Jambo! Hello (in Swahili) from Eldoret, Kenya. My name is Ken Busby and I am so thankful to be in Eldoret for my Master of Public Health practicum for six weeks through UNC Gillings. As a bit of history, I am a pediatric oncology and postdoctoral fellow at UNC and part of the Gillings global health concentration. I will be working through Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital to create a guideline to aid the hospital and ministry of health for when children with cancer have fever.
I have been in Eldoret for a week at this point. I have met so many wonderful people! I am staying at the Indiana University House (IU House), which is about a 10-minute walk from the hospital. I have made friends both at the house and with new colleagues at the hospital. There is a group of medical students, resident physicians, pharmacy students, and consultants (or attending physicians) who are also staying on the IU House property. So far, I have gotten access to the REDCap database which will inform my work, begun to get a “lay of the land” with how things are done here, and had chai with just about everyone in town.
I am also taking care of a friend’s feline named “Paka” (which means cat in Swahili) as they had to leave town for a family emergency. People here have been so wonderful to help me exchange US dollars for shillings, place the shillings on the local version of Venmo called “M-PESA,” find transportation for longer trips, communicate via WhatsApp, and help me settle into life here.
My girlfriend, Hannah, is flying into Eldoret on Sunday and I am so excited to meet her at the airport! We are hoping for some time to hike, see the rainforest, and go on a safari to see the “Big 5” animals which are lions, leopards, rhinoceros, elephants, and buffalo. I hope that everyone at home is doing well.
Tuonane baadaye (See you later),
– Ken