I can’t believe I’ve been in Nairobi nearly two months now. I only have five more interviews to conduct, and then I’ll be analyzing the data and writing the report just in time for World AIDS day. I’m already starting to see some patterns emerging. The Deaf from Dandora (where DEK’s HQ is located) are by far the most knowledgeable about HIV, and the five people I’ve interviewed from Haruma are the least informed, which makes sense because Deaf Empowerment Kenya (DEK) has yet to really focus its programming in that region.

Yesterday we set up “camp” (literally a white tent with plastic windows) in Haruma, another Nairobi slum/suburb, next to a small clinic and VCT centre. It was not the most comfortable experience. My team from DEK had made arrangements with the clinic for lack of a better option. We attracted a lot of attention, since the clinic has a high volume of clients, most of whom have to wait outside, and even the staff of the clinic seemed confused and suspicious about my presence.

We conducted two interviews, one with a woman who had participated in our earlier focus group discussion, and the other with a woman who had the most perfectly straight, white teeth I had ever seen, and a very good sense of humor. The first lady got through the questions rather quickly since she was familiar with the themes of the questions, and the second lady refused to sign the consent form until she had answered all the questions. I noticed both women seemed a little more apprehensive in the new interview environment. I couldn’t blame them, since the tent door was blowing in the wind, and the windows weren’t covered, but at least my interpreter and I spoke in low voices, in hopes that any bystanders couldn’t make out what we were saying. After we finished the interviews, we were told the managers of the clinic wanted to meet me. We stood outside of the clinic for over half an hour waiting, and finally when I had given up and was getting back into the taxi, they said they were ready to see us. I think they were also very suspicious of my activities, and they were surprised when we told them we wouldn’t be coming back. David, my interpreter, and I made the executive discussion to move back to DEK HQ in Dandora for the remainder of the interviews, because the environment is less stressful, and more private. Also, I think being next to a VCT would have given the interview participants the wrong impression that we were asking them to meet us there, so they could be tested for HIV. I agreed to provide transport for all of the remaining participants to come to Dandora and back- it will probably cost me less than ten dollars.

David told me later he overheard one of the doctors chastising a mother of a baby who was too sick to be treated at that clinic, reprimanding her for not bringing her husband, and asking how many children she had, only to tell her she would soon have four, less one, for failing to take the baby directly to the hospital. I felt really sorry for everyone in that clinic, knowing they were only there because they couldn’t afford the alternative. The clinic was dirty, smelly, dark, under-staffed and overcrowded. The patients were seen in a slow and careless manner, and it was obvious no one wanted to be there. Although I couldn’t stand to be there more than 30 minutes, it did give me some perspective on the experience of health services I’m asking the Deaf to rate in my interview. Given what I saw, I’m surprised at the number of positive responses I’ve had to that question; however communication barriers are mentioned by nearly all participants so far. One positive thing about the clinic was that several of the staff seemed to have good Kenyan Sign Language skills, and were able to communicate with our DEK team very well.

Today we were back in Dandora, and despite the fact that Dandora is a slum where many children run around with no shoes, pigs eat garbage from the side of the road, and nearly every vehicle and house you pass is dilapidated, it has a much more positive vibe than Haruma, and I actually feel pretty comfortable there. When we arrived, there just so happened to be a Deaf man from Haruma hanging around outside of the DEK office, but he hadn’t been recruited by our mobilizer’s team. In the interest of time, we decided to interview him anyway. We interviewed another two men after him, and between the three of them, we got some unique responses. For example one man said you can’t get HIV from deep kissing, but you could get TB. Another response we had never heard before was that if a person is positive, he or she should be public and tell others, because they will help you and if you don’t your stress level will rise. David pointed out that the interviewee was from Somalia and that there is an ethic of care in the Muslim culture that we haven’t necessarily seen with those who are likely from Christian backgrounds. The majority of the responses to that question reflected the opposite sentiment, which will be an important area for DEK to work on. It seems the Deaf’s understanding of HIV status and confidentiality is that you’re not allowed to tell others your status if you’re positive, and there remains a lot of stigma, as most also indicate if you were to be openly positive everyone would gossip about you and ostracize you. I’ve realized after the fact, that one of the limitations of the study was that we don’t ask the person’s nationality, tribe or religion, all of which I’m realizing could have interesting implications for their point of view. It seems we’ve timed our interviews very well, since we should be finished on Friday, before November hits and all the NGOs are in full proposal-writing mode. HI is getting really busy, and DEK has been attending several meetings with potential donors over the past few weeks, so the sooner I get out of their hair, the better. I’m really looking forward to writing my report, because I know DEK and HI will really find it useful. As for the old social life, I’m gearing up for the weekend, and hopefully I’ll be able go out on Friday to celebrate completion of interviews, and Saturday for Halloween in Nairobi! I’m glad I don’t have to think of a costume- it’s a very wzungu holiday. I’m sure you can imagine me explaining to fellow colleagues that in Canada, we get dressed up as devils and witches and Batman and Barbie and go door-to-door to get free candy, and carve faces into pumpkins instead of eating them.

Category: Kenya, On location // 1 Comment »