Blog Sabbatical

As Kody and I drove to the airport on the 3rd, I tried not to cry. Inside, the airport was mayhem. I'd never seen it that crazy and I was once again thankful for all of those business trips back to the US that earned me a gold card in about 9 months. We wizzed through (compared to the others, very irritable passengers) and I got ready to say goodbye for now to my home since last April.

I've been back in the US nearly two weeks now, and still can't quite grasp that NY is home again. My blog was intended to give my family and friends a glimpse of my life, being so far away. Now that I'm back, its time to return to more regular forms of communication - like phone calls and emails that I've been terrible about making. Kampala friends, I hope that we'll stay in touch. You made my first experience living abroad a fantastic one. We miss you already!

I won't post to gablam until my overseas practicum for school (one year from now), but do upload photos on flickr here from time to time.

A year and a half in Uganda

Please do keep in touch and thanks for reading!

There's only three hours left until I can check in for my flight online. I'm in serious denial. There's nothing left in the house, and we're heading out soon for our last night out in Kampala, but it hasn't really sunk in yet that we're going. Maybe tomorrow?

We're having a big last weekend here in Kampala. Last minute art shopping took us to the Makerere University Art School to check out a barkcloth exhibit. No buys there, but Kody did pick up this cool guinea fowl shirt in a market on the way home. Check out the billboard above his head, which Kody worked on for Moringa Ogilvy.

After lunch, we headed over to the Lugogo Cricket Oval for the Wycef Jean concert. Near the end of the show, Wyclef ended up in a cherry picker right behind us, which Kody somehow ended up being on. Always at the center of the party!

The movers came today to pack everything up. We got good news at the last minute that everything will go by air –so I won't have to wait another 5 months like the sea shipment here took! Only problem is my things may arrive before we have an apartment.

If you have any leads on a good place in New York City (preferably on the 2 line), let us know!

Patience helping pack

4 cubic meters?

Last minute shopping is underway, since the movers come to pack up the house tomorrow. We headed down to Entebbe to visit the Lands and Survey Department for souvenirs of the areas I worked in Uganda. After waiting for the lady in the map sales office for a while, we waded through the piled up maps to figure out exactly what we wanted. None of my choices were already printed, so we had to hunt through the building for the man who runs the map printer. We sat down w ith this computer engineering volunteer to choose our maps and have them printed on huge rolls of paper. Can't wait to have an apartment so that we can frame them!

We head back to the US on the 3^rd of August, and have been trying to squeeze in a little relaxation with friends in the midst of the moving madness. I really didn't take advantage of the pampering opportunities in Kampala nearly often enough!

Absurd cocktails in the afternoon

Pedicures with Tanya and Dorte

Sunning and swimming at Munyonyo

Today was my last day in the office. For almost a year and a half I've been working with some of the kindest, most dedicated people I've met. I've been avoiding thinking about (or discussing) leaving at all, so my leaving came as a surprise to a few people. I wish that I had the option to start school in Jan instead. We've accomplished a lot with the HPV vaccine project so far, but implementation is just getting underway! I'm looking forward to hearing from the team how things go in the second district, and keeping in touch with the great friends that I've made here.

The UVRI-IAVI team threw me and the other leaving colleagues a really nice farewell party after work, and my colleagues from PATH, the National Immunization Program, Uganda Women's Health Initiative, Save A Woman Initiative, and the Princess Nikky Breast Cancer Foundation came as well.

A photo collage of my colleagues from UVRI-IAVI: Dr Kaleebu, Peter, William, and me and Kody

The Stop Cervical Cancer Conference team: Nikky, Stella, Dan, James, Emmanuel, Claire, and Rachel

As soon as we returned, I dove into work on the 2nd Stop Cervical Cancer in Africa Conference. On the 15th, we helped organize a press briefing at the Ministry of Health, in advance of the conference on the 21st – 22nd. Uganda's First Lady, Hon. Janet Museveni opened and closed the conference as the Chief Guest. The goal of the conference was to bring together policymakers, health professionals and advocates to discuss cervical cancer prevention and control, and specifically ways to accelerate access to the new HPV vaccines. We had good representation from around the continent, with Kenya's Minister of Health attending, as well as representatives from Nigeria and South Africa's Ministries. The country reports on current cervical cancer prevention were stark, highlighting the urgent need for greater attention to this preventable disease. Hopefully, GAVI will add HPV vaccines to their portfolio in the near future, putting the vaccine in reach of those who need it the most.

Press Briefing with Dr Mbonye, (Head of Repro Health Division, MOH), Hon Dr Richard Nduhura, (Minster of State for Health, General Duties), and Princess Nikky Onyeri


Ndere Troup performing at state dinner for delegates

Leslie hosted a fantastic going away party for us out at her land. Not exactly camping, her tented house with thatched roof is finally finished after 8 long months. We grilled, had a performance by the local community, and managed to make smores (after running to every supermarket in town to find the ingredients). The most memorable going away I'll probably ever have! See this post for more pictures of the land.

