Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Guilty Pleasure



One of my favorite cartoon characters is Eric Cartman from South Park. Here he is described as "...Everyone's favorite lovable and opinionated bastard. Whether he's obsessively deadlocked singing Styx lyrics or plotting to wreak havoc over his current victim, it is nearly impossible to resist his charm..." I dont know how I became a South Park fan but somehow I got hooked. It also doesn't help that I have a workmate who is addicted and can imitate Cartman to a T. Wiki has a detailed page on Cartman that has some of his famous quotes. Call it a juvenile addiction but here are my favoritest quotes:

"Respect mah authoritah!" (Respect my authority)"

"Screw you guys…I'm goin' home."

"I'm not fat, I'm big boned!"

"But Meeehhhhmmm! ('Mom')" (when whining)"

"What-evah! I'll do what I waunt!"

Monday, August 28, 2006

Follow up

As a follow up to my previous post. I decided to go to the holy grail of info on the web "Google" to see if I could pull up anything on genetic counseling in Kenya. Why I'm I so interested in genetic counseling? Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm in a nerdy environment where I get to see genetic testing done and get to talk about it and hear about it from professionals in the field. Didn't find much but pulled up the following information. Why should we be left behind when projects such as the Human Genome Project have been completed and can be researched upon to provide answers to some of the diseases that may be inherent in our gene pools and not in others? The quest continues..


http://www.genomecenter.howard.edu/units/genethics/default.htm
"...Engaging African Communities in the HapMap Project – The NHGC is participating in the International Human Haplotype Map (HapMap) Project, aimed at characterizing patterns of common variation across various populations or geographic regions as a means of developing a more efficient tool (haplotype map) for mapping genes underlying susceptibility to common disease. The overall project includes the engagement of a number of communities/populations around the world, collection of samples from members of these populations, genotyping of the samples, and analysis of the resulting data. The NHGC has been leading the effort to engage communities in west (Nigeria), east (Kenya), and southern Africa (South Africa) and to obtain appropriate approval and consent for participation in the HapMap Project. Community engagement involves several activities such as surveys, town meetings, focus groups, and in-depth interviews which combine to create a process for considering the risks, benefits, and relevance of the development of a haplotype map of the human genome. Community engagement and sample collection are proceeding at the sites....."

Here's another abstract that I found..

http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/robot_pages/MeetingAbstracts/102276888.html

"...Challenges in supervision of VCT counselors.
Waweru HM, Bukusi D, Namwebya JH, Mulindi S, Musau F. Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. B12243.

Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya

ISSUES: Different forms of counseling are used at a national referral hospital by counselors as they strive to provide support for patients suffering from. HIV/AIDS. Counselors have to deal with situations ranging from assessing clients risks, preparing clients for testing, test result counseling, identifying sources of support, referrals, negotiating disclosure, bereavement, coping with chronic illness, hopelessness, social and work related issues. They also have to deal with their own personal issues as well as the difficulties of coping in an environment of declining purchasing power. All this takes place within a context in which the position of the counselor is as yet not yet clearly established.
DESCRIPTION: This paper gives an overview of the different issues that the counselors have to deal with in the context of their service delivery and the subsequent challenges faced during supervision provided by counselor supervisors. The adequacy of skills acquired during training to face up to the challenges of supervising counselors, is reviewed.
LESSONS LEARNED: Supervision has been able to help counselors cope with their very heavy client loads especially relating to HIV/AIDS work. Supervision needs to be developed further both in terms of skill levels and in terms of numbers to cater for the large numbers of clients who need counseling.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Supervision should be mandatory in practice at all centers offering counseling. Monitoring of counselor supervisors is an area that needs development. The rapid rise in numbers of counselors calls for the training of many more counselor supervisors to meet the increasing challenges of counseling. Supervision of counseling supervisors needs to be strongly encouraged..."

Friday, August 25, 2006

School children In Kenya

Children are simply amazing. This is a hilarious clip and it makes me smile. The kid on the left in red looks like he has some ADD ama dyslexia coz he seems not to be participating entirely and the little girl still shows 5 fingers when they are singing about number 9 :) Makes me think about how out here kids are diagnosed early when it comes to developmental disorders and placed in appropriate programs. Now in Kenya especially in a class like this one, there's nary a chance that anything will be done for a child without an obvious developmental disorder such as Down's (even then depending on finances or goodwill not much may be done). Does anyone know anything about Genetic Counselors in Kenya? I am interested ...

On other selfish thoughts....Kabinti (she and not her blog) turns a year older on Sunday....

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Nairobi: Easter

I know it's not Easter but this is what I miss when it comes to church services out here. I'm probably going to stick to posting videos on the blog for now until i get back some blog posting mojo. For now here's a weak a** way of showing that i have not disowned my blog!!

Jerusa

Dholuo Rap

Absolutely love this video!
You Are Independent Sexy
You drive men crazy with your "playing hard to get act" Except, it's really not an act at all. You're a strong, sexy woman with her own life and interests. And that makes men even more interested in you!
What Kind of Sexy Are You?