A visit from GSK headquarters

Pictures: GSK PULSE photographers visit OGRA Foundation, our GSK PULSE team, the Kisumu slums where we work, two brothers sitting on a bench, AMREF headquarters Kenya, Kibera slums, Kibera alley, Kibera school kids, GSK sponsored handwashing station in Kibera.

This week GSK sent out a photographic team to document our adventures in Africa. Tom and Rebecca came from the home office in London, UK and followed us around trying to capture in pictures and video what we experience everyday. In the top photo they are greeted by Dr. Hezron Mc'Obewa, Executive Director for the OGRA Foundation. Hezron has been the strategic leader guiding the activities of the GSK volunteers. Next is a group photograph of us and starting from the left- Loren, Nerissa, Massimo, Paola, Janet, Melody and Christine.

The next couple of photographs are in the slums where we work. The slums are estimated to house 30,000- 50,000 inhabitants and the conditions are squalid. Most of the buildings are mud and sticks with mostly sheet metal roofs. I saw two little boys watching us so I stepped away for a quick snapshot. I turned the camera around to show them how they looked and I'm not sure they have ever seen their own picture.

We drove into Nairobi to visit with AMREF Kenya, one of the largest relief programs in Africa. We hoped to take away some best practices that we can use in our work with the OGRA Foundation in Kisumu. GSK sponsors some of the work done by AMREF and you can see the orange GSK logo painted on one of the handwashing stations set up near a school. The two little girls were posing for me.

The Kibera slums in Nairobi are the largest in Africa with around one million inhabitants living in about 250 acres of space. The conditions are terrible with no running water or sanitation services. If you look carefully in the aerial photograph you can see the sewage running down the middle of the dirt pathway. The houses are built of mud, sticks, pieces of wood or sheet metal, or whatever can be improvised into a shelter. Alleys are narrow and winding and you can easily get lost without a guide. We were escorted by AMREF workers who knew the area very well.

The brightest spot in the slums were the kids who lived there. We stopped by one of few schools in the area and we were greeted by the happiest children. I think they are the only hope for a better future.

Life in Kenya

Pictures from top: Kisumu airport, baggage claim, local arts and crafts, our all terrain Land Rover, Melody's birthday cake, my Soldier Fish room key, orphans at feeding center.

The Kisumu airport is really just a landing strip and a few buildings. There is no lighting so flights stop after dark. Occasionally, your plane does a fly by to scare off any of the local wildlife that wanders onto the airstrip. Notice that baggage claim is a sign indicating where your bags are left on the pavement.

I have been to the local arts and crafts markets and took of few pictures of what is being sold. Most of the items are handcrafted and one of a kind. Merchants are experts in bargaining and expect you to negotiate so prices start off high. I really enjoy the carnival atmosphere and bargain hunting that goes on.

The all purpose Land Rover isn't pretty but it is rugged and reliable which is the most important qualities given the roads we travel. Our vehicles are completely filled with people and supplies every time we go out. If Americans could ride share as much as Africans we could probably solve our chronic traffic jams.

There is some personal time on the weekends and last weekend happened to be Melody's birthday. I was responsible for producing a cake so I managed to get a box of cake mix and frosting. I took it to the kitchen and asked the chef to help me bake it. Nothing is simple in Africa and I quickly discovered that the kitchen had no measuring cups or spoons. We improvised with a coffee mug and I used my pharmacy skills to guess the liquid measurements for oil and water. After some discussions about oven temperature in centigrade and how to use the industrial size mixer we produced an acceptable batter. The cake was delicious and Melody was quite happy with our efforts.

Our rooms each have names of fish and I have been occupying the Soldier Fish room. The keys chains are hand carved out of wood and are kind of cool.

For the past few weeks I have been working on the orphan feeding center chicken project and we are close to opening our coop. The baby chicks are on order but not yet delivered. The picture of the orphans is a reminder of the work ahead.

Images from Kenya

From top: orphan feeding center, chicken coop at feeding center, woman balancing basket on head, drying corn maize slurry pancakes in sun, Kisumu farmer's market stalls, riding through town in a tuk tuk.

I live and work in the city of Kisumu on the shoreline of Lake Victoria. These pictures are some of the things that I see every day. The orphan feeding center is located about one hour away in the village of Ombeyi. There are over 1,000 orphans who aren't getting enough food and the feeding center serves only about 50 children from nearby schools. They walk as far as a mile during their lunch break for what might be their only meal of the day. Many of these children have lost their mothers or fathers due to the high rates of HIV/AIDS in the region- over 30% I think. The poultry project and chicken coop are part of the sustainability program we are launching to provide a revenue stream to keep the feeding center open. Funding for the orphan feeding center will end in June 2010 so the chickens must be making a profit by then. We have 250 one day old chicks arriving soon and we are planning to raise them for 6 weeks into broiler chickens. Profits from the sale of the chickens will be used to purchase food for the orphans and to buy the next batch of chickens. This is a high risk project but the rewards will be great if we can succeed.

