South of the Equator

We had to venture to Kampala, Uganda for a few days for a meeting and a little siteseeing along the way. It was my first trip south of the equator! Kampala is a city set on 7 hills and is famous for its gridlock which we were able to experience. Aside from the pollution, it is a pretty neat city. There is not a whole lot to do, but we saw a few sites, had a very productive meeting and had an amazing Indian dinner! On our way back to Kenya, we stopped at a town called Jinja which is home to the Victoria Nile. Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile which flows all the way out to the Indian Ocean. The highlight of Uganda, by far, was a day of white water rafting down the Nile river just outside of town. We were with some very experienced raft guides who led us through some class 3, 4 and 5 rapids. It definitely got the adrenaline going!!! We stopped at village called Ugunja on the way home, which is where one of our field guides is from. For the moment we are back in Kit-Mikayi for a few days and will be off to Remba Island tomorrow to work on the safe water project for the rest of the week. The internet is too slow for me to load any photos today :(

First Week

We have now been in Kenya just over a week and are settling in quite nicely. We have started our work with the community based organization, Pamoja, and have had some very interesting experiences. We will be helping them with a safe water project on Remba Island in Lake Victoria and with a community stragety project focusing on the implementation of community health workers into the area.

We have had a chance to visit the district hospital, the local dispensary and have done two days of home visits with the community health workers. Most households complain about the lack of clean water, the high incidence of malaria and the distance to local health facilities. It definitely reminds me of how much we take for granted in North America.

Aside from our work, we have had a chance to visit the Kakamega forest to see a lot of playful monkeys, have had two lovely mornings of bouldering and have had a chance to meet up with another team of UBC students who live about 10 minutes (by car) down the street. Dr. Jeremy Penner, arrived last night from a conference in Namibia and we all camped out under the under the stars on top of these giant boulders across from the house. It was amazing to watch the sunrise!

We are supposed to be heading to Kampala (Uganda) tomorrow for two days to meet up with a doctor there who is interested in starting a new project with GHI (the organization we are working with at UBC). I forgot my camera connector today so you'll just have to check back for photos!

A Quick Look

Below are a few photos of our first week here: