Ukrainian Ugali?

Continuing with the Ukrainian blog post theme, I thought I would share with you some pierogy making that happened in Kenya today. (I think that I can bet money on the fact that we were the only people in all of Kenya making pierogies!)

The same Easter egg making family from last week had also asked me to make Ukrainian food with them before they leave Kenya on Sunday. Since I've never actually made pierogies on my own from scratch, I figured this would be a perfect time to start!

My mom sent me the family recipe and luckily we had all of the ingredients. They were a great success!

Here are some pictures...




potatoes, onions and cheese...yuuum


one of my wonderful little helpers


this was my favorite part as a kid


folding


Almost done


Voila!



The Kenyan cooks asked what we were making, and when I told them 'pierogies' they looked totally confused. So I explained that pierogies are the Ukrainian equivalent of Kenyan ugali (ugali is a staple food in East Africa made from maize or cassava flour). They seemed to like this explanation because there isn't a Kenyan out there who doesn't love ugali. I guess every country has it's own beloved staple starch!

Aberdare National Park

A group of us headed out to Aberdare National Park for the 4 day Easter holiday last weekend. The weekend was perfect and I would go back in a heartbeat if the park wasn't so far away!

It took about 6 hours to drive from Eldoret to the park entrance.

We arrived at our first campsite on Friday just in time to set up and make dinner. We brought along some homemade chili so it made for an easy and delicious meal.


The next day, we hiked 17 km to see Karuru and Gura falls. Both of these have been claimed to be the tallest waterfalls in Kenya. Karuru had 3 drops: 383 feet, 84 feet and 427 feet. We were only able to see the first drop from our lookout point since the other two drop deep into the valley.

Karuru Falls


hiking


After the hike, we packed up to go to another campsite. Our guide told us that this site would be completely 'in the bush' and he was not lying!

A video that my friend made of the campsite...


Our campsite and our campfire




On Sunday, we hiked Satima peak which is the third highest peak in Kenya (after Mt. Elgon). It took us about 7 hours to hike the 20 km. We definitely slowed down closer to the peak because of the 13, 144 feet altitude!

On our way


Beautiful Scenery


Satima Peak...If you look closely you can see one of my friends already at the top. She is one of the most fit individuals I have ever met (she has two ironman triathlons under her belt!). She ran up to the top because apparently altitude doesn't affect her. :)


Almost there!


At the peak...


More Pictures

A Ukrainian Easter in Kenya

One of the long termers and her 4 children love Easter and they had asked me last December if I could introduce them to Ukrainian Easter egg making. I brought the supplies back from the states in January and earlier this week we had a wonderful arts and crafts afternoon!

I have not made Ukrainian Easter eggs since middle school and wow did this bring me back. Everything from holding the stylus over the candle to the smell of the beeswax made me remember the many years of Ukrainian school, Ukrainian girlscouts, and Ukrainian church. It also made me feel grateful for the traditions, language, and sense of community my family instilled in me so early on (often against my will!!).

Here are some pictures of the finished products!

my egg...I was and never will be very artistic :)


My friend's egg...isn't it beautiful?? I told her that Ukrainian Babchias everwhere would be thrilled with this.


All of our creations.


Happy Easter!!

TB Screening at Tumaini

On Monday, we conducted our third TB screening at the Tumaini Children's Drop-In Center. Two kids died last fall from what was thought to be TB related causes so the center collaborated with the TB Projects Office to organize TB screening.

This is how the screening works:
Two cough monitors who are assigned to the Eldoret community come to Tumaini and lead a sensitization talk about TB. The children usually ask questions after the talk regarding TB symptoms and transmission.
Then the cough monitors are stationed in a private room so that children can meet with them individually. They are asked a 6 question questionnaire (eg Have you been coughing for more than 2 weeks? etc) and the cough monitor can then decide if the child is at risk and needs to provide a sputum sample.

Here are some pictures from past screenings...

Talking about TB after the morning assembly


One of the cough monitors screening a child


Another cough monitor doing screening


Entertainment while waiting to be screened

Chai Break

At around 10:30am at AMPATH, workers drop everything to have an obligatory chai (tea) and snack break.
Waiting room with 40 patients? Sorry, we are having chai!
Need to quickly pick up something? Yup, you'll have to wait until after chai!

8 months ago the chai phenomenon made me crazy. And I mean, rip my hair out of my head, CRAZY.
How can you leave all of those patients in the hallway while you all take a 30 minute tea break 1.5 hours before the 1hr lunch break?? Where is the sense of responsibility?
I sometimes asked...did you know that in the US we sometimes miss lunch completely or just eat on the run if we have a lot of patients??? (blank stares and jaw drops followed)

Fast forward 8 months later and wow have things changed. I LOVE chai break! I have come to respect this tasty and relaxing cultural tradition. The Kenyan chai is made with lots of milk and way too much sugar...just enough to give you an extra energy boost until lunch. Pair it with a mandazi (a sort of donut) or a beef samosa and life is perfect.

