After about one week without proper sleep and no internet we are now back in Nairobi after an amazing field experience. Monday in the beginning of this week we had planned to go out to the county Isiolo to start our field work. Some things struggled however (an equipment paper that was not signed and the car ran out of battery), so we had to postpone the depature with one day.
After the car had been fixed we leaved on Tuesday for the 8-10 hour drive to our location. We had decided to check in on a 'hotel' located in the city of Maua, some hour from the field site. A few hundred meters from the hotel the car hit a sharp rock in the 'road' and the tire got completely ruptured. The night had already turned all dark, and we were on a street that did not look all too nice. We called our Kenyan supervisor that had gone to the hotel a head of us (in another car), and he came to pick us up. The following day the car once again ran out of battery even though it supposedly was fixed 🙃
Following below is a brief video of some of the conditions in which we drove. At occasions we just left the road, down a half meter trench, and right out in the bush. We were searching for settled pastoralists, families with livestock that at least twice a year root up and migrate to a new location with the herd.
All together we sampled approx. 400 goats for Carro's project. My (Philip's) project was based on cases in the hospital, from which I have not yet taken any pictures. Due to the huge amount of animal samples, I also helped Carro and the veterinary team a little to gather samples and screen them for underlying Brucella infections. This coming week Carro will screen them for PPR and RFV viruses before starting the vaccination process. Our Swedish supervisor, Johanna, also came down recently to join us in the field which was both a great fun and greatly appriciated. I successfully joined the hospital dispensary and helped them with the screening of brucellosis. There are two working staff at the hospital, the medical officier and the lab technician. Both of them are so cooperative and kind, and they are really making this project so worthwhile. So far I have gotten several positive cases, but more on this later.
The hospital did the best they could with what they had, but it was visible that resources were really scarse. The line outside the small two-room clinic never ended and there was not enough reagents or protective equipment to maintain a sterile and safe work environment. The line-up numbers handed out by the 'reception' were recycled pieces of the yellow vaccination card ripped to pieces and manually written on. But believe me, the work they do is amazing and I respect them greatly for it.
Scrolling picture: press the arrows to change
Some more images from the field and from inside the field lab. At one of the pictures there is a goat in our trunk. Apparently one of the farmers wanted it sold/slaughtered in town, and as we sampled his animals we gave his goat a free ride to the town market.
Scrolling picture: press the arrows to change
Apart from meeting the adult goats during sampling there was so much more to experience. Everything from baby goats to baby donkeys. Most pastoralists have children at home, and when we come to sample their animals they got quite curious. At first they kept their distance, but soon after they came up and wanted to talk, laugh, give handfives and take selfies.
Scrolling picture: press the arrows to change
Now there will be one nights rest back home in Nairobi before we head off early tomorrow for a safari in the Maasai Mara.