Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Salaam Maalekum
I would like to welcome you all to my ramblings from my time in Banjul, The Gambia working as an HIV research assistant at the Medical Research Council (MRC).
Last week I traveled some 36 hours, due to a 12 delay in Brussels, before I landed in Banjul. It was humid and muggy as expected and it rained the whole way to the clinic. After only one days stay, I was set up with a visa for Guinea-Bissau - as I was invited to travel with a group, from Sunday to Tuesday, to use a new CD4 count machine and provide treatment to a patient cohort in Ciro (a remote fishing village). Guinea-Bissau is even more poor that Gambia, if that sounds possible. Every piece of infrastructure I saw was quite dilapidated. The only roads in most countries here lead to the cost for export - a tactic used by colonizing countries to extract resources while stifling trade between African countries. The remote village that we were working in has a population with 80% HIV-2 - the non-virulent form of the retrovirus. The village members still engage in many traditional customs that are both fascinating and a bit gruesome. Also, prostitution is quite common, as many women resort to this behavior to pay off divorce or widow debts to their husbands family. It is very unfortunate, and a major reason for the spread of many infectious diseases.
FYI, to fill you in on the specifics of my research project, I've deviated a bit from my original epidemiology proposal to help with an exciting HIV-2 virology study with a UI biochemistry grad - imagine that! It will be much more hands-on and less data analysis, as I am helping to sequence DNA through PCR to locate amino acids from blood samples of HIV patients to see which forms become virulent and which don't. The goal is to be able to genetically identify what form of HIV a patient has to know if treatment is necessary or not. I am also going to be dabbling in the epidemiology project that deals with ARV treatment and response due to a host of life style and health variables. Unfortunately, the Gambian President is speaking out against ARV treatment in favor of his own "magic cure" - basically salad dressing with his blessings. A few UN personal have already been kicked out of the country for condoning his healing powers. It is a very sticky situation. Furthermore, I am going on clinical rotations once a week in the HIV clinic on site with a young Indian physician who had us over to house last week for the best curry of my days.
My house, which I am sharing with a Mali physician named Abduli - a smashing fellow, is on the MRC site and is a stone's throw from the ocean. The beaches are phenomenal and I've been running on them quite often with a few people from the clinic. There is group of about 8 marathon runners who are real intense, and I think it is good for me to hang with them. It will hopefully get me through my stay here. It is the end of the rainy season now, with storms about every night, but it is apparently supposed to dry up in the near future. I have been living off of market fruits (mainly mangoes - I also have a beautiful tree in my yard!), vegetables, and sea food (but it usually so hot that I lose my appetite for meat). There is also nice restaurant on the MRC campus where you can get lunch and a drink for less than $2. In two weeks I also plan to begin fasting for Ramadan (I'll let you know how this goes).
After settling in now and realizing how long 10 months really is, I have spoken with the professor who helped set up my grant, and she said that I would still have plenty of time to accomplish my goals if I only stayed until December. This experience is definitely opening my eyes to global health, and it will be cool to help with a ground-breaking HIV-2 manuscript - however, I think it is probably better to get on with my studies if they let me into the MPH Program at the UI in the Spring. I'll then do the combined degree program, starting the MD classes in the Fall. I'll let you know more later, but this is the route I think I'm going to take, which only means that I'll need to not waste any time here - which has not been a problem at all. Also, a friend from Iowa City has asked me to work on the Obama Campaign from Dec-Jan.14 for the Caucus. I really can't miss the political excitement!
So last night I was playing ultimate and a few Peace Corps volunteers joined us (actually a guy from a small town in western Iowa and another guy who did his nutrition master at ISU). Afterwards, I went over to the Peace Corps house which had a map of all the 130 volunteers in the Gambia - including Bethany Johnson from Grinnell (2001 GHS grad). 2 Grinnellians in the smallest country in Africa. Buoy o' boy, tis a small world after all. I met up with Bethany, and some other Peace Corps volunteers, last evening. It was nice to hear their advise from their 7 months stay in the country, and I also feel a bit relieved with my living conditions after hearing some of their stories. Most of them are by themselves in villages without electricity - completely cut-off from all communication (making it difficult for them to apply for grants and solicit funding for their projects). I feel lucky to be surrounded by people from all over the world and have internet and telecommunication access - however, I also run the risk of being in somewhat of a bubble.
I don't know if you've read the Poisonwood Bible, but I just finished it on my trip to Guinea-Bissau. It is actually much more depressing than I anticipated, but I can see how this place can mess with you after awhile. "Out of Africa always something new." I have come to realize that one must remain an ultra-optimist in living in countries as such for extended periods of time. It is not only healthy for oneself to stay positive, but also for whatever mark you are able to make - regardless the size.
