Category: Ken

Hello!

I am back in North Carolina from Eldoret, Kenya! Wow, what an incredible experience. I was able to complete my practicum work, see the hospital system, and go on safari! It was so valuable to see how the health system in Kenya is different from the health system in North Carolina. Ultimately, I know that the work I did was meaningful and helpful to the people of Kenya. I was able to meet so many wonderful people and develop so many friendships along the way. I know that it wouldn’t have been possible without support from UNC.

In addition to the meaningful work, I was able to spend some time going for hikes at Kessup Falls, see the city of Eldoret and Umbrella Falls, attend seminars of how to attain a career in global health, see most of the Big 5 animals on safari, and learn how to navigate the rain forest and call in various birds!

It has been such an incredible summer to end my first year of MPH work. I am so excited to see what this next year will bring at Gillings.

All best wishes,

– Ken

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