I went on a safari to Maasai Mara this past weekend. I got to see all the animals in their natural habitat and I got to see a kill. A leopard stalked through the tall grass and shot like a bullet into the middle of a herd and took down a gazelle. It was one of the most exciting things I've witnessed with my own eyes. The safari itself was amazing. It was like watching the Lion King in person. I also happened to stay at the most luxurious lodge in the Maasai Mara. I was tired of Third World living conditions so I decided to splurge. It was well worth it. 


This safari was probably the best trip experience of my life. The only thing that would have made it better was if I was with close friends. I went with a few of the students from my program but I don't know them that well. None of them wanted to kick back after the game drives and have a couple of beers. So I made new friends at the bar.


 I'll try to upload some pictures later but the internet is very unstable right now. 

It's been a while since I've posted an update. I would apologize to my few readers but I'm not sorry. I've been busy. 


Let's see... In the past month I visited Kericho, an area in Kenya famous for it's tea plantations. I got to tour a plantation, pick tea leaves, and visit a factory. I finalized the M&E system at SWAP and it's being tested and rolled out. I added a variable to our antimicrobial hand towel study to compare hand washing amongst control and intervention groups. Hopefully both groups have similar hygiene to reduce confounding. I did a follow up of a CDC study looking at an integration of water sanitation and hygiene education in maternal child health in rural Western Kenya. And when they mean rural, they mean rural. I'm talking about no roads, riding donkeys, never seen a car rural. There was a significant portion of the original results that were inconsistent and simply missing. Since none of these health facilities had electricity or phones, they could not email or communicate their data. It was a fun trip that passed in a whirl. I covered 30 facilities in 4 days updating nearly 10,000 data points. I am currently in Nairobi visiting Hyelim. There is such a difference between urban and rural in Kenya. I had running water and a hot shower for the first time in 2 months. I slept on a bed with a mattress and used a pillow. I ate food cooked on a gas stove, not firewood. I'm currently sitting in a room with air conditioning. And I had Korean food. That last part was the most important for me. You have no idea how happy I was eating rice and kimchi. 


I'm going on a safari next weekend so that should yield a good experience and plenty of photos. I might visit Mombassa, a coastal city because it's the touristy thing to do in Kenya. 

Things are work are progressing smoothly. I created an Access database for SWAP and am currently training the staff in its use. My research is also going well. I just finished creating a survey for the vendors and modified the current questionnaires for the two ongoing studies to include questions to capture the data I want. I should have enough data by mid-July to write my capstone. And who knows, if it is good enough I'll try to get it published. I also had my first conference call with the CDC today. It was quite unnerving to sit there and when someone from the CDC poses a question, all the heads in the room turn to look at me. Just because I am from America does not make me an expert on all aspects of the research. But it was quite the experience and hopefully these connections will land me a job in the near future. 

In other news, it has been surprisingly difficult to buy local coffee beans. Apparently the way the coffee industry runs here doesn't allow tourists to casually go to a plantation and buy some beans. There is a fierce auction held at coffee sites with the big brands all competing for the highest price (unless the locals are lying to me). Buying the local coffee from a market is lame and expensive. I want freshly roasted, local product and I will get some if its the last thing I do. 

Also the mangoes and pineapples here are ridiculously tasty. And they are ridiculously cheap. I haven't enjoyed fruit this much since I last had a yellow watermelon in Pennsylvania. 

I went to Kakamega forest this past weekend. It is the easternmost fragment of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest and is rich in biodiversity. It alone contains almost as many species of birds as the entire United States. I'm not really into birds but it was cool hearing them all in the forest. The scenery was spectacular, the animals interesting, and the air was really clean. I can't stress the clean air part enough. I swear all the vehicles are from an alternate universe where maintenance was never developed and dirt is emitted from the paint. I am constantly coughing from the dust and smoke. I know I am in a developing country but all the data I'm working on regards acute respiratory illnesses and it is making me paranoid. 

I'm getting used to the environment here in Kisumu. There are so many damn mosquitoes but luckily I haven't contracted malaria yet. The two PI's for the studies being conducted are flying back to Atlanta and so I will be the only foreigner in the office. It's rather difficult because they consider me to be the same level as the CDC officials leaving. Working on an official CDC project has certainly given me perspective. I am beginning to realize just how much experience I am lacking. I look at where I am in life and wonder if perhaps I tried harder I could have achieved more by this time. The EIS officer had her PhD by the time she was 25 and I will only have completed my masters by then. I am not one to complain about this kind of stuff but I do lapse into pitiful self-reflection every once in a while. Hopeful this experience will give my CV a boost.The two researchers I've talked to have encouraged me to apply for CDC fellowships as they almost exclusively hire terminal degrees for salary jobs. 

