World AIDS Day 2011

If you have read this blog you know that HIV/AIDS awareness is something I feel very strongly about. I spent ten weeks this past summer working to educate and reduce the stigma around getting tested and being HIV positive. Today is World AIDS day, a day meant to raise awareness and demonstrate international solidarity. The World Health Organization (WHO) has given us the theme of "Getting to Zero". Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths by 2015. THE ONLY WAY to make this happen is through education, understanding, and getting tested.

Of the people infected with HIV in the US, the CDC estimates nearly 21% are unaware that they are infected. This statistic is even more startling in adolescents - more than 50% of HIV infected adolescents in the US do not know their status.

I am BEGGING you to get tested. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for your partner. Or your family. Or me.

The National HIV and STD testing resources website : www.hivtest.org

Text your zip code to the number KNOWIT (566984) and receive local testing centers.

If you don't know, now you know.

I know it has been a while!

Hi All!!!

I am BEGGING for your help. If you can spare $10 (or more!) please consider vonating to Daraja and give these girls a chance to win the Nike Girl Effect Challenge! This could be a life changer for Daraja, and you all know these girls deserve it! Click the link below to donate or text GIVE 8946 to 80088 to vonate $10!

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/provide-an-education-for-exceptional-kenyan-girls/

CHANGE LIVES.

A Metaphor For Life

Yesterday I went into town early with a sick student and then taught a class at the hospital about Malaria with Nurse Jacinta. The class went well, the students are nursing students from Action Aid Denmark. I had a break for a few hours before a CME (continuing medical education) class back at the hospital. I walked into town and bummed around for a while, eating and buying some presents to bring home. I hung around with the boys for a little while, they are coming to Daraja tomorrow to have some good meals before they go off to school. These boys are amazing, street boys that are number one in their class!

I had to head back to Cottage around 4 pm so I hopped on a Boda Boda (a motorcycle taxi) since I had so many bags. And then it rained... HARD. The driver started screaming "I'm getting wet!!", DUH IT'S RAINING! I had to pay him triple the price and I was SOAKED. Thankfully Jacinta lives at the hospital so I ran to her house and she was nice enough to give me some dry clothes.

On a motorcycle, without a helmet, in the rain, in Kenya. That is a metaphor for my life!

Today I woke up early and went for a run, appreciating the view and trying to remember where my feet are. They are hear in Kenya, so I hope to enjoy it for the next few days!

It is also my 25th birthday! I can't believe the life I have, I am so grateful for this life!

Another Great Day!

Yesterday was a top ten day in my book. The day started out with the three Muslim girls heading into Nanyuki to go to the mosque and break Ramadan. Turns out there was some confusion and about half the town thought it wasn't breaking until today. The girls called home to Isiolo and their families were celebrating, so Daraja did too!

Around 10:30 I headed into town with six girls to go get HIV tests. The girls were very nervous and were anxious to be the first to be tested and get it over with. I can't even express how great it feels to see a girl come out of the testing room with a giant smile (or jumping up and down in one girls case). HIV is a real fear here. Unprotected sex, rape, and drug use are common. Many girls have watched family members die as a result of AIDS. But they are starting to accept that HIV is not a death sentence, and that they can live full and happy lives if they ever tested positive. That being said, I am SO grateful to report that all 23 girls that have been tested are negative! And one teacher!!!

"I will remember this day for the rest of my life, the first day I knew for sure that I did not have HIV" Faith Form 3

After the testing we walked into town and got some supplies for the end of Ramadan feast! We got sweets and soda for being brave and getting tested, and then I had to wait in the butchery for 25 Kg of meat to be chopped up. I am the worst kind of meat eater and really don't like looking at raw meat, but while I waited I made plans for the woman at the desk to come visit me in New York (she made the plans and I agreed).

We're Having A Baby!

Not me you silly goose! I took my good friends Andy and Betty to the hospital bright and early this morning. Yesterday they called me up to their house because they couldn't get ahold of their doctor and Betty's water broke. I had them wait out the night and we went this morning to Cottage. I am so excited! She hasn't started contractions but I might go in for the night shift tonight so that I can be there for the delivery. Good luck Betty and Andy!

It is officially one week until I board a plane back for the states. I can't believe it is here already. The feelings are so complicated- I am excited to see Phil and Josie and my family/friends, but the thought of leaving Kenya for an unknown period of time sends me into panic! It is just so expensive to get out here and even with help from all of you I can't keep quitting my job and flying off to Kenya. Or maybe I can, who knows.

This week I'm taking 6 more girls to get tested for HIV, I will be working a few days at the hospital and then spending Saturday-Monday with the girls who are coming back from break.

Two Days of Travel for One Day in Tanzania

So apparently New York is the weather central of the world right now... stay safe guys!

