Monday, August 6, 2007


Candles in the Wind: Community Leaders and PLWHA Advocates

Chart-topping pop ballad dedicated to the memory of Princess Diana by the fabulous British icon Sir Elton John.

If you had asked me what “Candle in the Wind” meant to me a week ago, that would have been my answer. Now, “symbol of perseverance against extreme adversity” seems more appropriate.

Candles in the Wind is an organization on Egerton’s campus devoted to providing emotional support for those affected and infected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Kenya. Founded two years ago by an HIV positive Egerton employee, Candles in the Wind sought to fight the societal stigma imposed on PLWHA (People Living with HIV and AIDS) by disseminating information about HIV/AIDS and by preventing new infections by supplying university students with accessible and free condoms. Caitlin and I had the honor to attend their seminar which discussed the need for leadership and advocacy for the rights of those with HIV/AIDS.

PLWHA advocates, frustrated by the political, inefficient and ineffective nature of administrative policy makers (local and international), are speaking out for less deliberation and more life saving. The founder of Candles in the Wind bitterly admitted that, “After a while, the beautiful policy paper will end up gathering dust on a shelf. And they tell me the world is fair.” He’s right. Precious resources are wasted, people are dying, and arguments over trite details prevent aid from reaching those whose CD4 cell counts are rapidly diminishing.

The demand of every Candles in the Wind member and millions around the world is increasing accessibility of resources like ARV’s, treatments for opportunistic treatments, and preventative measures like condoms and sexual health and behavior education. At the university, free male condoms are available at the Voluntary Counseling Testing Center. However, the VCT is only open during hours when most students are in class (8 to 1). Female condoms are a virtually unheard of and a mystery to both female and male users. Myths, like “condoms from the US contain HIV/AIDS” or “If I have enough unprotected sex, I will expel the virus from my body,” are rampant due to lack of safe and responsible sex education. Condom use is stigmatized by conservatives, who preach abstinence and fidelity but don’t practice themselves. Those who choose to not abstain, lack the knowledge and resources to protect themselves. Wives, married as virgins and knowing only one partner, are unable to protect themselves from being infected by unfaithful husbands.

What is the cost of upholding religious and political ideologies that fail to protect the innocent from the imperfect? I couldn’t help but note the irony that PEPFAR, the Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, paid for the lunch and tea breaks provided during the seminar held by Candles in the Wind. At the end, we were all handed 100 shillings to reimburse attendees for transportation we did not take to get to the seminar. As I stared at the unnecessary monetary compensation, I thought of how many condoms this money could have bought. How many infections could have been prevented, how many lives could have been saved with this same money? An organization that wanted to prevent new infections but could not use the same money for condoms; just more discussion about the need for more condoms.
In the end, we donated our shillings to Candles in the Wind.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The Ogande Girls


One. Look for the mosquitos. Two. Catch the mosquitos. Three. Confuse the mosquitos. Four. KILL THE MOSQUITOS!

A hundred claps echoed throughout the auditorium. Young women dressed identically in white blouses, brown skirts, brown vests emblazoned with dignified school crests, and brown shoes laughed at the new clap they had just learned from an enthusiastic Egerton University student.
These bursts of laughter belong to the Ogande Schoolgirls, whose future is as sunny as their faces.

Last Saturday, we had the pleasure of traveling out to Nyanza with the Coffee Hour students to spend the day speaking to the students at the Ogande School for Girls. After spending the Coffee Hour Student forum discussing campus issues like career development, relationships, peer counseling, HIV/AIDS, security and gender relations, the students at Egerton were extremely excited to talk to the secondary school girls (high school age) about life and challenges faced after graduating from school. Some of the intense topics covered by the university students included strong study habits, time management, campus life, career development, avoiding pressure to have sex prematurely, HIV/AIDS, and hygiene. The girls in particular enjoyed the skits performed by the Egerton Coffee Hour crew. One of the skits featured two university boys who were trying to seduce a naïve female “fresher” (first year student). When their outrageously cheesy pickup lines (“You are as sweet as my grandmother’s porridge” and “Your beautiful anatomy teases my biology”) fail to entice the pious girl, they pretend to be God and tell her that God’s will is for her to marry the first man she sees at church the next day. Of course, one of the university boys is waiting for her at the church the next day. A second skit described a girl who got caught up in partying and risky behavior before entering the university (due to the limited spacing at Kenyan universities, there is a two year waiting period before one can enter university). The girl, who scores extremely well on her entrance exams, gets pregnant and faces disappointment from her parents as well as a compromised future. Moral of both skits is for the girls to remain “good girls” and to resist the flirtations from cunning upperclassmen.
Another presentation the girls enjoyed discussed proper usage of the sanitary napkins the university students donated to Ogande. Because some of the students at Ogande could not afford to buy sanitary pads, the girls often had to miss school for a few days each month because of the stigma and embarrassment associated with the menstrual cycle. Addie, Caitlin, and Prashant talked to the girls about the biology behind the menstrual cycle, proper usage of sanitary pads, and ending stigma about having a period. The girls were taught how to not reuse the disposable pads and given a demonstration by Prashant and Jesse. Their male gender made the demonstration highly amusing for the schoolgirls as the boys struggled with the sticky pads.

