Dr. Pearl Fernandes and Student Justin Reynolds travel to
Kenya
Dr. Pearl Fernandes was the co-recipient of an NSF-CCLI grant titled: Life Science in Context: Sub-Saharan Africa.” The grant aims to provide science students with integrative, interactive and international experiences in the sciences. Dr. Pearl Fernandes and student Justin Reynolds traveled to Kenya for three weeks as part of a team which included the principal investigator Dr. John Mecham, and his student Jill Palchinsky from Meredith College, NC. The team members all biologists, visited with faculty and students from the AIDS Control Unit, Clinical Sciences, Biochemistry, and Gender Studies Departments at Kenyatta and Egerton Universities in Kenya. One of the memorable experiences was the visit to Rachel’s orphanage in rural Kenya along with faculty and staff from Kenyatta University. The orphanage houses young children from 3-12 years of age, whose parents may have died of AIDS. The children however are not tested for HIV. Clinical health assessments were conducted by team members in makeshift clinics for HIV positive women, many of whom had walked for hours with their infant children in hopes of a free lunch and health care. The women and children were happy to see team members who provided candy and gifts, and the goodbyes exchanged were sad and poignant. The team also attended seminars, traveled to NGO’s, other orphanages, and clinics to explore issues of gender, society and culture through the lens of HIV/AIDS.
The trip also included some fun time visiting safari parks with its great plant and animal diversity, the open air Masai markets, the Ngong Hills to view the Rift Valley and anthropologist Louis Leakey’s house, and sampling exotic meats (camel, crocodile, ostrich). The international experience was wonderful and both Dr. Pearl Fernandes and Justin quote, “our bags are ready if we need to travel to Africa again”. The African experience has helped Justin obtain a job as a coordinator in a clinical research lab at the USC School of Medicine.
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