Wednesday: We left campus around seven to drive to Nairobi, pretty uneventful trip there. I really like Nairobi, it's like an African NYC. We stopped for lunch there and I was able to get a cheese quesadilla in KENYA! SCORE!!!! Next we get on a bus that is bound for Arusha. The bus itself was pretty nice and since we only paid $15 it great. Think China town bus playing ABBA and Walking through Memphis for 6 hours... The only problem was that I was sitting next to the door and it didn't alway want to stay closed. It took about 2 hours to get out of Nairobi because they kept picking up random people along the road, but once we got out it was about 1.5 hours to the boarder. I was nervous because I didn't have proof of my Yellow Fever Vaccine but they didn't hassle me. I got a multiple entry visa which is cool because that means I can go again any time between now and August 25th of next year for free! We got through the boarder and it was another 3 hours to Arusha. The landscape was different- and very dry! Arusha itself was big! We stayed at a cheap hotel and crashed for the night. I noticed the bed nets but didn't think of using it until Jenni mentioned it the next morning - oops!

Thursday: Bumming around Arusha. We got a taxi and drove around in circles. The one difference I noticed was that the people were not as wazungu friendly as I have experienced in Kenya. Oh well. We dropped Sarah off at her study abroad program which was really amazing! She is staying at the East African Community Center where they study peace and conflict resolution. It is also the site of the ICC where they are currently trying War criminals from Rowanda.

Friday: Back on the bus. 12 hours from Arusha to Nanyuki and I was exhausted. I slept 10 hours last night which was great, I'm very happy to be back in Nanyuki!

I wanted to post some pictures from a Scavenger Hunt we did with the girls last week. Highlights included: take a picture with a cow - extra points if you are touching it. Take a picture with a chicken, Take a picture of the whole team on a slide, take a picture in the shower, extra points for shower caps, human pyramid, take a picture dancing with a teacher. Enjoy!

Time is Ticking!

Only two weeks until I'm back in New York! Right about now is when my brain/heart get confused and get stuck between missing home and anticipating missing Kenya. But such is life. Here is an update on what has been going on:

Sad News: I didn't get a chance to post this last time because I was trying to write about my trip... While I was away at the Mountain, Tusker was put to sleep. Some of you might remember Tusker as the amazing dog that gave us the story of the goat leg. He was my best dog friend here at Daraja, he gave me dead gifts and often slept on my bed. He smelled and was dirty but I loved him very much. The last few days of his life I knew it was over, I was helping to had feed him and he could barely lick milk off my fingers. I left for Mount Kenya knowing that was it, but it is still very sad. He has a very special place in my heart <3.

They're Back!Well, some of them. The form 3's returned on Saturday to start their tuition studies (they come back two weeks early to study for an exam that is another year away!) I'm very glad to have them back, it was so quite without them. Yesterday we had a scavenger hunt - I will have to post pics because it was pretty amazing!

Working at Cottage Hospital:In my free time I have been trying to get to the local hospital to do some volunteer work. They have been very welcoming and I am already learning a lot. I worked the morning shift today, and it was eventful. I got their just after one of our patients suddenly died - I saw her Sunday and she was ok, she was HIV positive and had meningitis but we had been counseling her about her future. She was afraid to tell her husband and we had finally gotten her to agree. Then she dies, 31 years old. Turns out the husband is HIV+ also and has been taking ARVs. He didn't want to tell her. She had two children under 8 years old. Please people, I am begging you!!! If you think you have been exposed (even if you don't think you have been exposed) go get tested! I honestly believe that the more open people are to testing the easier it will be to break this stigma. It is like the stigma kills people here, they are so afraid that they don't seek treatment. On a good note, we had a women come in to have labor induced, and that was very cool to watch. I'm exhausted and ready for a nap!

I am off to Tanzania tomorrow to drop off another volunteer who is studying abroad there until September. Wish me luck!

That's the last time I talk smack about Mother Nature!

Day One 8/8/11: Arrive at Mount Kenya around 11 AM, followed by a 3 hour hike up. Let me start by saying that before this trip I believed that hiking was just walking, maybe up hill. I never really thought of how a backpack full of crap changes it, or altitude. Back to my story - on the way up we saw some elephant and hyena poo, but no animals. We also saw some intestines of a small animal but not what ate it. We arrived in time for a late lunch but I felt great and had a nice nap before dinner. Dinner was butternut squash soup and fried fish, I can't believe they could cook that in the woods. 11,000 ft

