Referendum week

Lynn voted!!! You can tell because she has been marked with a type of ink that won't come off for about a month. This is to prevent people from voting more than once.

I’m writing to you with a baby head under one arm and a baby leg on top of the other arm. Claire likes to take her breakfast while I blog. So, we’re back in Kisumu, and I’m back to the land of the living! Last week, we were in Nairobi on a forced holiday, of which I spent most of my time in the guest house room with a nasty strep throat. On the 3rd day, I finally took antibiotics and by that evening, felt like I was finally winning. While in Nairobi, we visited the Village Market (read: rich people mall) on several occasions, and it made me appreciate Kisumu prices, as it was ridiculously expensive and non-negotiably priced. I did get a nice haircut though, and ate some amazing Indian food. Oh, and we ate at The Carnivore, which is exactly what you would expect it to be: lots of meat roasted over a big, indoor pit. It was an admittedly tourist activity, but it was worth the experience and it was Kevin’s last meal in Kenya before flying back to France, so we made it into an event.

We flew back on Saturday, and I was so happy to be back in Kisumu! I’m realizing that we have just 2 weeks left here, and it’s a little hard to imagine life back in NY. It’s looking most likely that we will be headed back to NY for Casey to finish his degree this Fall, then Ghana probably in January. It is all up in the air right now, of course, but I will keep you all posted!

Clinical trial update: I have heard back from 2 of the 3 doctors involved with the Iquilai pilot in Kenya a few years ago, and they have offered to supply the remedy for the trial, which is great! Now, I am looking for funding for the rest of the trial, so if any of you know of any small grants for individual research out there, please let me know.

It’s the final push for Casey’s project, and he is working very long days to get it all finished. I am so proud of him, and I will let him tell you the most recent good news on his next post.

Claire turns 1 in 9 days!! We are going to celebrate on the 17th with all of the SIPA-ites, our Kenyan friends, and hopefully our Japanese friends who are now both in Mbita doing research. Claire will definitely get some of her cake, as she has had wheat flour, dairy, sugar, eggs, and pretty much every potential allergen (except nuts/nut butters and honey), and seems to be doing quite well with it all (fingers crossed!). We made a decision to just let her have what we are having, and you will see by the pictures I posted that she is enjoying trying foods very much!