Turmoil in Kenya

UIC SPH Professor of Epidemiology Describes Situation Following Elections

Dear Friends:

As you are probably aware, Kenya has been undergoing a great deal of turmoil since the Presidential elections on December 27, 2007, the results of which have been in dispute. Kisumu, where our HIV prevention projects are situated, is the stronghold of the opposition party, ODM. There has been a great deal of violence in Kisumu, with demonstrations and riots protesting the conduct and outcome of the election, looting of shops, persecution of persons perceived as aligned with President Kibaki, and, worst of all, shootings of rioters by the police.

Very fortunately, the staff of our projects, numbering approximately 70 men and women, have remained safe. One person, who is from an ethnic group outside of Kisumu, was targeted by a gang of youth for execution, but some local people assisted her and she was able to escape. Our primary Kenyan collaborator, Prof. Ndinya-Achola of Nairobi University, unfortunately was stopped just outside Kisumu at a roadblock erected by a gang of youth. He was robbed, threatened with execution, and was cut badly with machetes in the face and on one arm. Luckily, he escaped and is doing fine after getting stitched up.

The participants in our studies are all young men. Some participated in the rioting, some were simply bystanders, and some live in slums where the violence is the worst. One participant was shot dead by the police and another badly injured, but is recovering. There may be others who have died that we do not know about. If they were injured, we would likely know because they will come to us for free medical care.

For the last five days, the violence has abated. There are isolated incidents, mostly of thieves using the unrest as an excuse to mug and steal. These thieves are now being arrested by police, instead of shot as before, or they are being attacked and killed by citizens in the communities who say they are fed up with being terrorized within their communities.

Our projects were interrupted for about three weeks, but we are back at work now. Study participants are coming to our clinic and our outreach workers are once again going out into the communities. I was to come to Kisumu on January 21, but delayed my trip until February 1. I have been here several days now and life is almost normal. I intend to stay until March 26. Three of our PhD students from the UIC School of Public Health - Nelli Westercamp, Amy Herman-Rolof and Thomas Riess - were also due to come to Kisumu in late January, but they have wisely delayed. We are hopeful that they can come very soon to begin their dissertation research.

We have created a charitable organization, called Health and Empowerment for African Lives (HEAL), through which we hope to assist the many families and orphans in Kisumu who have been adversely affected by the violence. We intend to provide food for children who have lost one or both parents, to pay school fees for children without parents or whose families cannot afford the fees, and to support programs that provide HIV prevention counseling and income generating activities for the many people (26% of women and 18% of men) in this community who are living with HIV/AIDS.

For more information about HEAL, please contact Martha Schnell, at 312-996-0731, or mschnell@uic.edu.

All the best,

Bob

To read more about Bailey’s work, please go to: http://www.uic.edu/sph/news/
news_136.html.

Lumumba Health Center, the major health center for the municipality of Kisumu, Kenya

University of Nairobi, Illinois and Manitoba (UNIM) clinic, the site of the randomized controlled trial of male circumcision to reduce HIV acquisition in men