Health Project: Researching the link between HIV and TB and discussing acceptance

This week on the health care project was an exciting one as we welcomed Amos to the team bringing us up to a total of three volunteers. Amos is a volunteer from Nairobi and his knowledge of Swahili has been especially helpful in conveying ideas and disseminating information to staff and patients within the health dispensary, and to students in our life skills classes.

After his initial orientation at the dispensary, Amos helped staff to fill prescriptions and dispense medication, which he found both interesting and relevant to his University studies of Public Health. For the remainder of the week we all conducted research into cholera, and the link between HIV and Tuberculosis. Fortunately, Amos was able to translate our findings into Swahili, making the information more transparent to both staff and patients.

The topic for this week’s life skills class was ‘Acceptance‘, with the main focus being on gender equality and religious acceptance. We also briefly touched on acceptance of alternative relationships, including monogamy, polygamy and homosexuality. The students were particularly engaged in this topic and were keen to contribute their ideas and beliefs, which quickly turned into a semi-formal debate. Many of the girls in the class had very strong opinions on gender equality and, surprisingly to us all, weren’t afraid to share them. We all found this really pleasing, and Ash found this topic especially interesting as she is majoring in Gender Studies at University. All in all, it’s been another great week on the health project.

Dani Strongman and Asha Hall - Health Project Volunteers

Health Project: Researching the link between HIV and TB and discussing acceptance