At the end of the day, we were all exhausted but extremely glad that the schoolgirls had fun and learned a little about life after secondary school.

Thursday, July 26, 2007


Voluntary Counseling and Testing by Caitlin

The prick of the needle, the drop of blood, the ten minute wait that feels like an eternity...

My time spent working at the VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) center at Egerton University has been both challenging and rewarding. I’ve been tested daily by questions posed to me by students and other local community members that come to the VCT seeking to gain knowledge about HIV and their statuses as well. Many clients have asked about the reliability of condoms and I was surprised to hear students talk of rumors of condoms being laced with HIV and containing pores for the virus to travel through. Other students have asked me if the United States manufactured AIDS to suppress Africans. While I had heard this rumor in the United States, I didn’t actually think that anyone believed it to be true. As a VCT counselor, it is my job to dispel such myths and encourage clients to protect themselves from the disease by using condoms or practicing abstinence. However, I often find myself wondering if the students I talk to trust my advice. After all, I am younger than most of them and I am white; I come from the country where they believe AIDS was created. The hardest part of my job has to be revealing to a person that he or she is HIV-positive. The number of HIV-positive cases I have dealt with have been very few, but I was quickly introduced to the reality of HIV in Kenya during my first week on the job. The young student who found out she was positive sat quietly with her head down as I showed her the results of her test and talked about her future. I was expecting her to cry, but she did not. I tried to tell her that she could continue with school and lead a normal life, but it is hard to tell that to someone who has been diagnosed with an incurable disease. Despite the challenges, however, my work has been just as rewarding. Every time a client gets an HIV-negative result, I breathe a sigh of relief along with the patient. Being able to answer questions and provide support for people leaves me with a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day.

Friday, July 20, 2007


From the Perspective of the Kenyan Chicken Little
Life as a chicken in Kenya, although almost inevitably short, is arguably more fulfilling than being a chicken in America. For starters- who of you Yankee chickens can say you have ever ridden on a bus? I’m here to clear up any confusion and state once and for all that life is better for us chickens in Africa. And here is why:
1. We get unlimited access to kilometers and kilometers of land, unfenced and unbound. We can run around at will, chase uglier chickens and eat whatever trash or wild grasses are available—the world is our buffet. And Americans talk about “free range”! We even show our appreciation by our melodious clucking, starting around 4 am every morning right outside the houses where people are sleeping.
2. Silly American Tourists think its funny to chase us around outside and take a lot of pictures of us. We must be celebrities. Watch out Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
3. We get the luxury of riding in buses (as I stated before) called matatus. Sometimes women put us in their shopping bags, along with other delicious smelling fruits and fresh vegetables from the local market. Our legs are bound so we don’t run away, and although that is slightly uncomfortable, I believe they just value us so dearly they couldn’t deal with the immense sadness that would follow if they were to lose us. After all, there are many strangers that also ride on the matatus and we would not want to get lost!
4. Like little children, women carry us under their arms. What other life-stock can claim that they have actually been carried by the people that own then? A cow cannot claim that; they are only tied to a fence post to graze all day and whipped if they miss behave. A pig cannot claim that; most of the farmers that deal with pigs wont get near enough to touch them—can you imagine someone carrying a dirty, smelly pig? And donkeys definitely don’t get that same treatment. They slave away, carrying buckets of water and pulling heavy carts for many kilometers.
5. Our babies grow up to be much stronger and tougher than you American softees. They learn what it’s like in the real world from an early age, mastering the street smarts that can save them from an encounter with your average wild dog or hyena.
Now, I should probably talk about our inescapable and fated end, one that meets all chickens no matter your race or background. Children, avert your eyes because this is not pretty. But it is the fact of life. And unlike you American chickens who are killed without thought or that personal touch, we are given the decency to be slaughtered one by one, by the very hand that will eat us. Who else could ask for a more individualized and caring way to die? After all, the person who is going to eat us knows what the chicken is going through and what is going on in our minds in the final moments of life. I couldn’t ask for a better ending. That is why no matter what is said, the life of the African chicken is far more stimulating and exhilarating than that of our brothers in the US.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007