Day Two 8/9/11: 6 AM wake up (BOO). This walk was much steeper and SUPER wet. It was up and down the whole time, and down is just as hard as up! We walked a total of 7 hours with a short break for lunch in the rain. Around hour 4 I started working with some mantras to keep me from going crazy. Om mani padme hum x 1000 I felt great after the 7 hours but my shoes were SO WET. I should have known I was in for trouble when I saw everyone with great hiking boots and equipment while I had some fancy Northface shoes that I got as a give and have wholes in the sole so water can get in and out. Not a good idea for icy mountain hikes. It was COLD that night, we played cards and wore every item of clothing we had. 13,000 ft

Day Three 8/10/11: Woke up at 2:30 AM to start hiking, it had started snowing. I didn't feel great as we started, thought it was nerves or the 2:30 AM part. Snow was falling pretty fast and about an hour in my headlamp broke. Perfect. Around 5 AM I started to feel dizzy, and I noticed that my mantra started to mutate in my head (really weird to realize you have been saying the wrong words for hours.) It was about that time that my brain melted. I kept falling over and though "I'll just stay here for a while" as I sat down in the snow and couldn't move. I didn't want to go up or down but the guide made me look him in the eyes and apparently my pupils were freaking out. So that was the end of my hike. He made me go back down at 14,500 feet. SO CLOSE to the top that it hurt. As soon as I got back down to 13,000 I felt better, and I was able to finish the 5 1/2 hour hike back down to the lower camp that day. We got there around dinner and got to share the camp with 25 drunk Russians.

Day Four 8/11/11: Late wake up and 3 hour walk downhill... so painful. We saw some baboon and hyrex and lots of elephant poop!

So my advice to you is don't underestimate Mother Nature, she fights dirty. Thankfully Kenya is not a once in a life time thing for me, so I will get it next time!

What a week!

Hi Guys!

So I have about 5 blogs lined up but I wanted to post some pictures while I'm in town with good internet service. I will post the corresponding blogs in the next few days!!!

Soul Searching

Tomorrow is the big day - I'm headed up Mount Kenya! The hike will take about four days - the mountain is about 17,000 feet, the second highest mountain in Africa (Kilimanjaro is first). We will make it up to about 15,000 because you need some sort of rock climbing certification to do the last 2,000 feet. I'm anxious/excited, I know a few people who have gotten altitude sickness and I don't want to deal with that. Excited to see snow in Africa!!!! Wish me luck!

What a Bummer...

Girls left this morning. Boo. The form 3's will be back August 20th but the form 1's and 2's won't be back until September 3rd.

On the agenda for the next month:
1. Working at Cottage hospital (intensive care, peds)
2. Epilepsy Walk August 13th! DONATE IF YOU CAN!
3. Hiking Mount Kenya August 8-11, I can see the snow from here!
4. Maybe taking a safari with Aunt Karen and Uncle Jack to the Masai Mara
5. Street boy study club/lunch dates!
6. Analyzing the data from my HIV classes
7. Running!! (Half Marathon in October eeek!)

Recap of this week: After the lion attack of Monday, I thought Tuesday and Wednesday would be a piece of cake! Tuesday I took the first three girls into town to get tested for HIV. We first went to District Hospital, the "cheaper" of the two hospitals in Nanyuki. They were only doing CD4 counts that day, so we had to look for another clinic. We went to the local VCT clinic (down an alley), VCT stands for Voluntary Counseling and Testing. The people at that clinic had gone out for an outreach in a local village. Our last stop was Cottage hospital, the more "upscale" hospital. We finally had success there. I can't even describe to you what it felt like waiting to find out the results of these tests. The girls were so worried, and I think I was more worried then any time I have been tested myself! I just knew that it would be such a struggle for these girls to accept if they were positive, even if they did have access to the meds. The stigma here is out of control. Thank GOD they were all negative, seeing the smiles on their faces makes the top five moments of my life, I'm serious. I was so happy that I decided to take them to Kongoni, a really nice restaurant nearby. The girls were in awe of the place, and all ordered meat because we have it so rarely at Daraja. The waitress brought out hot towels and the girls looked confused, but not as confused as they were by the napkins folded into boats!!! One girl told me that it was one of the best days of her life, and that she was going to take her sisters to get tested when she got home. I can not thank ALL OF YOU enough for supporting this project.

Tuesday when we got back home to Daraja we tested 5 girls in Nurse Jacinta's office. It was great to watch the process but really scary to actually give the test. I was not as gentle with the finger prick as Jacinta. Each girl who got tested was able to pick to presents to take with her (most of them picked mirrors my sister Jenny sent from Mary Kay).
Wednesday morning we tested 5 more girls, and then headed into town with 3 girls for testing. One girl started vomiting in the taxi so that wasn't a great way to start. I took those girls to lunch before the test so they could calm down a bit. EVERY GIRL TESTED NEGATIVE. That is a miracle considering many of these girls have had unprotected sex, have a family member with HIV, or have been sexually assaulted. I am so grateful.

I seem to be always asking for money!

