Environment and Public Health in Keiyo County

David Komen (left) and Commissioner Joseph Kipsaina (right)

     I visited the Keiyo County Council building and met with David Komen, who heads the Environment and Wildlife department.  The department has a huge range of responsibilities, ranging from environmental management to public health.

Native forest just above Iten's water supply.  Notice the cleared area and farm on right.

     I asked David what considered the major environmental issue in the area.  He replied that it was deforestation in water catchment areas.  Growing population has pushed people to clear forest for farming.  The forests are necessary to provide dependable clean water.  Significant surface erosion can occur after clearing.  The Keiyo County Council does not have a lot of power to prevent people from cutting the forest.  But the council does try to encourage farmers to plant trees and operates a tree nursery.  There is a permit system for gathering firewood, but there are problems with people cutting trees at night.  Komen hopes to build community ownership in the forests.

     A huge part of David’s job involves public health.  A major project he is working on is jigger treatment.  Jiggers are a parasitic flea.  Females burrow into the flesh of a person (usually on the foot) and feed on the human.  The jigger becomes engorged and can grow to pea sized.  The jigger is extremely painful, and can cause secondary infections.  Jiggers are a problem at the higher altitudes in very poor areas.  People who have no shoes and live in mud huts with dirt floors are most susceptible.

Community Action Day in rural village (photo courtesy Keiyo County Council)

    David organized a series of “Community Action Days” for treatment of people affected by jiggers.  The goal is to hold an event where hundreds of people come to a town meeting.  The jiggers can be killed by a 15 minute soak in a Lysol solution.  Surgical equipment is necessary to manually remove jiggers as well.  People need to be educated about prevention of future infection, which mostly means Cleaning supplies are provided for people to clean their dirt floors.

Children receiving treatment for jiggers (photo courtesy Keiyo County Council)

     The visits serve many purposes.  David also performs HIV education, distributes condoms, gives medication for intestinal infections, discusses sanitation, water quality and tuberculosis.  David also organizes community health days in lower elevations that are not affected by jiggers.  The focus is slightly different including malaria and distribution of mosquito nets for beds.  Malaria is not present at higher elevations, and jiggers are not present at lower elevations.

     Funding for these community health days comes from a variety of sources.  David showed me an application to the regional government for funding.  Condoms were provided by the Global Fund Program.  Non-governmental organizations in Kenya and abroad also provide funding.  One community health day costs about $2000.  David has a wide range of responsibilities and limited funding.  Looking after the environment and public health of an entire county is a huge job.  But David's efforts result in real benefits to some of the poorest people in Kenya.

Person with severe jigger infestation receiving treatment. (photo courtesy Keiyo County Council)

Child Labor and Water at Lake Naivasha

Delivering Water on the Naivasha Road

We are staying at Lake Naivasha, a large freshwater lake in the Rift Valley about 100km from Nairobi.  There is a huge industry here in flowers for export to Europe.  Huge flower greenhouses mark the flower farms in the area.  These farms use water from Lake Naivasha for irrigation.  There is also a large tourism industry, with several VERY expensive lodges.

Despite the proximity to a large freshwater lake, domestic water is an big issue here.  While running along the lake road, both Carey and I noticed large numbers of people filling jerricans with water.  People load the cans on bikes or donkeys to deliver to homes.

Last night I was reading the September 2010 edition of Naivasha News and I came across an article “Concern as Child Labor Hits Alarming Levels in Naivasha.” The article talked about the number of children 10 years old or younger working delivering water to houses.  A 20 liter delivered jerrican costs about 7 shillings, or about 10 cents.  A child can earn up to 400 shillings in a good day.  The article told the story of David Kimani, who dropped out of school in third grade when his mother lost her job.  Because David’s father is not around, David is the eldest male and therefore feels it is his responsibility to support the family for rent and food.  The water shortage in the area makes water delivery a lucrative business.

District Children officer Peter Kabuagi says that many children displaced in the post-election violence of 2008 have not returned to school.  They are working wherever they can.   Kabuagi says that there has been a sharp increase in the children who are involved in child labor.

