Jasmine Ferrarer: Week 8 at Drop Access in Kenya

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. From July 15^th – 22nd, I continued to design the VacciBox 2.0 walls, helped to install 2 VacciBox units at local hospitals, and attended fun weekend activities with my Drop Access coworker, Melanie. I’m making slow and steady progress on the design of 4 VacciBox walls. I finished adding the gasket indent to all 4 walls of the refrigerator, then I sent screenshots of the parts to the Drop Access CTO, James Mulatya, in order to receive feedback on any issues with the components. James said my design of the gasket indent was good because it requires minimal welding to assemble and may help to maintain the internal refrigerator temperature within the range of 2°C – 8°C for several hours. However, he mentioned I need to change the shape and orientation of 3 holes in the back wall of the refrigerator in order to accommodate for the new power switch and refrigerator charging port. Adding the new holes isn’t difficult, but it requires some planning to ensure the holes have the proper tolerances and align with the internal electrical components of the refrigerator.  As I wrap up the last few days of CAD modifications, I began to convert the SolidWorks files into DXF files that our contractors will use to cut the outline of each wall on a sheet of metal. I also need to create bend line diagrams so the contractors understand how to bend each component of the wall at the correct angle. Last week, I made an outline for my end-of-internship presentation. I spoke to the Drop Access CEO, Norah Magero, and she agreed the morning of August 1^st would be a good day for me to present. I will spend 15 minutes delivering my presentation and 15 minutes answering questions from the audience. I will deliver my presentation in person at the Drop Access warehouse in Nairobi and online via Google Meet. I plan to review a rough draft of my presentation with my tech lead several days before my presentation date. After the presentation is over, all Drop Access employees have been invited to a team lunch at a restaurant called Greenspot Gardens in Ruiru. These final 2 weeks will be very busy, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to show my coworkers what I have accomplished during my internship and have an afternoon of good food, fun games, and great company at the restaurant.

My 8^th week in Kenya was exhausting, exciting, and busy primarily because we installed 2 VacciBox units at local hospitals on Monday and Tuesday. During each installation day, I left my apartment at 5:30am, armed with my backpack, laptop, protective equipment, and a packed lunch. I didn’t return to my apartment until 8:30pm each night. Each installation day required 15 hours of effort because my apartment in Nairobi is a 1.5 hour drive from the Drop Access warehouse, the Makueni County Hospital we visited on Monday is a 3 hour drive from the Drop Access warehouse, and it takes at least 4 hours to install a VacciBox unit at a hospital.  The Mashuuru Level 4 Hospital we visited on Tuesday is also a 3 hour drive from the Drop Access warehouse. A VacciBox vaccine refrigerator has a battery that can be recharged when connected to a solar panel or wall socket. On both days, the VacciBox installation process involved asking the hospital administrators which building they wanted the refrigerator to be installed in, unloading the VacciBox and solar panel equipment from our van, setting up a ladder to reach the roof above the refrigerator room, installing a solar panel on the roof, drilling holes in the roof and ceiling above the refrigerator, feeding wires and protective pipes through the holes, connecting the solar panel wires to the refrigerator, and showing the hospital administrators how to do basic maintenance for their VacciBox and connect the refrigerator to the Drop Access online monitoring platform. During that installation process, I helped to fetch power tools and hardware for the coworkers who installed the solar panel, determined the best location in ceiling to drill holes, cut pipes to fit through the holes, pulled electrical wires through pipes, and took pictures of the entire installation process. I posted the pictures in our Drop Access WhatsApp chat so the other employees could see what we accomplished each day.

We encountered several challenges during the installation days. For example, the Makueni County Hospital had a lot of broken medical equipment in the same room we installed the VacciBox refrigerator. We took additional time to teach the hospital technicians how to operate and maintain the VacciBox so our company’s refrigerator would not join the graveyard of broken and abandoned medical equipment. Furthermore, the door for the Mashuuru Hospital’s pit latrine bathroom stall got stuck, trapping me inside. Luckily, a nearby nurse helped me to dislodge the door. Unlike hospitals in the United States, several Level 1 through Level 5 hospitals in Kenya have Squat toilets or pit latrines instead of Western toilets. A Squat toilet and pit latrine both contain a hole in the bathroom floor and do not include a toilet seat. Once I learned to properly squat over the hole, flush a Squat toilet, and bring my own toilet paper to the bathroom, using the hospital restrooms wasn’t so bad. We also faced a safety challenge on Tuesday when my coworker, Vincent, partially fell through the ceiling above the VacciBox. There was water damage in the ceiling above the refrigerator, so a large chunk of the ceiling panel collapsed under his weight while he was installing electrical equipment in the attic. Luckily, Vincent caught himself before falling all the way through the ceiling and no one was hurt. This was a lesson to all of us that the integrity of the roof and ceiling must be carefully inspected to ensure no one will fall or be injured during the VacciBox installation process. Because the Mashuuru Hospital was located in a remote area of Kenya with a large Maasai population, I encountered several patients who spoke Swahili, not English. The hospital staff members were bilingual, so they were able to speak to me in English and translate for any non-English speakers I needed to talk to. Finally, the road leading to the Mashuuru Hospital was riddled with massive pot holes, meandering chickens, goats, and cows, and traffic police. In spite of these challenges, being out in the field with the Drop Access production team was a memorable experience that illustrated the positive impact the vaccine refrigerators have on hospitals in Kenya.

Last weekend, I spent a fun Saturday and Sunday with my fellow Drop Access intern, Melanie. She invited me to her birthday picnic celebration at Serene Gardens in Ruiru. The garden has a dock that overlooks a serene lake, many colorful flowers, numerous tents for picnic guests, and an open field perfect for party games. Melanie told all the picnic guests to wear pink so we would be coordinated, cute, and colorful for group pictures. We ate pizza, cookies, chips, fruit juice, wine, bananas, ice cream, and a black forest birthday cake. My stomach felt like it was going to burst after eating all that food, but the sun was shining and a leisurely stroll around the garden helped my stomach pains to subside. On Sunday, I joined Melanie for a church service. Melanie and her family attend the New Life Covenant Church in Ruiru. That Pentecostal church was full of passionate people, enthusiastic pastors, large families, joyous song, and church goers surprised by the sight of a mysterious American. Melanie introduced me to her father, church elders, the kind hearted bishop and his wife, as well as the rest of the church congregation. The majority of the 3 hour Sunday service was delivered in Swahili, but they made an effort to say some announcements in English to accommodate for my limited understanding of Swahili. Melanie also introduced me to several of her friends in the church community and explained how she has contributed to the church over the years. That church was much more boisterous and spirited than the Presbyterian and non-denominational Christian churches I attended in the United States, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to see how people in Kenya practice their faith. Each week in Kenya has been busier and more adventurous than the last. I’m exited to see what challenges, fun experiences, and opportunities I will encounter during my final 2 weeks in Kenya. Be sure to read my final international internship blog post on August 10^th and thanks for coming along with me for the ride! Swahili: Kwaheri na uwe na siku njema. English translation: Goodbye and have a nice day.