Sorry about that, I hope to someday have unlimited funds to support the projects I take on without thinking!

Today's fundraising effort: Nanyuki's first ever 12K Walk for Epilepsy! My very good friend Nurse Jacinta is planning a walk to raise money for epilepsy patients at Cottage Hospital. It is taking place August 13th, and we are looking for donations. You might not realize, but even five dollars goes A LONG WAY here. So consider donating if you can, and I promise to stop asking for money!

That's something you don't see every day...

Well yesterday was quite interesting. I called a taxi and headed into town to get some supplies for my last class. My taxi driver talked to me about Kenyan politics for most of the ride, explaining how most Kenyan’s will “die with their education” because even if they complete school there are no jobs. Once I got into town I went to make copies of some HIV/AIDS awareness posters for the girls to bring home to their communities. Turns out the power was out and so I had to wait around for a few hours until it came back.
I had planned on meeting Daraja’s school nurse (Jacinta) at Cottage hospital where she works when she isn’t out at Daraja. I’m going to be interning there over the next 4 weeks while the girls are away. I took a boda boda (a motorcycle taxi) out to the hospital which was pretty terrifying (no helmet!) Once I got to the hospital I was told that I had to wait for an hour or two because Jacinta was “in the theater”. I had no clue what that meant, but I waited anyway. Turns out the theater is the operating room, and she was working in there because a 73 year old American woman was attacked by a lion at a nearby conservancy. When that mess was finished I met with the hospitals only doctor and planned when I would be able to work. Somehow Jacinta was convinced I was a nurse (EMTs don’t exist out here so I don’t think she understood). I tried to explain that I definitely wasn’t a nurse and they should not just turn me loose in a hospital!
After Jacinta got off we went to her house (on hospital property) and I met her two sons. One of them is 15 years old and Autistic. He wasn’t diagnosed until a few years ago, and he is absolutely wonderful. A family friend stopped by with her son and he wouldn’t even come inside the house because he was so afraid of the scary white man sitting on the couch (me). When they finally got him inside he warmed up a bit but was curious because he had never seen a white person before.
I am staying up at Jason's house tonight because Tusker (of goat leg fame) is really sick. I just had to sing him Amazing Grace to get him to eat a scrambled egg. Tomorrow I am bringing 3 girls to get tested and then will bring more girls spread out through the week. Friday they go home - boo!

Spiritual Time

Life is good here at Daraja! This Saturday I went to town and saw some of the street boys I knew from last time I was here. Three of them were sponsored by a Daraja Family Member to go to primary school and ALL THREE are first in their class! AMAZING. But now they are back on the streets for 5 weeks. I'm working on putting together a study group 2 days a week to get them some positive reinforcement!

Today was spiritual time for two hours this morning, and I went down to see the girls. The amazing thing was that since it is the last Sunday before break, all of the religious "groups" on campus got together for one service. There were Catholics, Protestants, Muslim girls and ME! They are incredible to watch - dancing and singing!

I taught two classes today about teen pregnancy. This week I will be making the trips to town with three girls at a time to get HIV tests. Good Stuff!!

Also coming up - I will be climbing Mount Kenya for four days August 8th - 11th!

Slacker!

Sorry folks! I have been sucking at posting this past week. Let me catch you up!

Jenni (Director of Operations) comes home! Wednesday of last week Jenni came back to Daraja after 3 1/2 months in Cali doing fundraising. The girls were so happy to see her. I had my HIV/STD class before she came, and the Form 1 and 2 girls ended up keeping me for two hours so they could ask me every sex question they have ever had. It was a little awkward on my end but I tried really hard not to show it. The girls were so open and honest and I was really proud of them. We talked about everything from oral sex to female circumcision, and they were super mature about it.

Friday my dad and I went into town to have dinner. It was nice, we had the whole restaurant to ourselves! He is building a swing set for the children that live here (kids of the teachers, guards, kitchen staff). It's not even finished and they LOVE IT!

The weekend was nuts. Every weekend I have 4 HIV/STD classes and the past two weekends I've held 2 CPR classes! I'm certifying 6 girls to be AHA CPR instructors, they are SO into it. I'm hoping that they will be able to use this as a source of income in the future. AHA is setting up a training center in Nairobi so they should be able to work through that. In HIV class this week we played a game with candy that showed how HIV can spread through sexual partners. We also talked a lot about prostitution because a few of the girls asked for ways to help friends who have to have sex for money.

Today (tuesday) we went on a Baboon walk and did some touristy stuff. The baboons are amazing - researchers here have been studying this troop for over 15 years so they let you get very close. I will post some pictures later. We saw giraffe and elephant on our way, and then about 50+ baboon! One young baboon was very curious of my pale legs and when I turned my back she reached out to touch it! I tried not to react because you can start a frenzy but I was a little nervous!