Due to living conditions I have not been able to enjoy some of the luxuries I took for granted at home. Things like hot water, stable electricity, and a constant internet connection. Our house has had a blackout for the past 4 days and since my host does not want to waste candles, I have spent a lot of time sitting in the dark illuminated only by the light of my computer screen before it's battery dies. 

While I am living in "terrible" conditions, there is one benefit. Food and alcohol is cheap here. I can get a decent meal for roughly 40 cents and a beer for a dollar. The local brew, Tusker, is actually quite good. It is a light beer, akin to a lager and perhaps it is the heat, but it quenches my thirst like no other. The good thing about working in a CDC project is that the government pays for our outings. So thanks for paying taxes, because I am certainly enjoying these beers. 

I know this isn't what I am supposed to be doing in Kenya... but I don't care. This is beyond nice.

The entire monitoring and evaluation system is a mess. They are using individual excel documents for all their data. All of it. So I am trying to teach the local staff to convert all their tables into an access database. I would like to use a fancier DB system but access is all they have access too (ha ha). Besides all this computer work we have just completed the training period for the improved cookstove study and Monday will be the start of data collection. There is a large CDC group coming in July to implement the second phase of the study so hopefully I can present them with relevant data and impress them into giving me a job when I graduate. I have also started analysis on the antibacterial hand towel study. The enumerators are asked to report their observations of the villages they visit and my PI is hoping that their data demonstrates a predictive value for the actual condition of health behaviors and outcomes. This would reinforce the data that is being "objectively" collected. The cool thing is that this study is funded and run by the CDC so watch out for my name in a CDC report in the near future. 

I have started brainstorming ideas for a personal project. I want to measure the total impact a NGO has upon the local area including the unseen effect not captured in traditional reports. The difficulty is in capturing the full extent of social networking. I plan on tracing unique products and monitoring health behaviors/outcomes in villages. I'm thinking about comparing baseline surveys with data from all the projects I have access too. The good thing is that all the CDC folk here in Kisumu have offered to help me in my project. Apparently there has not been a lot of research in this particular area. Their expertise will help make my project publishable. Getting funding for a PhD will be a lot easier with several publications under my belt. 

The local meat of choice is goat and they usually prepare it in a stew that is quite tasty. However the locals like eating a maize flour dish called ugali. It has the consistency of rice cake but tastes like nothing. I find it unappealing but the locals seem to love it. I am so glad that rice is readily available here. The guys from the office are taking me to eat some local fish from the lake tomorrow. Their idea of a restaurant is fishing poles and asking women from a nearby house to cook our catch. 

Day 4 in Kenya, the second day of work in Kisumu and the hours are beginning to blur together. Haha just kidding.

I am working for Safe Water and Aids Project as a epidemiologist/consultant. They recently did a pilot study on reducing respiratory illness by improving cookstoves. Using those results we are starting the primary study and it is quite exciting. They actually listen to my suggestions and I feel like my work is actually means something. There is a measurable impact on health outcomes for rural Kenyan villages, and my involvement is actually improving lifes. When I stop to think about it, it is quite awesome.

I am staying with Benson, a local teacher at the international school. He is giving me a warm welcome and he plans on taking me drinking, Kenyan style, whatever that means this weekend. I have already seen giraffes, elephants, and rhinos. And not like the zoos back home. I had a giraffe eat out of my palm. Their tongues really are black, and truthfully, disgusting. The local coffee is fantastic, I am probably drinking the low grade stuff but it tastes amazing. The local tea is also quite delightful. Because of the British influence, the team breaks for morning and afternoon tea. I need to implement this in the clinic back home.

We are finishing a two-day intensive training for the improved cookstove study and tomorrow I will be going out into the field to collect data. I feel like a grown-up, working, and not for classes. Real world epidemiologic work with geniune colleages. I work directly with (not for) a CDC investigator, an EIS officer and the organization head. They are already talking about introducing me to their other staff back in Altanta. Connections really hold the world together.

Despite all this amazing work, I have not lost sight of my true objective. I will pose majestically with a lion. Look forward to it.

Note to self: fly on British Airways more often. They serve afternoon tea and their entire flight crew has English accents. 

I arrived in Nairobi last night after an grueling 18 hour experience. Apparently it is winter here in Kenya. That means its 60 degrees Fahrenheit and it rains occasionally. The hotel I'm staying at is quite nice and it happens to hare WiFi. Unfortunately my latency was 700 ms, way too laggy to play Diablo 3. This saddens me immensely but I guess it works out okay. I don't need distractions while I am here. I plan on exploring Nairobi today and then driving through the country on my way to Kisumu tomorrow morning. After that, it's time for some real work.