Kabuagi also blames the flower farms for paying inadequate wages which do not allow men to provide for their families.  The number of people working in the farms struck me this morning.  I ran at 6AM and was surprised by the “rush hour” I found myself in.  Hundreds of flower farm workers were walking, bicycling, or being bussed to work.  By 7AM the streets were deserted again.

The child labor problem in Naivasha illustrates the complicated interplay of several causal factors: poverty, water shortage, post-election violence, and inadequate compensation for commodities for the first world.  This is another example where the people who are the worst affected are the poorest and youngest.

Athletics Kenya Meet at Kamariny

Womens' 5000m Final on Friday (There were no prelims)

Last weekend was the Athletics Kenya meet at Kamariny track.  It’s really something to have a world class meet at my local track.  Many of the top Kenyans were racing in the Diamond League meets in Europe, but this is Kenya, so there was plenty of talent on hand (world half marathon champion Wilson Kiprop, for example).  Most of the top people came through the ranks and raced this race in the past, so some of the people in this meet will likely be heard from internationally in the future.

The interesting thing about this meet for me was to see the range of speeds of the Kenyans.  When I am running behind them, the Kenyans all seem more or less equally incredible.  After all, they can all leave me behind on a run they call “moderate.”  But seeing them race and even lap each other showed how different they are.  I suppose it’s like seeing a bunch of superheroes battle it out.  Superman might win, but even Robin is amazing.

On the first day I arrived on Kenya time and didn’t see the whole meet.  We arrived during the men’s 1500 heats which were won in around 3:50.  Remember this is Kamariny, a slightly long dirt track at 8000ft altitude, so that would be in the mid-3:30s on a modern track at sea level.  But there was always a runner or two struggling in far behind the pack in 4:30-4:50.  The next event, the womens’ 5000m, really showed a spread.  Margaret Masai, little sister of world 5000m champion Linet Masai, won in 16:51.  She lapped about half the runners, most of whom had dropped out at this point.   The men’s 5000m preliminaries were similar, with winning times around 14:20 but there was always someone finishing way behind in about 16:40.  I hope I would have been duking it out with these guys if I’d raced.  Godfrey pointed out a runner who had run 13:01 in Europe; today he ran about 14:30.  (I told you this track is difficult!)  Even in the finals, which were won in about 14:07, one runner was almost lapped. 

So then I started thinking that I should have raced!  I would have been lapped in the 5k for sure, but I might not have been dead last… But I ran hard yesterday.  Registration was free and open to anyone.

Well, the other problem with racing is the quick pace.  All the mens’ 1500s went out in about 55 seconds.  Although the last place people (I kept track of them) in the 5000 finished averaging about 80 seconds per lap, they all started with about a 70 second lap.  I would have really stood out if I’d run an 80 second first lap!!

Men's 5000m Final on Saturday

There was a huge difference between the numbers of men and women participating.  There were 4 heats in the men’s 5000m, with about 140 total runners, but there was only one final of the women’s 5000m.  There were about 9 heats of the 1500m, but only about 3 for the women.  There just aren’t as many women running here.  A woman has a better chance of winning prize money because the field isn’t as strong.  But there are a lot of challenges facing women runners, including a lot of chores at home and a culture that hasn’t traditionally encouraged women athletes.  I hope there is more gender equity in athletics in the future; there is no TITLE IX in Kenya.

Many times world champion Vivian Cheruiyot being introduced to the crowd.  She wasn't racing.

There were many stars on hand who were not racing or retired.  Many times world champion Vivian Cheruiyot, 3000m world record holder Daniel Komen, and multiple time Boston Winner Ibraham Hussein were just three of the dignitaries introduced.  There are several people at this meet who, if they were American, would might be considered the "greatest American distance runner ever."  The young runners can see the great runners all around them.  They can see that they are human, and not even all that rare around here.  I think that makes it easy for the young runners to believe that they can become great runners as well.

The headline in Monday’s newspaper was “Juniors Prove Their Mettle at Kamariny Meet,” as several of the winners were about 20.  We’ll probably be hearing several of these names in the future.