I am going to upload pictures and try to get them on here! We have had rain storms every night the past two weeks so the signal isn't great.

Mandela Day

Today all 77 Daraja girls plus staff and volunteers are headed to Naibor (a local town) to do a community clean up. Today we celebrate Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday, and will be doing work for others for 67 minutes. Nelson Mandela has been fighting for human rights for 67 years. I can't even imagine, this man is a miracle. I will post pics when I can, but I was hoping that everyone reading this will take advantage of this opportunity to be of service. 67 minutes isn't too hard!! There is a list of ideas on this website: http://www.mandeladay.com/

"Sometimes if falls upon a generation to be great, you can be that generation."

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

Do it for the love of others!

Catch Up

So I took a few days off the blog to avoid ranting more about my anonymous joy kill commenter. But I'm back and ready to tell stories!


The past few days I had a little bit of homesickness, which just makes me crazy. The past two years that I have been in New York all I wanted was to be at Daraja. And now I'm here and missing home, if only I could erase the Atlantic and bring the two a little closer together.

I have been coming into town a lot this week, running errands and trying to organize my projects. I went to the VCT clinic yesterday which what the HIV clinics are called. I had been there last time I came and didn't have a good experience, so I was a little worried. The clinic was down a pretty empty ally way, and inside there is just one room with a sign that says VCT. I knocked on the door and a man answered who was pretty surprised to see me. Inside the VCT office there was one desk and two chairs, rubber gloves, and equipment to do rapid testing. I told him that I had 20 girls who wanted to get tested. I now have to figure out what is the safest and most ethical way to get these girls there. They want to try to keep it it as anonymous as possible, but obviously I have to tell someone I'm taking them off campus. I am also concerned that if I bring 20 girls there and someone comes back positive, she is obviously going to be upset and therefore everyone will notice. I think I'm going to end up bringing in smaller groups. Some girls agreed to get tested on campus but others were afraid.

Today we came into town to do some research about a recycling plant. One of the volunteers (Sarah) is working on a recycling program for Daraja since right now we burn everything (papers, plastic). The plant was pretty great, they are really trying to do something good and they hire women from the town who need jobs. They buy plastics from locals and farmers and then crush it down and sell it in Niarobi to a place where they will reuse it. Pretty cool!

This afternoon is a staff/student football (soccer) match so that should be interesting!

It's not even 11 am!

I have had a pretty eventful day so far!

First I got up early to go for a run (by early I mean 7 and couldn't get out of bed until 8. I got about halfway through my three mile run when I see 3 little ones from the orphanage waiting for me by the road. I detoured to go see them, since I haven't seen them since I've been back (side note: turns out the pastor that runs the orphanage is a real scum bag. That sucks, so I have been avoiding him since he asked me to buy him a car...) Anyway, I kneel down to say hi to the kids and hear a strange noise from across the field. The church doors fly open and out pours 50+ little nuggets, all running full speed with no shoes to attack. I'm mobbed and "how are you"ed by every little bugger there. Then they notice the ipod strapped to my arm, and all hell breaks loose! I am literally assaulted by 4 year olds trying to change the song, see the pictures, giggling out of control. They all wanted to get their little baby hands on my watch, my hair, my shoes, my nails, but mostly my ipod. I escaped with only minor injuries, life in Kenya is hard :)

Next I finished my run and headed back to campus. I was walking up to the house when Tusker ran up to me with an enormous dead rabbit in his mouth. He has an obsession with showering me with dead gifts (remember the goat leg?). Luckily, he wanted this one all for himself so he ran away before I was able to throw up. Me and some other volunteers came into town, and our taxi got a flat on the way! The driver changed it in under 5 minutes, in long pants and a long button down shirt! I'm not having a COLD Coke and relaxing before I head back to Daraja. My dad arrives this weekend and I'm so excited. The girls ask me EVERY DAY when he gets here.

As my little munchkins said while I ran away "SEEEEE YOUUUUU!!!!"

Picture Post!

I'm so tired so instead of writing a blog today I'm going to post some pictures! It is freezing (yes, I am still in Africa) so I am cuddled up with the dogs. Two of these are from a class I taught about what protects you from HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy. I am not preaching abstinence, and I know that some of these girls are having sex. But for some reason they all put abstinence as their top method.

Heartache.

Thank God for the weekend! I'm headed out for a run this morning, but I wanted to share something with all of you before I forget. Yesterday I held a class for my HIV/teen pregnancy project. We have be learning about the science and facts, and I wanted the girls to have a break from that. We took some time to be more creative! I had the girls each draw a "shield", showing the ways that they are protected from pregnancy and STD's. I'll try to post pictures later, I can't find my camera cable!!!!

