The Kingdom of Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland
Dreams Fulfilled

Why am I in Swaziland?

HIV is a global pandemic and claimed the lives of millions of people all over the world. One of my hopes is that there will be a cure for HIV during or after my lifetime. Not only do I believe in physical healing of HIV, but I also believe in spiritual healing by faith in God. God has called me to act on this issue and my work here in Swaziland is being done to bring Him glory. By the grace of God, I was accepted into the Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) program offered by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health. Due to my passion for HIV research and prevention, I was selected to conduct research on the barriers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation among HIV-positive children 2 to 18 months of age in Swaziland. With the relatively high rate of HIV among pregnant women and the relatively low rate of children initiated on ART in comparison to adults in Swaziland, this a major public health concern within the country.

What am I doing?

Just to get an idea of what I will be blogging about, I will be implementing a research project on the barriers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation among HIV-positive children 2-18 months of age in Swaziland. I will be carrying out the study at several different health facilities in Swaziland with my research partner and fellow MHIRT trainee, Chantal Harris, who also attends the University of Florida. Our main job is to carry out the study by following the research protocol with the assistance of data clerks, the primary investigators, public health stakeholders, and doctors associated with the project and ART initiation among children. The research project is also funded by UNICEF, which allowed us to hire data clerks to assist with data extraction, survey administration, and the facilitation of focus groups for the study.

Who do I work with?

My fellow MHIRT trainee, Chantal Harris, will be working on the research project with me all summer. She also will be living with me in Dr. Peter Preko's guest house in Mbabane, Swaziland. Dr. Preko is our host and mentor as well as one of the primary investigators of the research study. Dr. Pauline Jolly is also a primary investigator for this research project and also the director of the MHIRT program at UAB. Mrs. Nobuhle Mthethwa is another one of the primary investigators and is the National Paediatric ART Officer of the Swaziland National AIDS Program (SNAP) of the Ministry Of Health (MoH). We have four data clerks helping us to carry out the study, which are two Swazi women, Nelisiwe (Neli for short) and Nozipho, and two Swazi men, Ndumiso and Sibusiso. Two other fellow MHIRT trainees, Jessica and ShaCoria, are also here in Swaziland for 12 weeks, but they are implementing a different project (association between HIV status and cervical cancer among women) and live with a host family in Manzini, Swaziland. The UNICEF budget for the research budget also rendered us the opportunity to hire two drivers from Affordable Car Hire (Smangaliso and Sipho) to take us from clinic to clinic.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Day 59: Focus Group at Baylor Headquarters

Meal for focus group


Today is the first focus group for the controls of our study at Baylor Headquarters in Mbabane. Chantal and I bought doughnuts for the participants to have at the beginning of the focus grip and then we picked up the food from Moonlite Restaurant, which is a packed meal that we gave them at the end of the focus group session. The focus group was a good turn out! Eight participants showed up, which was the minimum number of participants expected to attend each focus group.  One of the data clerks, Neli, led the focus group today since she speaks Siswati. Another data clerk, Ndumiso took notes during the focus group discussion. The participants also seemed to have a lot of questions about pediatric ARV treatment so Dr. Sarah and on of the expert clients came into the meeting during the debriefing period at the end to answer their questions. I also ordered food from Moonlite again for tomorrow’s focus group. 

Yesterday, Chantal went back Nhlangano to finish data collection with her data clerks, Neli and Nozipho, and my data clerks resumed data collection at RFM Baylor. I went to get my official work permit at the Immigration office (since if you are in Swaziland for more than 30 days, you need a VISA or a work permit if working in the country). Then, I went to Moonlite Restaurant to order food for the focus group (the manger wasn’t there so I had to go back). Ndumiso recommended this restaruant since they sell cheap food. Then I went to RFM Baylor to assist the data clerks with data collection, and then went back to Mbabane to confirm the order  of the meals at Moonlite. It cost only 20 Rand (2 US dollars) each for a chicken meal (see top photo), 25 ($2.50) Rand for beef, 30 Rand ($3) for a pescetarian meal, and 8 Rand (80 cents) each for a drink. Finally, I went back to RFM Baylor and the data clerks finished confirming participants for focus group (3 did not pick up) and Ndumiso came back to Baylor with me to prepare for today's focus group at Baylor and Sibusiso stayed behind to finish data collection.
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