I knew that Kenya would offer a few new experiences! I had one today. Since it's Saturday, we don't have too much work to do - just the usual laundry and finishing up of emails and projects that didn't get done last week. But my friend here had another item on her agenda, and, being the fun loving girl that I am, I tagged along.
My friend, A, is getting married in a few months, and in these parts, a big part of the paper work that's gotta get done before the wedding is getting a form that indicates your HIV status. So, off we went to find a place to get a test done.
One of the guys from the Conference Centre where we are staying is a helpful sort, so he offered to drive us into the nearby town, and help us sort things out. Anyway, this J was also interested in having a test done. So, we piled into the car, and started down the road. Of course, on the way, we found some other folks from the Conference Centre waiting for a matatu to take them to town, so they piled in the car, too.
The first possible place to get a test done was actually at the police hospital. There is a training ground here, where they train the prison guards. They have a huge piece of land here, where they have a church, some shops, a hospital and everything the guards and their families might need. I found out that there are also some prisoners kept there, so that the prison guard trainees have some prisoners to practice with.
We quickly found the clinic, and entered in, but found that the clinic was out of tests. "Monday" was the answer given to when they might get more tests in. Right. J wasn't hopeful that Monday would ever come, so we drove further into town to try to government hospital. They did have tests, and it was super easy to get the tests done. All you have to do is buy a card for them to record the results on, for 50 ksh (less than $1). Then you go into the lab, where the lab techs were waiting around with their feet up on their desks.
They were very friendly, and had none of the hang ups about confidentiality or anything, that's for sure! But they took a little bit of blood from A and J's fingers, stuck it onto the test strip... and we went outside and sat on a bench and waited.
After 15 minutes, everyone was called back into the office, and the results were made known... to everyone!
To make the results "official", everyone needed to go back to the cash-box and pay another 100/ksh, so the person could stamp the cards and make them official. It was all very low-key, and very inexpensive! And now A can go ahead and get married, since she's got her official results!
On the way back to our Conference Centre, J stopped at a supermarket in town so that I could pick up a basin. A girl can't live for too long without her own plastic basin, I've learned. Since I'm going to be here for 2 whole months, I thought a basin was not an unreasonable investment. And I already used my basin for doing my laundry this morning!
So here are a few pictures of my basin, which J named, "Beautiful":
I tell you, I have owned a lot of basins in my young life, but his basin takes the cake for its beauty!
My friend, A, is getting married in a few months, and in these parts, a big part of the paper work that's gotta get done before the wedding is getting a form that indicates your HIV status. So, off we went to find a place to get a test done.
One of the guys from the Conference Centre where we are staying is a helpful sort, so he offered to drive us into the nearby town, and help us sort things out. Anyway, this J was also interested in having a test done. So, we piled into the car, and started down the road. Of course, on the way, we found some other folks from the Conference Centre waiting for a matatu to take them to town, so they piled in the car, too.
The first possible place to get a test done was actually at the police hospital. There is a training ground here, where they train the prison guards. They have a huge piece of land here, where they have a church, some shops, a hospital and everything the guards and their families might need. I found out that there are also some prisoners kept there, so that the prison guard trainees have some prisoners to practice with.
We quickly found the clinic, and entered in, but found that the clinic was out of tests. "Monday" was the answer given to when they might get more tests in. Right. J wasn't hopeful that Monday would ever come, so we drove further into town to try to government hospital. They did have tests, and it was super easy to get the tests done. All you have to do is buy a card for them to record the results on, for 50 ksh (less than $1). Then you go into the lab, where the lab techs were waiting around with their feet up on their desks.
They were very friendly, and had none of the hang ups about confidentiality or anything, that's for sure! But they took a little bit of blood from A and J's fingers, stuck it onto the test strip... and we went outside and sat on a bench and waited.
After 15 minutes, everyone was called back into the office, and the results were made known... to everyone!
To make the results "official", everyone needed to go back to the cash-box and pay another 100/ksh, so the person could stamp the cards and make them official. It was all very low-key, and very inexpensive! And now A can go ahead and get married, since she's got her official results!
On the way back to our Conference Centre, J stopped at a supermarket in town so that I could pick up a basin. A girl can't live for too long without her own plastic basin, I've learned. Since I'm going to be here for 2 whole months, I thought a basin was not an unreasonable investment. And I already used my basin for doing my laundry this morning!
So here are a few pictures of my basin, which J named, "Beautiful":
1 comment:
it's interesting that they had to pay for supplies for the tests because HIV tests in Kenya are supposed to be 100% free. no fees at all. we provided rapid tests at our village hospital for free - all supplies are given by the government. and it was completely confidential. glad they got their test done, but their process is quite "fishy"
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