I also had the girls right a poem about their experience or a friends experience with HIV. Here is one anonymous poem that really struck me:

There he stands, with nothing else to lose
life is a blur to him, no hope for survival.
He waits for the young girl, coming home from school.
He lures her with romantic works
and at last spends a night with her.
Three months later,
the girl tests positive and is also pregnant.
She is sent out of school.
Her life is now a blur
There she stands, with nothing else to lose.


Wanted to share that so you realize how important it is for these girls to have access to testing! I can't force them to do it but I can give them access. Click on my chipin link and help a girl get tested, every bit counts!

I never said I was good at this...

So some very smart people have let me know that my ChipIn widget expired and so it won't except donations. I think I fixed the problem :) Try this one:


Today was busy, lots of running around. I am trying to put together a comprehensive Biology study guide for the upcoming finals (in my free time, right?!). This weekend I'm teaching four classes so we will see how that goes! This picture is of vegetarian pilua, basically spanish rice!!

Asking for help.

Hi All,

Yesterday I had a discussion with the girls about asking for help and making empowering choices. I have been really pushing that getting tested for HIV or taking a pregnancy test after having unprotected sex should be something they become comfortable doing, not something they ignore until it's unavoidable. I have had 5 girls ask me to take them to get tested, which is great! There is a place in town that we think does free testing, but they weren't very nice to me when I tried to ask.

There is a nurse here at Daraja 3 days a week, and she has agreed to give the girls the option of getting tested here. So today I'm going to head into town to find out how much it will cost to get these pregnancy tests and HIV kits. I realize that I come out here and offer these girls options they SHOULD have, in the US you can get a free test in almost any city. But getting them tested here costs money no matter what, whether it's a taxi for $20 to get to town, or paying for a pregnancy test at the local market.

If you are interested in helping these girls get test, click on my paypal account to the right of this post. These tests aren't expensive, but getting 50+ girls tested is!

One girl asked me yesterday what will happen if she comes back positive. The answer is Daraja will cover all her medical costs (part of a girls scholarship money). We have a counselor here prepared for whatever outcome. HIV is not a death sentence, and I'm trying to teach these girls that.

Weekend Recap

Weekends are the best time to get to know the girls. Saturday I spent a few hours with the girls watching them wash their hair and braid it. It is quite a process! I also went for a run - I am trying to train for a half marathon with my darling aunt Colleen in October. It is HARD to run here at 6500 ft above sea level. Not to mention the hills and the uneven dirt roads. In the afternoon 50 girls who have decided to participate in my thesis research met with my on the patio to take the pre test survey. It went well, they were so worried about getting things wrong! For those of you just signing on, my study is on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Kenyan girls with regard to HIV/AIDS and Teen pregnancy. I was impressed by how much they knew about HIV, but there were also quite a few misconceptions.

Today (Sunday) I went down early for breakfast because it was Mandazi. Mandazi is basically fried dough, and it reminds me of home. I then attended Spiritual time at the "mini mosque" for two hours. The girls were so great and taught me a whole hell of a lot about Islam. One of the best things about Daraja is the diversity: there are girls from all major religions, from 24 Kenyan tribes. This afternoon I taught my first real class for my thesis. I asked the girls to leave me a note in my question box if they wanted to get test for HIV or take a pregnancy test, and I got a great response. Surprisingly a lot of the girls have been tested, but I told them it wont hurt to get tested again! I promised to go get tested with anyone who wanted to.

After class I tagged along on a game drive with Jason. I didn't expect to see much because we were just driving around outside campus. I didn't bring my camera, so we obviously happened upon a family of 8 elephant right on the road. We stopped and watched them for a while, I can't even explain what that is like. These animals are HUGE and could trample in car in an instant, you just feel at the mercy of Africa.

Football, spaghetti, and internet.

Hi!

So the past few days have been great, getting over jet lag and reconnecting with the girls. Wednesday I shadowed a girl to named Jamimah, who is a Form 2 (sophmore). Here is a rundown of the day:
6 am : wake up/prepare for the day
6:45-7:30 : study hall
7:30 : breakfast
Then we had two hours of physics and an hour of business. The business teacher was not there but the girls did their work even without a sub. Business was followed by Swahili, two hours of English, lunch, two hours of math, music, WISH, office hours.
This brings us to dinner at 6 pm.
7:00 - 9:30 : Study hall. By this time I was barely awake, not only do these girls have 15 hour days, but they do it with a freakin smile!

Today (Thursday) the football (soccer) team had a tournament to see who moved on to regionals. The girls played two games and lost, but it was a good time. I got sunburned (obviously) and got hit on by a Kenyan High School boy.

Tomorrow I'm starting my thesis project with a pre test on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors regarding HIV/STD Prevention and Teen Pregnancy. 35 girls will be taking a KAB survey, and then completing a five week course. Wish me luck, I don't think I'm ready to give the awkward sex talk!

