When I refer to this training as “Boot camp,” I mean that in
the most literal sense. We were up for breakfast by 7AM each morning, attended
class all day, had a one hour break between 6 and 7PM where we had to cram in a
study session and read up on whatever case study was assigned. This was all
followed by dinner, then a group discussion on our case study and finally we
were free again after 9PM. This isn’t to say we didn’t squeeze in an hour or
two of socializing followed by an angry and painfully early alarm clock the
next morning.
So what did we do with our long days? These were filled with
skype conferences with some of the big wigs at the Center for Disease Control
(CDC), USAID, the Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI), and some doctors and
researchers from around the world. We visited local communities, hospitals,
clinics and a research center studying mosquito biting behavior. Then we sat in
lectures about behavior change and the epidemiology of Malaria in all of our
respective countries. Basically everything I didn’t know that I didn’t know
about Malaria, I learned in two weeks.
I was able to brush up on my French and sweat out of pores
that I didn’t even know existed in the daily 109 degree heat. I ate some
amazing food and met some great new friends. But before I could go back to my
village life and get back to work, I arrived in Nairobi at 5:30AM and went to
meet my parents for their first trip out of America (Canada doesn’t count) just
in time to make our 10AM flight to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve.
