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This summer I spent five weeks in Kenya with The School for Field Studies’ Field Practicum in Public Health and the Environment. I stayed at a camp near the border of Tanzania overlooking Mount Kilimanjaro along with 20 other health and environmental students from all over the United States and Kenya. The main objective of our study was to conduct a baseline public health survey of a local tribe called the Maasai to see how the surrounding environment was affecting their health.
My particular focus in the study was water source and collection methods and we found that a number of people were getting their drinking water from the same streams used for watering and spraying livestock, washing laundry and even bathing. With the current drought conditions in the region, there is little water left and for many people this is their only option. While the local health clinic provides free water treatment packets (PUR), only 25% of the community reported treating their water; those not treating their water were found to have a higher risk of suffering from an enteric illness. |
With the aid of Maasai translators we presented our results to a group of over 80 community members and health leaders and were able to make recommendations on how to improve some of the issues we uncovered. The community was very receptive of our recommendations and the statistics and numbers we were able to present helped stress the severity of the problems we found. The Maasai are an ancient people with preserved traditions uncommon in today’s quickly advancing society. Learning from and interacting with these tribal men and women was truly a unique and rewarding experience and I hope that with our studies we were able to promote positive change in their lives. For pictures, stories and to learn more about the program check out my blog at www.kbowmankenya.blogspot.com
by Katlin Bowman - Senior, Environmental Science |