Matatu buses…Hakuna Matata? I think not.
Considering the terrorism of Nairobi matatu bus drivers by Mungki gang members, we were not tempted to take the cheapest and most common form of Kenyan transportation. On many occasions as we walked to the girls’ home or through Nakuru, a matatu would whizz by us at hair-grazing distance. Our uncomfortably close encounters with matatus and their notoriously bad driving made them seem all the more dangerous. When our friend Mary asked us to visit her HIV positive friend who lived in a small village outside of Nakuru, we decided that an opportunity to meet such an amazing woman should not be overshadowed by our reluctance to travel via matatu.
The trick is firstly, getting on the right matatu and secondly, not getting conned into paying any more than the locals. As we stood waiting at Egerton’s gate, matatu drivers leaned out of their moving vehicles, beckoning us with shrill whistles and loud banging on the metal doors. Mary guided us onto a small twelve passenger van that had cracked blue leather seats and an interior that was just as dusty as its exterior. Although Kenyan law prohibits matatus from overloading, the most profitable drivers have a knack for cramming in more passengers than double the carrying capacity. After twenty minutes spent looking for more riders, we finally headed out on the long road to Nakuru where we would then connect to Kabazi.
Both thrilling and frightening, we bounced along narrow, “paved” roads at neck breaking speed playing chicken with every vehicle we encountered. Taking my gaze from the window, I suddenly noticed other passengers scrambling to fasten their seat belts. Thoroughly alarmed, I craned my neck only to see a huge truck headed towards us. Previously unaware I even had a seatbelt, my fingers urgently dug along the dirty seat searching for the seatbelt strap and clasp. After I fastened my seatbelt, I was aghast to find that it could have easily accommodated an additional person sitting on my lap. Just as a four lettered word crossed my mind, the matatu suddenly jerked off the side of the road and stopped next to two policemen. Much to my embarrassing relief, the hasty seatbelt clicking was apparently due to an approaching routine seatbelt check. Of course, this safety regulatory check was a bit of a joke since most drivers can bribe the officers to pass. Immediately preceding the check, the seatbelts were unfastened nearly as quickly as they were put on.
The rest of our matatu trip proved less traumatic. At Nakuru, hawkers swarmed the matatus with their unusual wares (candy, handkerchiefs, socks, batteries, sausages, flashlights). The countryside near Kabazi was breathtakingly green and mountainous, interrupted by patches of dirt shacks, tidy businesses, and farmland. The matatu ride had given us an adventurous taste of Kenyan life, a cheap tour of beautiful countryside, and a rollercoaster experience to be always remembered. And most gratefully, the matatu delivered us home in one piece.

The Importance of Living Positively

This past weekend, Angela, Addie and I traveled with our friend Mary to visit an HIV-positive woman named Faith. Mary, who is also HIV-positive, met Faith when she came to visit her sister, an employee at Egerton. At the time, Faith was having a hard time dealing with her status and Mary was called upon to act as a friend and counselor. Mary told us that the purpose of our visit was to encourage Faith to live a “positive” life. It seems that since being diagnosed with HIV, Faith has lost the will to live and consequently, her health has been deteriorating ever since.
On the long matatu ride to Kabazi (Faith’s hometown), I was unsure of what to expect. Although we have seen many roadside towns as we’ve traveled through Kenya, we had yet to venture through the streets of one of the towns or enter into anyone’s home. When we reached Kabazi, we were greeted by one of Faith’s sons. He led us barefoot through the muddy streets to his home. This town was clearly one of the most poverty-stricken areas that we have visited thus far. People discard their waste right outside their doors where donkeys, chickens, and sheep feed off the piles.
When we first met Faith, she was sitting on a stoop in front of a wooden turquoise door. From Faith’s emaciated and tired expression it was immediately obvious that she was not in the best of health. Inside Faith’s home, I was shocked by its simplicity; consisting of two tiny rooms, there was barely enough space for us to move. A single tiny window lit the house and there was no electricity or running water. During our visit, Faith told us a little about her life – she is a single mother of seven kids. Last year she was diagnosed with HIV and has been on ARVs for about half a year. She is also currently being treated for TB. Unfortunately, however, the medication often makes her nauseous. We couldn’t help but wonder whether or not Faith’s upset stomach was due to improper nutrition. Faith’s troubles were further compounded by the fact that she is too weak to hold a regular job. It was hard for us to fathom that the problems Faith faces on a daily basis are typical for the million plus Kenyans living with HIV. Although we couldn’t provide Faith with a cure for her disease or poverty, we hope that we brightened up her day with our visit and in doing so have encouraged her to continue to live positively.

