This summer I conducted a 10-week, research internship with Population Council in Nairobi, Kenya. Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization that conducts research to improve well-being and reproductive health around the world. I specifically worked for the Poverty, Gender and Youth Program, which develops and evaluates programs related to empowerment, health, education, and livelihoods—to address the needs of poor women and youth.

The majority of my time was spent conducting an Impact Evaluation of the Berhane Hewan program in Ethiopia. The program was implemented in Amhara Region in 2004 in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Regional Youth Bureaus. The goal of the program was to reduce the rates of child marriage through the formation of girls clubs. These clubs provided married and unmarried adolescent girls with opportunities to enroll in formal education, gain social support, and receive reproductive health knowledge and skills. Cross-sectional surveys were conducted before (2004) and after program implementation (2006) in the experimental and control regions. For the evaluation, I cleaned the baseline and endline datasets and conducted descriptive and multivariate analysis to determine the differences in behaviors and attitudes that could be attributed to the program. I compiled a final report describing the sample characteristics, program exposure, and the impact of the program on education, marriage, social networks and reproductive health.

During my internship I also conducted an assessment of the Binti Pamoja program which is a reproductive health and women’s rights center for adolescent girls. The Center is located in Kibera, which is one of the largest slums in Eastern Africa. For this evaluation, I analyzed qualitative data collected through face-to-face interviews with adolescent girls who had either recent graduates or current participants in the program. The assessment highlighted general characteristics of participants, strengths of the program, and suggestions for further improvement.

Overall, I had a great internship experience that allowed me to learn more about the challenges involved in conducting research in Africa. I also gained practical experience in program development by participating in meetings with collaborators. Most importantly, I became more knowledgeable about issues facing adolescent girls in Africa and the need for programs aimed at improving their reproductive health and economic capacity.

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ORGANIZATION: Population Council, Horizons Program
LOCATION: Nairobi, Kenya
STUDENT:: Jennifer Brody
YEAR: Summer 2005

I completed a 10-week summer internship with the Population Council, Horizons Program in Nairobi, Kenya. The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research in reproductive health. The Horizons program is a team of US and internationally-based organizations that conduct applied research in the area of HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

Recently, alcohol use has been identified as an important risk factor for the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The issue, however, has been understudied in the region. In order to address the problem, the Horizons Program at the Nairobi, Kenya office received funding to conduct a 3-year study on the effects of alcohol and other substance use on utilization of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV (VCT) as well as on adherence to anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV in Kenya. Under the supervision of my preceptor Dr. Karusa Kiragu, I participated in the formative research activities for this study.

While at The Council, I had the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive literature review on the relationship between alcohol and other drug use on utilization of VCT as well as on adherence to HIV medications. With members of my research team, I assisted with informal interviews of VCT counselors at mobile and static VCT centers in and around the Nairobi area to evaluate which sites would be appropriate for inclusion in the study. I also drafted and participated in the pre-testing of a focus group discussion guide for use with drug and alcohol rehabilitation clients on issues related to substance use and VCT. In addition, I worked on drafting a focus group discussion guide exploring the effect of substance use on ARV adherence for use with individuals attending an ARV treatment center. Based on existing surveys, I developed a questionnaire exploring the effects of substance use on VCT utilization and ARV adherence. The purpose of the study was to identify the special service needs of alcohol and substance using clients when they present for VCT or ARV therapy. And, once those needs are identified, to design an intervention whereby providers are trained to screen clients for alcohol and drug use and provide appropriate, brief counseling and referrals to alcohol and substance using clients. My role in developing the intervention phase of the study was to identify validated alcohol and substance use screening tools, appropriate for use by Kenyan VCT counselors and ARV treatment providers to guide appropriate counseling and referral practices.

I also worked on a second Horizons study that explored Kenyan healthcare workers’ HIV/AIDS-related perceptions, attitudes, and prevention practices. For this project I received training in a qualitative data analysis software package and used it to analyze and summarize findings from 22 focus groups conducted with health care workers from 9 districts in Kenya.

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I was fortunate to have the opportunity to do my internship at Population Council in Nairobi, Kenya. I chose to do my internship abroad because I wanted to be exposed to conducting research in a developing country, as well as to understand some of the public health challenges faced.

Population Council is an international non-profit organization that conducts research in many areas of reproductive health. I worked with their Horizons program which focuses on HIV/AIDS. I spent most of my time analyzing data from a study being conducted in Zambia on health care workers. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS on health care workers, and to implement a worksite-based program to address problems identified. I also assisted in writing papers and preparing presentations on this study. The results of some of the analysis were presented at a two conferences: the 5th annual Kenya Association of Professional Counselors Conference (in Kenya) and the 11th Reproductive Health Priorities Conference (in South Africa).

To gain insights about doing fieldwork in Kenya, I visited two locations where the Horizons program has ongoing projects. The first project is in a slum area called Kibera. The aim of this study is to increase the use of services to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. I was amazed by the range of services some antenatal clinics were able to provide with very limited resources. The second project is a behavior communication change study that is assessing people's understanding of abstinence, being faithful and condom use as methods for preventing HIV transmission. I went to one of the control sites which is an elementary school in a small town called Molo. It was interesting to hear some of the challenges the fieldworkers had in getting children to participate in the study, since parental consent was required.

Overall, I enjoyed my internship and I learned a lot. I was able to apply the knowledge I had acquired in my classes. I have a greater understanding of the challenges involved in doing research in a developing country with limited resources. I am very grateful to the Bixby Foundation and Population Council for enabling me to have this experience.

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ORGANIZATION: Youth for Youth (Y4Y)
LOCATION: Kenya
STUDENT: Lidia Carlton
YEAR: Summer 2004

My primary project during my internship was to create a video for people who want to replicate the Y4Y program in their own regions of Kenya. While I was there I interviewed many of the program stakeholders and participants, videotaped different program activities, logged the footage, and conceptualized the video. Upon return to the States I edited the footage together to create the final video.

In addition, while in Kenya, I assisted the staff on various program functions. Specifically I helped with collection and analysis of data that is used to measure the youth-friendliness of health facilities. I also assisted with writing a proposal for funding, planning launches of peer provision of services, and various other daily activities that arose for the staff.

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ORGANIZATION: Deliver Project, John Snow, Inc. (JSI)
LOCATION: Kenya
STUDENT: Sarah N. Finocchario
YEAR: Summer 2002

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