I have come to Nairobi on my first trip with the RAISE Initiative. The main purpose of this trip is to acquaint myself with the RAISE training centre and the team in Eastleigh, Nairobi but also to visit the Marie Stopes Kenya centres, their staff and to learn more about the partners and the MSI ‘way’. It is also my first time in Nairobi, and as it turns out my first time to eat Ugali, after several failed attempts of stomaching Foofoo in West Africa.
After an overindulgent one hour sleep on the overnight plane and one hour power nap on arrival at the hotel (I think sleep is overrated anyway) I am collected by the lovely Carol and delivered to Eastleigh where my new colleagues await me. Dr Fred Akonde is the chief ‘meeter and greeter’ and after a brief briefing takes me on a tour of what I find to be a spectacular facility.
The RAISE Eastleigh Training Centre nestles comfortably on top of the Eastleigh Nursing Home, which offers Reproductive Health services of all natures to woman and men. The staff are upbeat and friendly (despite the droves of visitors they must have encountered before me) and I am encouraged to discover that many have worked for Marie Stopes Kenya for several years.
The RAISE Training Centre was set up to deliver high quality Reproductive Health training to providers working for partners of the RAISE Initiative.
In addition to the RAISE staff, I meet the participants of a Family Planning Training currently underway.
They have come from South Sudan and Uganda.
They have already spent 4 days on theoretical practice in the classroom and then spend 5 days working with clients, offering a range of long term contraceptive options, mainly implant and IUCD.
The Marie Stopes Kenya Centres are utilised for these practical sessions.
It is thanks to good collaboration with the highly skilled and experienced providers at these centres, plus the RAISE trainers that make the practical sessions fabulous learning experiences, equipping the participants with the practical skills they need to boost the reproductive health services in the contexts they work in.
One of the South Sudan doctors has come for the first time to RAISE training.
She says
“It is a very good training, I have gained lots of new information and great experience. I have also learnt the importance of counselling the client through the available options, something that is often missing. I am happy and confident to return home to help the women in my community.”
It is very encouraging to see the high levels of energy and motivation of the participants and to also hear from the trainers of how far they have developed in such a relatively short time. After returning to their own settings their progress will be followed up with an onsite visit from a RAISE trainer in 6-12 weeks. The participants clearly also gain from their interactions with each other, learning about provision of healthcare in other countries and regions not to mention the cultural exchange that takes place.
The course ends today and the participants will start to head home tomorrow. I will remain in Nairobi to do some work with the team here and explore the Marie Stopes Kenya programme a little more. Then, for the last day, I'll come back to spend a bit more time with the RAISE team (Fred, Pamela and Lilian) planning for the next couple of months.
I thought that Nairobi would still be high with ‘Obama fever’ but the temperature seems to have dropped on that story for the moment. Domestic politics and the soaring price of maize are more pressing for now.