Yes, there are still some workers who choose to have a chai break that's just a little too long (eg when a chai break runs right into the lunch hour...). However, I think that some Americans could definitely benefit from a chai break - or maybe a proper 1 hour lunch break - on a regular basis. It's good for the brain to just stop for a few minutes, sip some sugary goodness, and reflect on the day! Here's to bringing chai break back to the states with me!!

My chai and samosa yesterday in the office. My desk is the one directly behind the thermoses.

Interesting Signs

This is another post I have been working on throughout the year. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as the 'What can you carry on your bicycle?' post!

I find the signs and store names in Kenya to be very entertaining. Here are some of my favorites...

Mama Margaret Shop


This is one of many Jesus shops - Who knew he had so many shops in Kenya?


Victorious Butchery - because they victoriously slaughtered the meat?


Delicious Hotel


Redeemed Gospel Church - what did the gospel church look like prior to redemption?


God's Blessing Salon - I hope you have God's blessing before we cut your hair?


Precious Salon


This was posted in a bar...what are you supposed to be doing if you can't idle in a bar?


Corruption free zone? In Kenya? Hmmm...perhaps I've become too cynical.


Chipsy - The superior yellow cooking fat...


Medical Signs

5 causes of diarrhea...feces, flies, fingers, fluids, food


Resuscitation. Cost: FREE...Waiting time: 5 minutes hmm...anyone else see a problem with this?


And my favorite...
Don't spit, wash your hand. This is posted at Cool Stream - the AMPATH restaurant. I laugh every time. Do people often spit prior to entering a restaurant? Do they usually spit into a sink when they see one? And am I only supposed to wash one hand? Which one should I wash???

TB team field visit!

My mentor and her fellow are back in Kenya for a few weeks so I was able to join them on a field visit last Wednesday and Thursday to Port Victoria, Mukhobola, and Khunyango.

The main purpose of the trip was to work out the logistics to conduct lot quality assurance sampling to evaluate primary drug resistance in new TB patients. In Kenya, when patients are diagnosed with TB (via sputum microscopy) they are started on a drug regimen without knowing if they already have any primary drug resistance. If they are still smear positive after 2-3 months of treatment, their sputum is sent for culture and drug sensitivity testing and their regimen is altered accordingly.
This differs from the states where TB patients receive culture and drug sensitivity testing immediately so that they can be placed on a drug regimen specific to their drug resistance pattern. As a result, primary drug resistance is not well known in Kenya so this project will actually identify this information.

We started out at Khunyango and I was really impressed with how organized the TB clinic and register seemed to be. I think that some of my recent frustrations with the child contact register project have stemmed from the fact that the TB clinic and register in Eldoret are less organized. When you have a large patient volume and many different personnel working in TB clinic, it becomes more difficult to keep the system running smoothly. It's an even bigger challenge to implement a new project into this type of system! I'm very excited because my mentor suggested that I try implementing the child contact register at Khunyango in the next few weeks. I think that the register will help them identify more cases of pediatric TB, but it will also be a completely different experience for me to implement in a much smaller, rural setting.




Outside the TB clinic...


Waiting area...


The next day we started off at Port Victoria. The clinic is right next to lake Victoria and the drive was absolutely beautiful. One of the interesting challenges at this clinic is that there are patients who travel 5 hours by boat from one of the islands, and most of them stop coming to their appointments since the travel is long, expensive and they usually need to stay in Port Victoria overnight. Could you imagine if you had to travel 5 hours by boat to go see a doctor?? I would stop coming to my appointments too!

The drive...


AMPATH clinic...






The TB projects office team with the Port Victoria cough monitors


Our last stop was Mukhobola, which is another village near the lake. After the clinic visit, we went to see a TB patient at her home to discuss some important issues (sorry for being vague...just don't feel it's appropriate to share the details on a blog). The patient is part of the Luhya tribe and the set up of her household was fascinating. The male of the household is buried at the center of the compound surrounded by all of his wives' huts. Their sons then build homes with their wives outside their mother's hut and then they are eventually buried in the center of their small compounds. It's a tightly knit community where you definitely know all of your neighbors!




The lab


The patient visit (you can see the grave of the male head of household in the center under the tree)

I am so glad that I got to go into the field! It's rejuvenating to be out in the rural areas and witness the impact that the small community clinics have in these regions.