Starting the new week with a headache and malaria
After spending a fantastic weekend in Kakamega, Monday came too soon and with a headache. The week before I left the Netherlands I had been extremely busy with days beginning at 5 am; starting shifts at work at 6 am, attending interview and intercultural communication training at 7Senses, finishing a final essay for the university, packing, emptying my room and moving stuff to Belgium,… and finally a long travel to Kisumu in the weekend. Once I arrived in Kenya I just dived into the research with enthusiasm. So after such intensive weeks, the headache came as no big surprise. That Monday I decided to stay in, to take it easy and write on my blog. I was not the only one feeling a bit weary. Lydia was also feeling unwell, and that night she came home from the hospital with the news that she has high levels of malaria. While this sounded scary to me, Lydia and Phyll acted very calm under it; ‘it is just a matter of taking some injections’. Before heading to Kenya I made a visit to the GGD where the doctor informed me that 1 out of 5 children in some African countries die because of malaria and not receiving proper treatment. Furthermore, Mrs. Okudo who picked me up at Kisumu airport also warned me that the malaria of Kisii, ‘highland malaria’, is one of the worst types. So I was surprised to find Phyll and Lydia somehow relaxed after receiving the news. Malaria is apparently part of life and in fact easy to treat. The real problem is that many people don’t have the access to this treatment. Nonetheless, that night I went on a mosquito crusade, and killed each and every one of them in our apartment.
SindudaSinde 