Getting Drunk in Kenya - Cheap Beer Goggles

As you know I am in Kenya doing a global health scholar year between my third and fourth year of medical school (I found out recently that people call me a tweener). I am working with HIV infected children. One of my projects is to come up with peer group topic agendas with our amazing pediatric counselors at AMPATH. We are discussing topics like depression, coping skills, hygiene, safe sex, children's rights, and so many more. 

One of the topics one of the counselors came up with was alcohol and drug abuse, which is a very common problem in Kenya. In Eldoret, where I work, a study of college student found that the is a lifetime prevalence of alcohol use was 51.9%.(1) Traffic accidents are a major problem in Kenya, and drinking has been linked to the increasing rates of traffic accidents. A survey in Eldoret hospitals assessed blood alcohol levels of individuals involved in traffic accidents 23.4% had positive blood alcohol concentrations and 12.2% were intoxicated.(2) It has been shown that those who drink and use illicit drugs have been found to have a higher risk of acquiring HIV. (3)

Due to its prevalence the counselors were inspired to educate kids and teens about alcohol and drug abuse. Many institutions in the states use beer goggles that mimic being intoxicated. These googles cost about $100, which is very steep especially in a resource poor place like Kenya. I decided to improvise and make these goggles at almost no cost. Here is what you need:

1. Toilet paper/paper towel cardboard cylinder 

2. Clear plastic bags

3. Scissors/knife

4. staples, or tape, or rubber bands

Directions:

1. Cut a toilet paper cardboard cylinder in half. 

2. Cut the plastic bags into 3' X 3' squares. 

3. Fasten the plastic bag to one end of the cut cylinder with tape, staples or a rubberband

Hold them over your eyes and enjoy. Have the kids navigate an obstacle course holding the glasses over their eyes. 

1. Atwoli L, Mungla PA, Ndung’u MN, Kinoti KC, Ogot EM: Prevalence of substances use among college students in Eldoret, western Kenya. BMC Psychiatry 2011, 11:34.

2. Odero W. Alcohol-related road traffic injuries in Eldoret Kenya. East Afr Med J. 1998;75(12):708–711.

3. Mugisha F. & Zulu E. M. (2004) The influence of alcohol, drugs and substance abuse on sexual relationships and perception of risk to HIV infection among adolescents in the informal settlements of Nairobi. Journal of Youth Studies 7, 279–293

Six Benefits of Immersion Travel

Immersion Travel - immersing yourself in the environment, learning, adapting and experiencing new and different opportunities. Spending travel time with friends and families from  the country you are visiting. Pushing yourself to the edge of your comfort zone by trying new foods, participating in ceremonies, learning new languages, visiting off the beaten path places.

Hanging with my friend in Tel Aviv, Isreal

As you may know, I am currently living for one year in Kenya, I have traveled extensively through South America, India, Nepal, the Middle East and a little through Central America and Europe. I have practiced immersion traveling through most countries I have visited. 

Having a home away from home is one of the many benefits of immersion traveling. I began traveling the world four years ago.  My experience of immersion traveling began as a way to save money. As a recent graduate from university I was interested in seeing the world but also saving every penny I could. I learned that friends in other countries not only saved you money but gave you an experience like no other. 

Renting bikes with my friend in Montreal, Canada

I have traveled as a tourist in hostels, roaming the cities with a map in my hand, surrounded by other tourists looking just as confused and utterly lost as me. I have loved every moment of discovery with my gap year friends but when I began to make local friends abroad I was given a very different taste of the countries I visited. Here are some of the benefits of cultural immersion:

1. Learning 
One of the most important benefits of cultural immersion is learning. Guides can teach you about the history of the Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu, but staying with a local family can teach you what its like to live everyday in that world. Most love to talk about their countries, politics, food, rituals, holidays. In India I was able to attend a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony with my friends family. I learned so much about Hindu wedding traditions, food and garb at that week long celebration. 

Immersed in the wedding in India

2. Popular Local Watering Holes
Visiting the local favorites is another benefit for immersion traveling. Have you ever studied Lonely Planet or equivalent travel guide trying to pick out a local restaurant or night club? These tourist joints can often disappoint you. When you are with local friends they will take you to the most popular places among locals. This means that dingy hole in the wall that serves the best shawarmas and falafels and the night clubs free of tourists where you can dance to local beats.

Eating with the family on the beach in Chile

3. Free Cooking Lessons
Immersive traveling come with free cooking lessons. I have learned to cook ugali with local families in Kenya, beef with my friends in Argentina and ceviche with my hosts in Peru. When I return home I am able to re-create these recipes bringing a taste of the countries I have visited to my friends and families at home. 

Making Ugali in Kenya

4. Language
Immersing yourself into the cultural also helps you pick-up a few words. Often I stayed with friends who spoke broken English. What better way to learn than being immersed in the language and being forced to pick up words. Not to mention it helps to have a native speaker when asking directions or haggling in the markets.

