Friday was my second day at my internship with the Makina
Community Development Project. I got there a bit early, so was able to hang
around the clinic for a few minutes before my guide and teacher Audrey arrived.
She told me we were going to meet with Mike who helps run MACODEPs Home Based
Care Program. It was an interesting walk, through a part of Kibera and Makina I
had not seen before. We made it and started meeting. Throughout this time many
more people walked in the room and by the end there were 7 of us in a small
office, in a trailer, all talking about the Ministry of Health, and the home
based care programs.
This conversation was incredibly interesting because
recently in Community Health we have been exploring tools to gather vital data
on households, to not only assist the household but to perform a household or
community level diagnosis. During this meeting I had the opportunity to look
through some of the Ministry of Health documents, and learn more about the
structure of Community Health Workers (CHWs), Advisory Counsels, Community
Health Extension Workers, and the Ministry of Health. Learning how these pieces
fit together was incredibly interesting, but the part of the conversation that
was even more interesting was looking through the documents CHWs are required
to complete for each member of each household they serve. These cover
everything from maternal care, to recent ailments, to immunizations, to
household conditions. We talk a lot in my Community Health class about the
different factors we would want to look at when we want to evaluate the status
of a community or household so seeing what the Ministry of Health has
determined to be important factors was a huge boost to my classroom learning.
Next week, I will have the opportunity to go out with a CHW
to homes and see the households they serve. I look forward to writing about
this experience.
Walking through Kibera is an experience in and of itself,
but this is where I often get stared at the most. This time was like every
other time, until I was approached by a man who was already acting quite weird.
He introduced himself to Audrey and I, and started having a conversation with
me. I knew I was in for a roller coaster when he said if I were to give him 25
cows, I could marry his sister. I thanked him for the offer, but said no
thanks.
He continued walking alongside us talking about what he
does, where he is from, and how he will call me sir out of respect. He even
apologized for his English, which was actually quite good. As we are walking at
one point another man starts following us. The first man introduced us to him
as his “leader”, said he was a great man, and said we should shake his hand. We
did. Walked another block and then we split off. Audrey asked me if I was
scared, I responded no. I really wasn’t. I have no problem being nice to people
and it was clear to me that as long as I continued to be polite with this guy,
he would be polite back. In fact, I can’t help but think this interaction will
help because he seemed to enjoy the conversation which means he is likely to
remember me as a nice white kid, a reputation that isn’t bad to have. Friends
in unfamiliar environments are never something I want to pass up.
I am still confused on who his leader was, and what that
interaction was about but it all went smooth.
It was almost time for me to get picked-up. Earlier Victor
had said we would get picked up at a certain time, but then texted asking if I
could get picked up earlier. It worked out fine, and when I got in the car
there were two of my classmates already there. Turns out they were asked to be
picked up earlier for safety reasons.
We later found out President Uhuru Kenyatta had visited
Kibera and local politicians were unaware. Because of this some people were
quite upset and they were worried that the tone of the crowd could continue
getting more and more frustrated. They wanted us out of there incase anything
did happen.
I am excited to continue having a whirlwind of experiences
at MACODEP, and am particularly excited for when I begin working full time.
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