Friday, June 29, 2007


Our Orphanage Experiences by Addie Price


Hey everyone. I’m going to talk about the orphanage that Caitlin, Angela and I visit weekly. It’s a girl’s home, sponsored by the Lion’s Club, for 24 girls between the ages of 5 and 15. Some of the girls seem to have living relatives, but usually the relatives are too old or destitute to take care of the children. The orphans all live and help cook in this home, and their school is right down the road. For the first three weeks, we visited the children on Saturdays, but this week we helped out at the primary and nursery school, made up of both girls from the home and children from the local villages.
The first weekend we visited, the girls were extremely shy, quietly mumbling their names when we asked but mostly avoiding all eye contact and conversation. But in the weeks since our first visit, there has been incredible change. The girls are much more outgoing, choosing to join us in games that we bring up as well as introducing us to some of their own games. We played “Who Stole my Letter?” the Kenyan version of “Duck-Duck-Goose” and we taught them “Patty Cake” and “Ring Around the Rosy.” One week we brought crayons and paper, something that they rarely get to use, and their discomfort and awkwardness at using the bulky crayons was noticeable (many of them opted to use plain graphite pencils instead).
There was one girl in particular that has captured our hearts. We have been careful not to make favorites, but Jessica is the youngest orphan at the home. She is the shyest and when the others began opening up to us, she pretended to want nothing to do with us. She often stood on the outside of where we were playing, doing her own thing and occasionally peaking over at us. I was finally able to get her to respond to a question I asked (she told me the Swahili word for dog was Mbwa). We hope through our continued involvement and play she will open up even further.
This week we visited the school where the youngest children attend. There were 4 rooms, each with about 30 kids aged 3-6. I even had a 2 year old in my classroom but she was the youngest they’ve ever had. When we were there we helped the children copy their letters and numbers. Each of them had a single notebook and half of a slightly sharpened pencil. They were very attentive and focused for such young children. After English lessons, we went outside and played games with all 4 classes together. It took them a while to catch on to the “Hokey-Pokey” and “Simon says…”, mainly because most of them only speak Swahili, but by the end they were shaking all about and having a great time. We plan to go back again next Thursday. Hopefully through continuous and prolonged interaction with the children, they will feel more and more comfortable being with us and opening up to us. After working most of our time with college students and faculty at Egerton University, it’s been a great change of pace to spend weekend mornings playing and laughing with such happy and fun-loving kids.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Giraffe Sanctuary in Nairobi


Caitlin, Addie, and Angela feeding a Giraffe.

Incredible Women by Angela



Listening to the hail drum rhythmically on the roof, I think to myself “I cannot believe that this is Njoro, Kenya…and that it is hailing!” Nothing can properly articulate the wonderful surprises Kenya has offered us so far in our stay here. The Kenyan people are infamous for the warm, embracing manner they welcome new friends. Professor Rose Odhiambo, the admirable woman who graciously welcomed us into her home, has become a second mother to us and made Njoro a home away from home for us. Rose is the director of the Institute for Women, Gender Development and Studies at Egerton University. Rose earned a full scholarship to Kenyatta University where she earned her doctorate on malaria research. She is now married to a respected pastor in Nairobi, and has four sons named Franklin, Dennis, Sam, and Tunu. As director of the Gender Institute and a lecturer at Egerton, Rose is truly an exceptional leader and role model for female students everywhere who face adversity on the basis of their gender. Living with Rose has been amazing! Not only are Addie and I incredibly lucky to work with Rose on the gender policy at Egerton, we also have the pleasure of being a part of her family. We have learned how to make several traditional Kenyan dishes like ugali (which is a thicker version of polenta), a savory cabbage dish, and mandazies which are fried pieces of sweet dough.

