happy birthday to me: I'm HIV negative :)

Yesterday we got our first introduction to the City Harvest as interns. We met the rest of the staff and joined them for staff devotions, followed by coffee and chipoti...mmm.

Grace, the City Harvest Project Coordinator, took us out to visit two ministry sites. First we traveled to South B, one of Nairobi's slums. I've experienced slums before, on my previous trip, but it's still pretty crazy to walk through the narrow allies between the cardboard and tin shacks, stepping around the sewage ditch running through the middle of them, and watching tiny barefoot kids scurry around in all the filth.

We trekked through South B to visit the City Harvest School of Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy. The school opened several years ago to train women in skills that will help them get a good job in a pretty competitive field and give them futures outside of the slums. While we were there, several students were taking their final exams.

This is Naomi, one of the new teachers. She took me through one of the lesson books- and that stuff is pretty intense. It's straight up science- they learn all the bones in the hands and feet and face, all the chemistry involved in dyes and relaxers, and anatomy of skin and hair follicles. She offered to "enamel" my nails next week... and I may even get my hair braided... oh man that would be so cool...

We also hung out in the home Wycliff (City Harvest Music Director), who lives with Kevin and Alex. They live behind the beauty school. Alex explained that dating in Kenya is difficult, because girls are difficult to understand. They always say one thing and mean another. We assured him that this is not exclusive to Kenya... it's pretty much universal, ha.

From there we went to the second site, the VCT- Center for Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV/AIDS- and talked with staff members Sylvia (pictured below) and Abby about what they do there. There are VCTs all over Nairobi where people are encouraged to go and get tested (confidentially), and counseled about the virus and what to do if they test positive.

Abby explained that people don't want to get tested partly because they're afraid of finding out that they're positive, but also because they don't want people to judge them for even walking into a testing center. There is a stigma about HIV and AIDS that it is a moral disease- that if you have it you should be shunned as a sinful and dirty. The VCTs are working their best to wipe out this stigma through educating people.

I got a chance to go through the testing process with Abby. I went through all the pre-counciling where Abby explained how people contract it, how you can protect yourself, etc. She also asked how I would react if I found out I was positive- what I would feel like, who I would tell. She explained that most people don't want to tell anyone, but they don't realize that they need the support of their family and friends- especially someone to bring them to the doctor when they get sick or need medicine. If found positive, I would be referred to a doctor that could give me medicine, and be encouraged to go on and live my life: go to grad school, be a designer, hang out with friends...

So then my fingertip got pricked (and squeezed till it was tingly) and we waited about 15 minutes until one little red line showed up on the test strip. I was negative... phew.

Even though Abby had explained the whole thing before I went in for my test, I still felt a little of the nervousness as I sat down her and was forced to think about exactly what I would do if I was about to find out I had a terminal disease. And this disease affects thousands of people in Kenya.

People that do test positive are encouraged to join post-test support groups. City Harvest has about 10 of them that meet all over the city. They are also encouraged to continue counseling for practical and spiritual guidance.

Andrew, Edward's son, hung out with us all day today... he is very silly. He likes to make funny faces and play games on our cell phones.