Nairobi insights

About to leave Nairobi, I thought I'd give you a little insight of what I have actually been doing here.

My experience has been pretty amazing and far from what I expected. I have been working with African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), an NGO working to promote and enhance research about health in Africa, carried out by people from various African countries.

They just moved into a beautiful new campus and there is some really impressive research and work going on inside - and outside -  that building.

My main task at work has been to conduct a literature review that will function as part of the research proposal that we are preparing over the next couple of months. The plan is to start a worldwide study on development of 'healthy sexuality' (what ever that is) and relationships through the transition from childhood to adolescence. There is more or less no data on the age group 10-14 years concerning this particular field. It's not what I have been working on before, but burying myself in the literature has been pretty fascinating. Thank god I never (?) have to go through puberty again. Oh the horror.

I have also gotten to experience the Nairobi traffic phenomenon. Here, driving 2 km during rush hour can easily take 2 hours. Some people sleep in their cars overnight because they are stuck in the jam. The city has tons of roundabouts - there to relief the traffic - but there are no rules for how to enter or leave them. So it is a common struggle for life and death trying to make your way into the lanes. 

Not my picture, but it gives a sense of what I am talking about.

However, some roads are strangely quiet. Like the last part of my way back from the bus each afternoon.

 

Lastly, I have done a couple of field trips - together with friends as well as work - to the Nairobi 'slums'. A more formal way of describing slums is 'informal settlements' and although I have worked in and visited such settlements, simply visiting for a day always makes me feel very weird. I guess I don't like the touristy part of it. There is so much happiness among many people living under such conditions, but still so many challenges impossible to grasp if you have not grown up there yourself. My instant reaction is always 'what can I do'; I feel powerless just observing and now having a mission. I guess the take-away message is that it really underscores my notion of having  chosen the right field and that I hope to use my education to make an impact in the future.

Community health workers (CHW) outside a youth center in Korogocho

Condom stock in a public maternity health care clinic

We met some truly original people in Korogocho. One example being a retried nurse with his own private health clinic consisting of a small house-like box. He almost crushed my hand with his handshake while explaining that he is an ex-army officer. The sign outside told about 'efficient circumcision at low prices' and 'emergency delivery', all carried out under the roof of the box. The nurse suffered from diabetes, couldn't hear on one of his ears and had trouble with his sight. He wore a nice white coat with the word 'doctor' written on the back. I guess if worse comes to worst, anyone can be anything.

I also got the chance to visit the youth-organization 'Maono' that my friend Kha works for. They engage young people of all ages in art, music, acrobatics, dance and drama, in Dandora - a Nairobi slums with extremely hostile conditions for young people to grow up in. One way of battling circumstances such as crime and violence is to find other ways for young people to express themselves. Many Kenyan acrobats and hip-hop groups have emerged there and 
Kha is one of the most famous rappers.

Street dancers in practice.

View from Maono office.

Monday is my last day in the office before I enter the 25 hour trip back to Charm City. Some places of Baltimore are not far from Korogocho, to be honest. Let's see what these four last months in the MPH program brings.

Meatless

Sådärja. Vad är väl en resa till land långt borta utan matförgiftning?

For the last couple of days I've been grounded with food poisoning. There is probably nothing that makes you feel so small on earth and lying in horizontal position 48 hours raving, in and out of sleep, dizziness and fever.  

Ok, not in Nairobi, not merely as comfortable now, but still - passed out.

Now, the epidemiologist in me is awakening, trying to figure out what exactly made me sick. I wanted to create a disease outbreak report with nice spreadsheets and graphs, but I really no other cases to compare with. It would be a terribly biased incidence rate with one case in one person. I am also not very eager so investigate different kinds of food for the source.The last food I had was shared with my hosts Cissi and Kha who did NOT get infected. Still, I don't think I will have Indian food in quite some time...

So, I think I will stick to my original theory. During our breakfast fika (Swedish useful expression for coffe+something to eat) at work, I wanted to try something new. My eyes gazed an innocent little samosa just waiting to be eaten. In my experience, samosas tend to be vegetarian. This one wasn't. It took me 2 bites to realize that it consisted of tiny tiny pieces of minced meat. Being surrounded by meat-eating colleagues, I had to quickly forget my instant urge to spit it out and out of pure politeness eat it all. 

Innocent little devil.

This was the first meat I had in five years. And no - pappa (dad) - it did not make me thirst for more. Although this happened over a week ago (which makes the incubation period too long), every cell in my body wants the poisoning to be attributed to my meat-slip.

Besides exploring each part of my bedroom roof from different angles, I have been thinking a lot about going back to school next week. I can not say that I am terribly exited, but in a way I am looking forward to getting back into the game. I will probably regret saying that once back in the loop of the study-sick-cycle, but hey - tänka positivt. Alltid.

Sheep love

 I just came back from spending half a day hiking up Mt Longonot outside of Nairobi. It was interesting, in many ways.

Approaching the volcano Mt Longonot

It started with my driver arriving one hour too late. We then drove 7 minutes on the high way and 'suddenly' got out of gas. Turns out that gas was not only out in our car, but at every gas station nearby. Many, many minutes later, we were finally rescued by a guy on a moped giving us some fuel. Apparently, it was 'bad stuff' that might make the car collapse, but hey - why not try?

Standing on the crater and gazing the peak.

Anyway, we made it. I then realized that the all-day guided excursion group tour that I had booked consisted of a group of one person: me. And a ranger who had walked up and down the mountain each day for two years. Me, on the other than, felt terribly fit having drunken wine at a house party last night. Joe, the ranger did his best to entertain me and inquire about my life. 

Ranger: How you can be married? You are SO SO SO young. And very good body, for climbing mountains.

Me: (trying to hide my joy of being thought of as looking so so so young, trying to ignore the climbing-comment as I can hardly breath in the steep passage we're in)
I am actually past 28.
Ranger: But how is possible. Is no possible. I know, because mzungos *local description of 'whites'* are always very old, very old, when they get married. Very old.
Me: .... I kind of thought I was old....
Ranger: So, what your family get from your man?
Me: ??
Ranger: You know. I got married, I paid to family of my wife, many goats and sheep. And some honey.
Me: They got a surprise. A son in law.

Where are the goats and sheep?