Mentored Research Symposium & Nairobi

Mama Charles & Me

This week has been busy. It started with a bang with the MEPI Mentored Research Project Symposium, which lasted for two days, including one day during the National Nyerere Day holiday.  Despite this holiday the auditorium was full every day, and the students were thrilled about the results and the information presented.

Mentors and Mentees fill the auditorium

Dr. Mtweve and her students after the successful symposium

The MEPI staff had worked very hard for this symposium, preparations assisting students with a variety of crises; thus at the end of the first day, John and I took the group out for Nyama Choma (barbecue) at our favorite restaurant, Mkulima.

The best food

We made a valiant attempt to leave the following day for Nairobi, but in this circumstance the plane left us behind.  We arrived at the airport 50 minutes prior to the flight but were told that the "gate" had closed and low and behold, the plane left 40 minutes early.  Our reservation (and paid ticket) was resold and off they went.  It was pretty horrifying, we were exhausted, and John had a whole stretch of meetings the following day.  But nothing to be done.  We managed to rebook the ticket.  This in itself was a feat because the agent totally changed the flights including our reservation for our Johannesburg flight.  If John had not been careful, we would never have been able to complete our trip.  It was a huge surprise to Rose, Pauli and Lucy that we arrived home at 8:45 pm to head for bed and start over the next day.  Our surprise arrival reinforced our gratitude for our "family" in Moshi who had secured our gate, double locked our doors and came over to make sure that it was really John, Charles and me that had returned for the night.

But the next day, we headed out again and this time arrived in Nairobi to start our week of meetings.  We stayed in a very fancy hotel, the Panari which has an ice skating rink-- the only one in East/Southern Africa.  Goodness!

After settling in our hotel, we quickly set off for an evening with Charles' mother.  It was an adventure in itself.  Traffic was at a peak, and it took 1 1/2 hours to get to her house.  This very sweet and sharp lady by herself raises over 70 chickens, about 20 rabbits, uses every available space for fruit and vegetable gardens and even negotiates with neighbors to use small spots of land around their houses to grow beans and corn.  She had cooked a delicious dinner for us, and completely by accident we ran into Charles' brother-in-law and brought him back to dinner with us.

Mama Charles with her two boys

Charles serving John special "Kikuyu" food

Friday we left at the crack of dawn for a meeting a Kenyatta University, where each one of us talked to the team of Dean of Medicine and many of the department chairs.  It was indeed impressive.  They are building a huge infrastructure of a new school of medicine, a giant hospital, a nursing school, research laboratories.  The school was incredible, and it seemed that we developed a very good rapport with the folks that we met there.

Charles in front of the Administration Building Kenyatta University

Trish and John with Jomo Kenyatta statue

sign in front of the KU

The Library at KU

Love this- Institute of Peace and Security Studies at KU

The new campus being built

Our tour of the new campus

This will be the new Hospital

 After our tour of the new Medical School and Hospital, we drove to the African Population and Health Research Center where we met with a group of energetic young people who have established an amazing organization designed to mentor young African PHD candidates--to help them publish, and to learn proper mechanisms for research, public speaking--generally to bring young African Scholars to the highest levels.  We were completely inspired by this group.  They left us practically speechless.

 

John very excited about the group

A very exciting group (I am one lucky mama)

We moved quickly from the Research Center we headed on to the Aga Khan Medical Center.  We drove through a lovely part of Nairobi where clearly the wealthier people live, and sadly also passed by the Westgate shopping center (home of the big bomb blow up last year).

Westgate-you can still see bullet holes

beautiful villas in this area

We had a great meeting with the Aga Khan Medical staff.  John gave a presentation about MEPI to the staff, and we had a great dinner in the pouring rain before driving back to the hotel.  For a 20 minute drive, it took us an 1hr and 40 minutes.  It was painful.  We were up again at 4am, to leave for our flight to Capetown.  Wow, absolutely incredible.

Big Soccer Stadium

On to Capetown!