The past week-plus has been busy! On the work front, I have been supporting the Kenya team from Chapel Hill. Data entry started in Nairobi this week and most data collection has completed. I am eager to see the data and start data analysis for my sections of the draft report. I’ll be looking specifically at the data from the client exit interviews, which assessed how clients rated the students who treated them or their children. There are other pieces of the data that I’ll be helping to analyze and I look forward to applying my skills in this next step of the PNA.
Outside of work, I have been adjusting to my unexpected return to the US. This has been much harder than I would have thought. While I am appreciative to be in a safe environment and surrounded by my friends and family, I have felt such emptiness. It is hard to explain and I don’t think it will go away for a while. I wish I were still in Kenya. I catch myself thinking of my Swahili words to make sure I have not forgotten them and I often dream of being back in Africa. This will pass but I am certainly learning to handle one of life’s familiar lessons – disappointment. I’ll go back to Africa and specifically Kenya sooner rather than later and I think it will mean so much more to me than it ever has before. I am determined to work hard at IntraHealth and at school to ensure I get back to East Africa soon to continue supporting teams like my colleagues in Kenya. Despite the lovely safaris and the exotic food, the ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes for families.
This past weekend was July 4th. I had a low-key holiday celebration, spending some of it antiquing with my mom and friend Chris in Virginia and some of it at Christina and Greg’s party. This week there will be rest of the weary! I am staying with my friend Laura and I know it will be like a fun summer camp in the evenings! During the week, I already have a few early morning Skype calls on my calendar so the Chapel Hill team can liaise with the Kenya team on the PNA data! Have I mentioned I am excited to see what has been coming in from the field?!
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