We have also been going to a lot of student group meetings and events. Our friend, Mary, a student mother on campus, is in charge of PRISM which stands for Professional Role Integrated Student Mothers. This organization was for future and current mothers who meet weekly to raise money to help struggling student mothers. Because student mothers are not given university housing (unlike student fathers) and often discontinue their studies to care for the baby, they must find alternative housing that is often in an unsafe area without basic necessities like clean water or electricity. Paying for utilities which was included in university housing is a huge financial burden for student mothers who are often abandoned by the father of the child. The students raise money for their basic needs and for medical fees. A financially desperate student mother had gone to the local Nakuru hospital where sanitation conditions and negligent hospital care amounts to torture. The poor mother was given an unnecessary C-section in which the doctors pierced her too far and cut the baby. Because of poor medical care, the child swallowed the amniotic fluid and drowned prior to birth. The mother was not stitched up properly and was sent back to Egerton’s sanitarium with her “entrails nearly hanging out.” It is debatable for locals who cannot afford a better hospital as to which risk is higher—suffering from disease or injury, or infection and death from outrageously negligent medical care. The student mothers in PRISM are amazing. Having faced such adversity and stigma, many of these women also make up the minority of female students who graduate with a BA in Science. Truly, all the Kenyan women I have met illustrate the strength of the human spirit in triumphing over any obstacle presented by society.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Jambo!


Jambo from Kenya! It’s been over a week now that we have been at Egerton University and we can’t wait to share our stories and experiences with you! To begin with we’d like to introduce ourselves.

My name is Addie Price and I am from Westchester, New York. I will be a junior next year at Duke, and I’m majoring in psychology while taking pre-med classes. I am extremely excited to be in Kenya this summer because I feel that it is becoming increasingly important to get to know and appreciate different people, societies, cultures and ways of life. Also, coming from the U.S. and with the resources and opportunities that are available, I want to do what I can to give back to other who are less fortunate. This summer I am working on a Gender and Sexual Harassment Policy for the University with Angela Vo. Also, I hope to shadow a doctor at the Provincial Medical Hospital in nearby Nakuru. Finally, I am excited to work with others in my group to get to know the student body, sit in on student meetings (some of which we have already joined in on such as the Student Mothers group and the weekly Coffee Hour discussions) and work with children in both an orphanage and the local primary schools. Can’t wait to share my summer with you!!

Hello! I’m Caitlin Milligan, a rising junior from Lexington, Kentucky. At Duke, I am pursuing the Global Health Certificate in addition to majoring in Biology. On campus I am the incoming director of Know Your Status – the student-run organization which provides free HIV testing and counseling to students. This summer I will be applying the skills I have learned at Duke and will be working as an HIV tester/counselor at a VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) center. I hope to help address the stigma associated with HIV on campus and encourage students to get tested and know their status. Additionally, I hope to work with HIV-positive students to help them realize that they can lead normal and productive lives as members of the University community. I can’t wait to share all of my experiences with you!

Hey guys! My name is Angela Vo and I am a rising sophomore from Cary, North Carolina. I am primarily interested in remedying global health disparities through addressing flawed societal constructs that perpetuate human rights violations. I am currently undecided as to what I will major in but I hope that working at the Egerton Institute of Women, Gender Development and Studies will help me decide between English or Public Policy. I really love meeting new people and exploring the different intricacies of a new culture. We have already talked to a multitude of absolutely amazing people whose lives have truly inspired us. From talking to groups of empowered student mothers, the Alliance for Youth and AIDS, and to the girls at a local Njoro orphanage, I cannot believe that I am in Kenya in such great company. Just as the weather has been full of surprises (hail, of all things!), I look forward to each day’s challenges and surprises! As Addie, Caitlin, and Sherryl will tell you, I am a chatterbox! I can’t wait to tell you all about my experiences here and I hope that the people I’ve met so far will gain as much as I do from my time here.

For now it’s just us ladies in Njoro but in early July our friend Prashant Swaminathan will be joining us (for which we are really excited).

Friday, June 8, 2007

DukeEngage Kenya - Egerton University (May 31 - Aug 20, 2007)

Living with Kenyan faculty members, students will be working at Egerton University on projects important to the university's priorities. They will help wiht HIV awareness and testing campaigns and develop a support program for HIV-positive students. They will also help Egerton, a public university near Nakuru, draft a new gender and sexual harassment policy.

Students:
Caitlin Milligan (Trinity '09)
Angela Vo (Trinity '10)
Addie Price (Trinity '09)
Prashant Swami Nathan (Pratt '10)