Habari!

WOW! I'm here. So let us start from the beginning...

Friday: Got to the airport, checking in and they tell me they can't find my name... Hmmm, so I show them my confirmation email and he says "this was yesterday". Yeah, missed my flight on Thursday and had to pay $400 to change it to Friday (thanks mom!!)
Get on the plane and fly 12 hours to Dubai - didn't sleep AT ALL, so that was fun. My layover in Dubai was only two hours, so I ate some burger king for breakfast and then hopped my plane to Nairobi. Took about 5 hours, and still didn't sleep. I arrived at the airport without a phone or any phone numbers, so that made it difficult when I had to find out where my ride was. I asked a random women if I could borrow her phone (200 shillings) and called home to my dad. My ride showed up and I slept the 4 hours to Daraja.

Arriving at Daraja was AMAZING. The girls literally wouldn't let my van get in the gate, they surrounded the car and made me get out to hug them. Funny thing is I only knew 26 of them but they didn't seem to care. Every girl there welcomed me back like she knew me forever. That is a pretty amazing thing. I was dead on my feet so I headed up to Jason's and slept for a solid 14 hours. I woke up to Tusker sleeping on my bed, this time sans goat leg (THANKS TUSKER!). He is old and huge but still takes up less room in my bed then miss Josie.

Sunday I went and hung with the girls at their photography class and journaling class. I meant to stick around for the day but when I went home to shower I fell asleep for four hours (oops, jetlag). I ended up going back down for dinner and study hall.

Today is Monday, I had to finish a final for my medical anthro class so I came into town to get some internet. We went food shopping and I pretty much got only cookies and peanut butter. I'm going to buy a phone now and then we are back to campus. Hopefully I will get to do the pretest for my thesis work this week, but I'm still pretty jetlagged and the girls have lots of volunteers at the moment. We will see!

Updates and Freak Outs!

So there are some new and exciting things coming to the blog this time around...

First of all, the boys over at Broadcastr are working to set me up with a widget of sorts so that I can record some stories to my account and have them here for you on the Kenya Dig It blog. This way all of you who miss the sound of my voice will get to hear it!

Second, the Global Health Center at MSSM has asked a few of us going abroad to record video blogs of our experiences. Obviously I signed up :) Don't know how easy it will be to upload videos with the connection out there, but I will do my best!

I had my first pre-trip freak out last night! It's funny that I have been waiting for this since I came home last time, and yet I felt a little panic at the thought of being there for ten weeks. It's obviously not being their, I love it their and know I will have a great time. It is just not being HERE, with friends and family and Phil and Josie. I said it last time around and I will say it again- I wish Kenya and New York weren't so far away from each other! It is impossible to split my heart in two, and that is what happens when I'm away from either place. Someday I will have a job where I can fly back and forth for shorter periods of time, then I won't have to beg you guys for money and I wont have to miss anyone!

Less than two weeks to go! I fly out friday the 24th at 11 am and head to Dubai! Then it's Dubai to Nairobi and Nairobi to Daraja. I actually remembered to pack a flashlight this time around, so that should help (no electricity and no flashlight = scared Maggie walking through the bush).

Teacher!?

Are you a teacher, or do you work in a school? You might be able to help! I am looking for old posters/models/diagrams of the male and female reproductive system to take with me to kenya (that will be fun getting through security!)

I imagine that some school somewhere has these things hiding in a biology/health teachers closet, so ask around! I am also looking for a projector that is battery operated, do those even exist?

It's the final countdown to Kenya! I got my ticket on Friday and I officially leave June 23rd and get back September 6th! Expect much more exciting blog posts around that time!

Your support makes this happen!

Them.

This past week my family was here for my brother's graduation (congrats SJ!), and that included the Doherty's of Daraja Academy. It was great to see Jenni and Jason and talk about plans for this summer. I was lucky enough to attend a Daraja fundraiser with them on the Upper West Side, and hear them preach the good word of Daraja.

Now it is a well known fact that Jenni Doherty is the brains and Jason Doherty is the dreams. Listening to him talk about Daraja is inspiring, to say the least. One thing he spoke about really got me thinking. He explained that he believes a big problem we have here in the US is that we often look at places like Kenya and talk about "them", what "they" need or how our money can help "them". He explained that he has never seen Africa as "them", but rather an extension of himself. This was something I had felt but had never been able to verbalize (if you read my blog you are aware that I don't always think or write in coherent thoughts).

When I think about Africa, or any country outside my own, I try very hard not to think of it as "them" over "there". I think my greatest strength/weakness is that I feel connected to people in an undeniable, heartbreaking way. The homeless person on the street in NYC is me, the African child is me. I can't separate myself and that is surely a gift and a huge liability. But listening to Jason talk I really understood how important it is that we all try not to see fellow humans as "them". It should bother us that another person is suffering, and even if we feel hopeless and helpless at least we feel something.