Last week I traveled some 36 hours, due to a 12 delay in Brussels, before I landed in Banjul. It was humid and muggy as expected and it rained the whole way to the clinic. After only one days stay, I was set up with a visa for Guinea-Bissau - as I was invited to travel with a group, from Sunday to Tuesday, to use a new CD4 count machine and provide treatment to a patient cohort in Ciro (a remote fishing village). Guinea-Bissau is even more poor that Gambia, if that sounds possible. Every piece of infrastructure I saw was quite dilapidated. The only roads in most countries here lead to the cost for export - a tactic used by colonizing countries to extract resources while stifling trade between African countries. The remote village that we were working in has a population with 80% HIV-2 - the non-virulent form of the retrovirus. The village members still engage in many traditional customs that are both fascinating and a bit gruesome. Also, prostitution is quite common, as many women resort to this behavior to pay off divorce or widow debts to their husbands family. It is very unfortunate, and a major reason for the spread of many infectious diseases.
FYI, to fill you in on the specifics of my research project, I've deviated a bit from my original epidemiology proposal to help with an exciting HIV-2 virology study with a UI biochemistry grad - imagine that! It will be much more hands-on and less data analysis, as I am helping to sequence DNA through PCR to locate amino acids from blood samples of HIV patients to see which forms become virulent and which don't. The goal is to be able to genetically identify what form of HIV a patient has to know if treatment is necessary or not. I am also going to be dabbling in the epidemiology project that deals with ARV treatment and response due to a host of life style and health variables. Unfortunately, the Gambian President is speaking out against ARV treatment in favor of his own "magic cure" - basically salad dressing with his blessings. A few UN personal have already been kicked out of the country for condoning his healing powers. It is a very sticky situation. Furthermore, I am going on clinical rotations once a week in the HIV clinic on site with a young Indian physician who had us over to house last week for the best curry of my days.
My house, which I am sharing with a Mali physician named Abduli - a smashing fellow, is on the MRC site and is a stone's throw from the ocean. The beaches are phenomenal and I've been running on them quite often with a few people from the clinic. There is group of about 8 marathon runners who are real intense, and I think it is good for me to hang with them. It will hopefully get me through my stay here. It is the end of the rainy season now, with storms about every night, but it is apparently supposed to dry up in the near future. I have been living off of market fruits (mainly mangoes - I also have a beautiful tree in my yard!), vegetables, and sea food (but it usually so hot that I lose my appetite for meat). There is also nice restaurant on the MRC campus where you can get lunch and a drink for less than $2. In two weeks I also plan to begin fasting for Ramadan (I'll let you know how this goes).
After settling in now and realizing how long 10 months really is, I have spoken with the professor who helped set up my grant, and she said that I would still have plenty of time to accomplish my goals if I only stayed until December. This experience is definitely opening my eyes to global health, and it will be cool to help with a ground-breaking HIV-2 manuscript - however, I think it is probably better to get on with my studies if they let me into the MPH Program at the UI in the Spring. I'll then do the combined degree program, starting the MD classes in the Fall. I'll let you know more later, but this is the route I think I'm going to take, which only means that I'll need to not waste any time here - which has not been a problem at all. Also, a friend from Iowa City has asked me to work on the Obama Campaign from Dec-Jan.14 for the Caucus. I really can't miss the political excitement!
So last night I was playing ultimate and a few Peace Corps volunteers joined us (actually a guy from a small town in western Iowa and another guy who did his nutrition master at ISU). Afterwards, I went over to the Peace Corps house which had a map of all the 130 volunteers in the Gambia - including Bethany Johnson from Grinnell (2001 GHS grad). 2 Grinnellians in the smallest country in Africa. Buoy o' boy, tis a small world after all. I met up with Bethany, and some other Peace Corps volunteers, last evening. It was nice to hear their advise from their 7 months stay in the country, and I also feel a bit relieved with my living conditions after hearing some of their stories. Most of them are by themselves in villages without electricity - completely cut-off from all communication (making it difficult for them to apply for grants and solicit funding for their projects). I feel lucky to be surrounded by people from all over the world and have internet and telecommunication access - however, I also run the risk of being in somewhat of a bubble.
I don't know if you've read the Poisonwood Bible, but I just finished it on my trip to Guinea-Bissau. It is actually much more depressing than I anticipated, but I can see how this place can mess with you after awhile. "Out of Africa always something new." I have come to realize that one must remain an ultra-optimist in living in countries as such for extended periods of time. It is not only healthy for oneself to stay positive, but also for whatever mark you are able to make - regardless the size.
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