My Journey in the Kingdom of Swaziland: Day 67: Clinic Visits and Kente Fabric

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.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Day 67: Clinic Visits and Kente Fabric

Top Photo: Ghanaian Kente Fabric

I went back to a Ghanaian dressmaker that goes to Lighthouse Chapel International Church and requested a custom-made blazer for my godmother and grandmother to be made out of the fabric that I bought at Ezulwini Craft Market and the Ghanaian fabric that Dr. Preko gave me. Before leaving for Luyengo, I also secretly went with Simangaliso to order a cake for Chantal’s birthday tomorrow. I told Chantal that I had to go back to the dressmaker, Daniel from LCI, to change the measurement for one of the blazers. Although I did go back (but to only see the Kente fabri that was going to be used to make my dress), I also stopped to order her a cake without her knowing! Then, Chantal and I went to Luyengo Clinic to administer the facility-level survey there. After leaving Luyengo, Sipho took me to House on Fire, a restaurant near the clinic so that I can make reservations for the surprise dinner that I planned for Chantal’s birthday tomorrow! Since Chantal was in the car, I acted as if I wanted to just take pictures of the restaurant, and then made reservations for 10-12 people to attend her birthday dinner. I invited the drivers, Sipho and Simangaliso, as well as a few friends from church, Francis, Apo, Benni, Glody, and Richmond, and of course the girls (Jessica and ShaCoria) will be there. I’m still thinking of the best way to get her to the restaurant without it being obvious that it is a surprise.

Luyengo Clinic

Horo Clinic

After visiting Luyengo, Chantal and I also delivered the survey to the senior nurse at Horo Clinic. Then, we went back to Baylor where we met Jessica and ShaCoria to go back to the dressmaker because they both wanted another customized outfit to be made by the Ghanaian dressmaker. (ShaCoria was mad at me because I had forgotten to tell her that I was going to the dressmaker because she also wanted another customized outfit to be made for her). Then Simangaliso took us to see his puppies! Then, he took us to the hill that Waterford Kamhlaba is located so that we can take a picture of all of Mbabane. Waterford Kamhlaba is the United World College of Southern Africa and is the best school in Swaziland. Francis went there for high school where he was enrolled in the IB program (I did IB too). Chantal and I got a nice view of the city from Waterford.