Ok, that is my late-night-benedryl-induce soap box rant. I just want to remind myself there is no them, only us.

But WHYYYYYYYYYY?

So expect me to bombard you with blog posts until I reach my fundraising goal... the sooner you donate the sooner you don't have to listen to me beg!

It was suggested (thanks Dad!) that I post a link to the Daraja website so you guys can get an idea WHY we are all working so hard to get this project going. www.daraja-academy.org is the site, take a look at their blog and learn more about why educating girls is so important to us.

Here are some stats I stole from Daraja:

Every extra year of schooling reduces infant mortality by up to 10%.
T. Paul Schultz, “Health and Schooling Investments in Africa,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 13, no. 3 [1999]

Girls with secondary schooling are up to six times less likely to be married as children than those with little or no schooling.
UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2007, UNICEF, New York, 2007, p4-6

And here is a link to a little note from my girl Esther. If you don't see why this is so important, you might want to open your eyes.
http://daraja-academy.org/students/esther/

Tag Sale/Bake Sale!

Hi All!!


It's CRUNCH TIME! I have raised over a thousand dollars but I still need $2000 more...

So here is what we have coming up to raise some funds:

Sunday May 8th - Tag sale and bake sale at Croton on Hudson Vet Clinic, 401 Riverside Ave in Croton. We have tons of thanks to some amazing donations - clothing, furniture, collectables, housewares... Some things are brand new and never used! We will also be selling T-shirts and collecting medical supplies (band aids, gauze, over the counter meds).

I will post pictures of the t-shirts on here so anyone who can't make the tag sale can see what they look like and maybe order one :)

Then we have an upcoming night out in NYC... it is gonna be on the Upper East Side and i'll post more when I get a date!

And as always, you can donate right here on my blog using paypal and this little link below!

Update on project details...

It has been a roller coaster, but not that things have settled I can update on what is going on. About 3 weeks ago I met with my advisor and the basically were still giving me trouble about going on a project that is not sponsored by their program. So i was given a week to re-evaluate and come up with some other ideas. The trouble was getting in touch with people in Kenya who could help me organize the breast feeding research. I really wanted to focus on maternal and child health, so I brainstormed with my professors and Jenni Doherty (the wonder woman that runs Daraja!)

Here is the new project: I'm going to focus on reproductive health and HIV prevention with the students currently attending Daraja Academy. I'm going to be doing some research (because I have to for my thesis), but I will be doing a whole curriculum for the girls that will teach them the importance of breastfeeding, newborn health, CPR/First Aid, HIV prevention, STD prevention, and family planning. I hope that teaching these girls about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in their country will help them to understand and be more likely to breast feed their babies when they do have them (hopefully not for a few years after school!).

So even though it didn't work out the way I planned, it always works out the way it should!

Thanks for your continued support :)

Money is my problem

Help out if you can! Click and donate to my cause :)

Calling all do-gooders!

Happy New Year!

I warned a few months back that I was going to be updating the blog more frequently, and now that we are in 2011 the fun can begin! As many of you know I am planning to return to Kenya this summer to complete my masters Practicum and Thesis at Daraja! I will be planning and implementing a health education program on campus, as well as teaching CPR again. Additionally, I will be visiting the local hospital to gather some data on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of young mothers. I'm hoping to find out why so many Kenyan children suffer from diarrheal disease, even though their mothers are aware of the causes.

So Christmas eve I get an email from Mount Sinai that basically says "oops! We ran out of money, so you get nothing for your trip to Kenya... but you have to go anyway!" Perfect. Luckily I anticipated having to do some fundraising, but definitely wasn't prepared to try and raise nearly $4,000! Between airfare (2 grand), compensation for research participants (a few hundred), living expenses (i can swing $2 a day x 8 weeks), and supplies (a few hundred) I really need some help! Here are my ideas so far:

Car wash (early june)

selling Daraja shirts (already have them - let me know if you want one)

bar nights in NYC (once the weather is warmer)

raffles

selling organs on the black market (i only need one kidney!)

Do you have any ideas? Are you in a band and want to put on a charity concert? Do you know how to cook and want to do a potluck? Is your best friends cousin dating a celebrity who loves Africa? Whatever your talent I can use all the help I can get!

And it's not just money, it's spreading awareness! If you don't got the funds - spread the word! Email my blog to your friends and co workers, do some research on the importance of female education in third world countries, or the devastation of diarrheal disease in Africa.

Be prepared for invites to fundraisers in the near future, and email me your brilliant ideas at mgaughra@gmail.com

Kenya Dig It? I bet you can!