The women here often carry heavy loads on their heads and make it look easy. So far, I have yet to see a man carrying anything in that way- must be a cultural taboo or maybe lazy men. The Kisumu farmer's market is a busy and colorful place where you can buy fresh vegetables, fruits, rice, beans, spices and even live chickens. The corn or maize flour is prepared into a pancake like mixture and dried in the sun. It becomes hard like a biscuit which is one way of preserving the flour. The cakes are then boiled and made into an oatmeal like porridge.

A common means of getting around is the tuk tuk. It is a three wheeled golf cart like vehicle made by Piaggio in Italy. It holds 3 passengers, vibrates heavily, spews smoke and goes about 5mph. Riding gets a bit dicey when you are sharing the road with diesel trucks, cars, bicycles, cows and push carts. There are no traffic lights, painted lines, directional signs, or apparent traffic rules. You occupy the road at your own risk and you never assume anyone sees you or will attempt to avoid hitting you. Defensive driving skills are a must. Tuk tuks are at the mercy of the faster vehicles which is just about everything except a pedestrian. Before getting into a tuk tuk you negotiate the price. A ride across the city is about 100 shillings (1 US dollar = 75 Kshs Kenyan shillings) and worth the price if you are carrying groceries or heavy loads. We walk almost everywhere and when combined with the heat and humidity it becomes a good workout.

If you look out the right side of the window from the tuk tuk you can see that I am passing a makeshift trash dump. Trash collection does not exist and most of the time it is just set on fire and burned creating a noxious smoke.

I am working alongside six other GSK volunteers who come from around the world. Two are from Italy, one is from the UK, one is from Canada and two are from Philadelphia, USA. We all have different skills and experiences that compliment each other- human resources, IT, manufacturing and supply, clinical science, nursing, drug safety and microbiology. Living and working together is a bit like being in a college dorm again but we have quickly developed into a tight knit team. Other projects we are engaged with- the hygiene program which teaches the villagers how to properly wash their hands and importance of drinking clean water to prevent transmission of disease, a new pharmacy management and information system to avoid drug losses from expired drugs and to improve efficiency in drug ordering, installing an IT system at the Ombeyi Medical Centre to improve documentation and tracking of patients, improving the development and training of all healthcare staff at the OGRA Foundation including managers and of course the orphan feeding program and poultry project.

Arrival in Kenya

I have arrived in Kenya, Africa and I am safe and sound. I want to thank all of my family, friends and colleagues for the kind support they have given me because without it, this trip would have not been possible. The people of Kenya have warmly welcomed me and my GSK colleagues who are here trying to make a sustainable difference.

The first week here was spent just trying to survive and adapt to Africa. The trip here took almost two days and included a six hour ride in the back of a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The trip from Nairobi to Kisumu was very scenic since we passed through the Great Rift Valley which contains many game reserves. In the distance I could see zebra and antelope and along the road there were baboons just walking around. The main roads in Africa are paved but not very smooth because there are giant potholes and ruts everywhere. Secondary roads are all dirt and travel is very slow so distance is irrelevant here. You learn to ask how long it takes to get somewhere, not how far it is. Amazingly, I was told the roads get worse during the upcoming rainy season...

Everything in Africa simply takes longer to do than anywhere else in the world. We have developed a phrase "this is Africa" to explain why you must learn to accept things as they exist here. For example, the electric power goes off at least several times a day without warning for indeterminate amounts of time. The internet can be off for days because the local villagers need clothesline so they dig up and cut the telephone cables. And I have yet to find a word that means "now" in Kiswahili which apparently is not needed here.

All of the volunteers are housed in a nice local hotel run by the OGRA Foundation. It is within a secure compound surrounded by an electric fence. Once in a while an animal, snake, lizard, etc. gets zapped and you can hear some crackling sounds, ugh! Meals are provided by the hotel and I have been eating mostly chicken and pasta. There are other local foods but I have yet to develop a taste for ugali (a maize based cornmeal) and other delicacies. I drink anything bottled- water, soda, and beer (TUSKER is an African brew that is very refreshing!).

We are provided transportation to the OGRA Foundation offices and into the villages for field work. OGRA is the local community health organization that receives funds from Direct Relief International. All of the GSK PULSE volunteers are working for OGRA on projects that are designed to improve the lives of the nearby communities but in a sustainable way. One of the first programs I was introduced to was the orphan feeding center. The funding for this program is due to expire in June 2010 and I am helping launch a poultry project to raise broiler chickens to sell in the local markets. The funding raised from this program will feed the orphans and hopefully sustain the program on a long term basis. The first shipment of 250 chicks arrives next week so I am on a steep learning curve.

The villagers lack the basic necessities of life- sufficient food, clean water, a comfortable home, access to medical care and a living wage. The average person earns less than a dollar a day and 90% of homes here don't have water or electricity. Malaria and AIDS are rampant and infrastructure or government services are non-existent. NGOs like Direct Relief International and the OGRA Foundation are trying to install sustainable programs like the chicken project so the profits from the sale of the chickens will buy the next batch and also feed the children. Simply providing funding for an orphan feeding program does little good since the program will end once the funding stops. This happens all the time here so the focus is to give the Africans a hand up but not a hand out.