haina baraka!!" (hurry hurry has no blessing) which just led to even more laughter. Good times!
Towards the end of the race, an elderly Kenyan woman who must have been in her 70s or 80s decided to jump out and run with me towards the finish. Definitely the highlight of the race...
The only wazungu in the race!
What we did not realize is that this was an intense qualifying race for Kenyans...aka I was about 100 meters behind within 30 seconds and then couldn't see the rest of the women after the first mile...
This led to some amazing comments from the Kenyans cheering on the sidelines that I would like to share with you:
1) Keep trying...Never die!
2) Unataka bota bota?? (Do you want a bicycle taxi???)
3) Good try!
4) Ooohh Mzungu!! (laughter) Will you finish??
5) Push it dada! (sister)
I decided to embrace the embarrassment and started yelling back "haraka haraka haina baraka!!" (hurry hurry has no blessing) which just led to even more laughter. Good times!
Towards the end of the race, an elderly Kenyan woman who must have been in her 70s or 80s decided to jump out and run with me towards the finish. Definitely the highlight of the race...
The only wazungu in the race!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Happy Turkey Day!
Sorry that this is a day late. I was unable to move yesterday after the huge feast we had at the compound. Thanksgiving is said to be the best celebrated holiday of the year here and now I understand why. There were about 40 people at dinner last night, and each person brought something interesting and delicious to eat. Everything from 3 different types of stuffing to sangria to pecan pies.
Here are some pictures from the feast!
Beautiful decorations from the states...(when you don't see decorations like this for several months, paper pumpkins suddenly become awesome)
Getting ready...
4 15kg turkeys!
My stacked plate...
Here are some pictures from the feast!
Beautiful decorations from the states...(when you don't see decorations like this for several months, paper pumpkins suddenly become awesome)
Getting ready...
4 15kg turkeys!
My stacked plate...
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tumaini Children's Center: Can you help?
I've been trying to spend more of my free time at Tumaini ('hope' in Kiswahili), a street children's drop-in center here in Eldoret. There are over 1,000 children who live, part-time or full-time, on the streets in Eldoret. Some are orphans, others have families who cannot support them financially, and others ran away to escape mistreatment.
The center is run by wonderful Kenyan staff and volunteers, some of whom were once street children or orphans themselves. The center provides the children with meals, education, showering facilities, a safe place to play, and clothing. The center is currently open 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and on Tues, Thurs, Sat, the children get together with some of the staff to play soccer.
Before the center, many of the children spent their days sniffing glue (which can be purchased for approximately 25 cents in town). They barely made money for food by selling plastic bags at the market, and many of them were lucky if they made a dollar or two a day. With the creation of the Tumaini center, the children have a fun, drug-free environment where they can come to learn, play, eat, and relax. Eventually, once a child transitions to coming to the center consistently, the center attempts to place them into schools if funding is available.
The center has also recently found a soccer coach to help create an actual Tumaini soccer team that will compete against the other teams in Eldoret. Playing soccer really empowers the children (particularly the older boys), and the staff often spend time after practice discussing and teaching important life skills that can be related to soccer. One of the staff members told me on Saturday that they are desperately looking for uniforms, old sneakers, and cleats. I was inspired to try to help them get these items.
My plan is to collect donations while I'm back in the states for the holidays and surprise the Tumaini team with a late Christmas gift when I return. If you, your children, your siblings, your neighbors, or anyone else you know might have sneakers or cleats that you are willing to donate please contact me (szkwarkd at gmail). Right now, many of these kids play barefoot so yes your worn out sneakers with holes will mean the world to them. If you happen to know a younger boy's soccer team who has old uniforms lying around, PLEASE let me know. These are tough to find and they are expensive so it would be amazing to get them some uniforms donated from the states.
Other ways to help:
Christmas is coming soon and the center is planning on giving each child a new set of clothes for Christmas. Each set (shirt, pants, flip flops) costs about $5.
So...
$5 = Clothes for 1 child
$25 = Clothes for 5 children
$50 = Clothes for 10 children
Also, school fees cost about $400-800/semester and the center costs about $2000 to operate. ANY contribution towards operational or education costs would also be greatly appreciated.
Since I will pass the donation along directly to the Center, I will make sure to send you a picture of the specific children that your donation personally helps!
If you want additional information about the Tumaini Center, please check their facebook page!
Below are some pictures from Saturday.
Playing soccer with some of the kids...
Snack time after soccer...
The center is run by wonderful Kenyan staff and volunteers, some of whom were once street children or orphans themselves. The center provides the children with meals, education, showering facilities, a safe place to play, and clothing. The center is currently open 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and on Tues, Thurs, Sat, the children get together with some of the staff to play soccer.
Before the center, many of the children spent their days sniffing glue (which can be purchased for approximately 25 cents in town). They barely made money for food by selling plastic bags at the market, and many of them were lucky if they made a dollar or two a day. With the creation of the Tumaini center, the children have a fun, drug-free environment where they can come to learn, play, eat, and relax. Eventually, once a child transitions to coming to the center consistently, the center attempts to place them into schools if funding is available.
The center has also recently found a soccer coach to help create an actual Tumaini soccer team that will compete against the other teams in Eldoret. Playing soccer really empowers the children (particularly the older boys), and the staff often spend time after practice discussing and teaching important life skills that can be related to soccer. One of the staff members told me on Saturday that they are desperately looking for uniforms, old sneakers, and cleats. I was inspired to try to help them get these items.
My plan is to collect donations while I'm back in the states for the holidays and surprise the Tumaini team with a late Christmas gift when I return. If you, your children, your siblings, your neighbors, or anyone else you know might have sneakers or cleats that you are willing to donate please contact me (szkwarkd at gmail). Right now, many of these kids play barefoot so yes your worn out sneakers with holes will mean the world to them. If you happen to know a younger boy's soccer team who has old uniforms lying around, PLEASE let me know. These are tough to find and they are expensive so it would be amazing to get them some uniforms donated from the states.
Other ways to help:
Christmas is coming soon and the center is planning on giving each child a new set of clothes for Christmas. Each set (shirt, pants, flip flops) costs about $5.
So...
$5 = Clothes for 1 child
$25 = Clothes for 5 children
$50 = Clothes for 10 children
Also, school fees cost about $400-800/semester and the center costs about $2000 to operate. ANY contribution towards operational or education costs would also be greatly appreciated.
Since I will pass the donation along directly to the Center, I will make sure to send you a picture of the specific children that your donation personally helps!
If you want additional information about the Tumaini Center, please check their facebook page!
Below are some pictures from Saturday.
Playing soccer with some of the kids...
Snack time after soccer...
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