The in-progress waterless toilet from South Africa (a very high-tech outhouse)

Mikkel and Dorte in the treehouse

Making pina coladas

Peformance from the local village

All the comforts of home - toilet seat back for the pit latrine

Me and Leslie

We're leaving in just a few days now, and I've been completely avoiding the reality of leaving Uganda behind. People have been asking what I'll miss most, and I have to say that Patience and her siblings Brian and Alex are pretty high up on the list. We'll miss you guys!

After my meetings in Nairobi, Kody and I headed off to Lamu – an island off the Kenyan Coast. We arrived at the airstrip on Manda island and a cart took our bags down to the dock. A short ferry ride on wooden boats with an outboard motor takes you to Lamu itself.


It's a Swahili town, with older buildings made out of coral stones, and tiny streets too small for cars. Donkeys are an important form of transport here, and the only vehicle is actually a donkey ambulance.

Hope that Air Kenya won't be using donkeys to get us back to Nairobi.

Kody has a lot of phobias

We walked down the island past Shela town to get to the beach, where we happened across goats in the sand dunes, and a guy walks 2 camels and a little dog. The walk is a long one back – should have hitched a dhow to take us back to Lamu Town!



The next day we took a dhow trip out to fish on the water. Our sailors were much better at fishing than we were. I did catch a little one, though. The guys barbequed the fish, and made a nice fresh salad for us. We had an excellent beach picnic, a swim in the warm Indian Ocean waters, and a nap under the trees. It was perfect, except that I woke up covered in sand fly bites. Unbelievably itchy!

My little catch

lunch!

Sunset from our hotel

Overnight, a wall collapsed near our hotel so we had to do a little rubble-climbing to get to the waterfront.

After gorging ourselves on the most delicious smoothies you'll ever have and tons of ocean fish, we had to head back to Nairobi to catch our flight home.

The waiting room at the Manda Airstrip

A last hurrah in Kenya!

Every quarter, our team in Africa meets to discuss the operational workplan and common issues across our sites on the continent. Since I’ll be leaving IAVI in just a few weeks, I wanted to take the opportunity to inform people about my work over the last 1.5 years, and how I think my HPV project should be carried forward. Kody and I decided to do some sightseeing before and after, since it’s our last chance to visit Kenya.

We planned to go the Masai Mara to try to see the great wildebeest migration. We left for Nairobi the night before in order to catch our flight out to the Mara. We booked a hotel near the airport which had an interesting idea of what constitutes tasteful, luxurious décor.

Elevator lobby near our room.

We headed out the next morning to Nairobi Wilson airport for our flight. It’s a little like a strip mall of airlines.

Kody in waiting area.

While we waited, we looked at the tiny planes taking off and landing and wondered just how small ours would be. Smaller than any I’d ever been on before, it turned out! But at about 30 seats, it wasn’t too scary. We landed at the first airstrip and were a little horried to see the deplaning passengers being handed hot towels before they proceeded to the bush bar staffed by Masai. I guess that’s what they’re paying $800/night for. Thankfully, our welcome was much more low key.

Our plane at the Olkiombo airstrip

The game viewing started right away – we were lucky enough to spot a cheetah on our way to the lodge.

Crested Cranes

Kody and Gab on a game drive

Elephants having lunch

Giraffes on the savannah

We stayed at the Fig Tree Camp site – a lovely and comfortable tented lodge. Although we were sleeping in tents, we were hardly roughing it. (The tents had tiled bathrooms attached, and very nice four-poster beds.) Vervet monkeys and baboons are all around, so the first thing we were told was to always zip your tent shut. Our neighbor ignored that advice, and we came back to find his tent full of monkeys enjoying popcorn. Kody saved the day, chasing the stragglers out.

Don’t feed the wildlife

Watching giraffes

We came across a stranded van out on the game drive, and made our second rescue of the day. They’d tried to drive up a deeply rutted track and got stuck in the thick mud. Our driver had to pull them out with a chain. The man in red is our guide.

If you want to blow $425 in an hour, take a balloon ride over the Masai Mara

We drove up right next to a pride of lions – two females, one male and seven cubs. Scary close!

Hippos

Mongooses (or is it Mongeese?)

The wildebeest migration is the big attraction at this time of year. We managed to catch the beginning of this massive movement. The wildebeest seem spectacularly dumb, so it’s a miracle that so many of the 1.6M actually make it. Of course, a lot get eaten. We saw lions, vultures, and Malibu stork all munching on wildebeest. I'll be uploading videos to my flickr page soon, so check back!

Wildebeest on the move

Our plane back to Nairobi was even smaller. The plane landed, the pilot hopped out with a clipboard calling for Kodiak Starr x2. There were a mere 14 seats, with a passenger seated next to the pilot. Must have been an amazing view!

The landscape over the countryside to the capital was spectacular. This photo shows a village. Note that there is a double boundary. First, one around the house. And second, an interior one which is a livestock corral. Must be to protect the animals from raiders.

Back to Nairobi for a few days of work. Afterwords, we’re off to Lamu!

A Shaq-loving matatu around Nairobi