Sea Shells and Kitchen Gardens….

I just returned from a lovely weekend at Diani beach (south coast of Mombasa). I went with all the other interns and one of the members of the site team, Mary. Mary is AWESOME. She is from Michigan and is a former FSD intern. She actually works with a researcher I met through one of my colleagues at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention. She is just really tight and it was great to have her with us.
This weekend was essentially our “mid-term retreat.” I can’t believe I’m already half way through my time here! While there have been some challenges, on the whole I really do love it here and I’m beginning to realize how much I’ll miss it. I’m just trying not to think about that though and really see my limited time as a motivation to do all that I wanted to do while I was here…this includes stuff with my work, but also some touristy things.
The beach was literally THE MOST beautiful beach I’ve been to in my life (even more so than the one I said was the most beautiful beach in my first blog). The sand was SO soft and so white. The water was really clear, warm and actually turquoise. This morning, Amanda, Sasha and I swam and walked up the coast for a while. It was really fun (we also saw, and petted, some camels). The only downside about these beaches is that there are SO many “beach boys” around. They come up to any white person and ask if they can take them out for a ride on their boat, sell them some stuff or, with white women, if they can “talk to you” and “kiss you.” It’s really actually pretty annoying. But I’m getting really good at showing no interest and getting annoying men to stop bothering me (I’ve had a lot of practice here).
But other than that, which wasn’t even that big of a deal, the weekend was AMAZING. We stayed in a beautiful cottage and were able to cook our own food, which as incredible and very needed. I never thought I’d be so excited about things like cereal, deli meat sandwiches and pasta. Pretty crazy. But it was nice to have something from home. Another really fun thing was that Amanda, Sasha and I all got hour-long massages on the beach for only 500 Ksh (+/- $6.50). Our site team manager recommended the woman and she was really great.
So all in all, I had a very relaxing and fun weekend. I have to say I really think we all deserved it. What with the new challenges we face each day, adjusting to a new culture and way of life and working. Last week was particularly busy/ mildly stressful because I was working on my Grant Proposal, which I submitted on Friday. It was a wonderful experience to work on it. I really learned a lot and I am VERY excited about my project.
I am working with the PLWHA (people living with HIV/AIDS) population in Likoni (a town just south of Mombasa). The Ministry of Health in Likoni approached Hope Worldwide to see if we could help address the problem of PLWHAs not adhering to their drug regimens (Anti-retroviral therapy- ART). Kenya has offered free ARVs (anti-retrovirals) since 2005. So these people have access to the medication, but there are major disparities that exist, which inhibit PLWHAs from adhering to their medications. It is very important that PLWHAs adhere to their ART because not only does it suppress the virus and make them healthier, if they take it irregularly or stop and start again, it can create resistant viral strains and give them limited treatment options in the future. So through a needs assessment, held in mid-October, with the Ministry of Likoni, Hope Worldwide and members of the PLWHA community in Likoni some barriers in adhering to the treatment were identified. The most common reason for not adhering to ART was poverty, specifically the inability to afford enough food. Most of the PLWHAs in Likoni are unemployed and because of this they don’t have the income to support a nutritious diet of three meals a day. Oftentimes, these people eat one meal a day consisting of only ugali (the carb substance eaten here).
It is important for PLWHAs on ARVs to have a nutritious and substantial diet because if they don’t eat enough, not only will their bodies not have enough energy to support their immune system, which is already failing, they feel really sick whenever they take their meds. If someone can’t afford food, but are taking their ARVs, the only way to stop feeling incredibly sick all the time is to just stop taking their meds.
To address this problem, my supervisor and I spoke with the PLWHA population about the different options they had to overcome this barrier (income generating activities, farming etc.). What we came up with was holding training sessions with PLWHAs to endow them with the skills, tools and knowledge of how to grow a kitchen garden and eventually start a small business selling them in the market.
Kitchen gardens are a relatively new idea. It is probably one of the most sustainable ways to grow plants. It allows people who don’t have access to land or much water to grow up to 20-50 plants. Kitchen gardens are made from sacks, which can be found locally at very little cost. Holes are first punched about 2 cm in diameter and at a spacing of 0.25 m-3.0 m starting about 0.15 m from the bottom. The bag is filled with soil and a watering shaft is created in the soil by placing three posts at the centre of the bag, then packing the space in between with gravel and straw. Vegetable seedlings such as kales, tomato and, spinach are planted through the holes as well as at the top of the bag. To water the plants, you can just use wastewater from the kitchen.
While the PLWHAs and their families will not rely on the vegetables alone to feed themselves, it will offer them a reliable and important addition to their food rations and starches.
I am very optimistic about this project and I’m excited to see how it will turn out. But as for right now, I must sign off because I’ve already written a novel and I need to go to bed soon.
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the first weeks of November.
Much Love,
Anna