Futbol in Peru

5. Saving Money
Staying with friends and families abroad helps you save money. The cost for hotels and hostels can add up the longer you travel. Families are so excited to host you in their homes, they often feed you, drive you around and in many cultures offer gifts. Immersion traveling is especially handy for students and those traveling on a small budget. 

Enjoying home cooked food with my friend in Buenos Aires, Argentina

6. Safety 
The last benefit of immersive travel is having a family away from home. Hosts care about you sometimes as much as your friends and family at home. They want you to be safe and healthy. Getting sick abroad can be scary and sometimes deadly if you don't know how to seek appropriate care. Friends abroad have saved my life on countless occasions. Having someone bring you food in bed or taking you to the clinic when you need medications can make you feel better and recover faster. 

Adopted family in Kenya 

As you can see cultural immersion has its many benefits. Its often a good idea to bring small souvenirs to offer to these families from your home country. I have learned so much about the world through immersion traveling and I hope that you can also experience similar benefits when you reach out and travel with the locals. Safe travels. 

All You Need is Love

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention." -Oscar Wilde

A small box TV filled the air with the sound of a dubbed over kung fu. The air smelled of a mix of watered down chai tea and body odor. Across from me sat three young boys eagerly guzzling their chai and chapati. It was a splendid way to end a great day.

coworkers

That morning I sat with my two principle investigators (PI's) and a handful of colleagues discussing the next steps for my child sexual abuse prevention project. I nervously presented the material on the slides I had carefully created the weeks preceding this meeting.

It all started when a research assistant from one of our clinics reached out for help on how to deal with four girls who had disclosed being sexually violated, one of which became pregnant after the incident. Eager to help but not very knowledgeable about Kenyan laws or regulations I set off on a frenzy of research. Turns out 32% of girls and 18% of boys experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 in Kenya based on a 2010 Violence Against Children Study.

My study first began with the goal of how can I help everyone and change the world ... as it always starts . It soon shrunk down to a project I hope to complete in the next 9 months while I am here in Kenya. My study will aim to create a Kiswahili culturally-sensitive child-friendly body safety book teaching children the difference between good and bad touches and what to do if they ever experience a bad touch.

At my co-workers neighborhood

Today my meeting went very well, I am on my way to kick-starting my first personal project in Kenya. After a successful day at work I headed to a gym to sign up with my friend. After so much ugali, chips (fries), rice and chapati, I can use some exercise. I really wanted a gym with classes, since I am a social butterfly, but Eldoret does not have any.

As my friend and I happened on the gym on the 3rd floor of a large building we began hearing dance music, and to my surprise a room full of mainly women, dancing or jazzercising to the music. Hooray! Not only do they have aerobics they also have taekwondo. I paid 2000 KSH ($20) for a month long membership.  I start tomorrow.

As I was waiting for my friend to pick me up from the gym I ran into two street boys asking for food. I usually try to ignore them but these two were relentless. I walked into a small paper good store and bought two pens and a note book for the boys. They took it and began writing. I asked them to teach me some Kiswahili and they began writing words for me and drawing pictures. One said he wanted to be a teacher the other a pilot.

At my co workers house

I decided to take them to dinner. On the way to a place they said was around the corner we picked up another young boy. They lead us through a narrow dirty alleyway, past bustling barbershops to a small shack filled with people eating at long tables and watching the loud faded television set perched up on the corner. I perused the menu written on a small board hanging on the wall. What do you want I asked. "Chai and chapati" they exclaimed excitedly. Chapati was 10 KSH (10 cents) and chai was the same. My friend and I sat down at on the small benches and ordered the food. Three more boys joined in.

This brings me back to where I began this story. I sat across from the boys as they played tic-tac-toe in the notebook. I munched on my plain chapati and sipped my piping hot chai. They played a driving game on my friends phone and we laughed at the silly kung fu moving blasting on the small television set.

One of the little boys told my friend how he ended up on the street, my friend translated into Kiswahili so that I could share it with the world. He was about 11 years old. His mother died several years ago so he lived alone with his father. Five days previous he went to play football with his friends and his father chased him away and since then he had been staying on the street. In Kenya school might be free but uniforms and materials needed to attend class are expensive.

At Tumaini Center for Street Children

The shack was a meager 10 ft long and just as narrow. Four long tables filled the room, makeshift benches were squeezed on each side of the table. The room was filled with perhaps 20 people all chowing down on chapati and chai laughing at the movie. The room was warm and alive, I felt safe here, although most might not, and most of all I felt full of love.

As we walked back out to meet our friends the six boys followed us out thanking us for the food and the notebook. They even guarded us from other drunk and intoxicated street children making sure we arrived safe to my friends car. I even learned a new word in Kiswahili: Paka (cat).

They all gave us high fives as we parted ways. I spent 160 KSH ($1.60) on dinner for all the kids and myself. I think that was a dollar sixty well spent. Lets start paying it forward.

At the Tumani Center for Street Kids