Global warming

My son! No planting till the rains fall”. This was the response from my mother when I reminded her “planting season is approaching”. Gone are the days when we could predict seasons, she said! And I remembered, in 1968 the Apollo 8 astronauts orbited the earth’s moon, and safely returned to earth. But while in space they took a photo of the earth, and the image was breathtaking; a glowing marble of blue oceans, and green forests, brown mountains brushed with white clouds, rising over the surface of the moon. But today this glory is no more because of the phenomenon that we have all come know – GLOBAL warming. Today I will share with you facts of global warming, the destructive nature of global warming, and the remedy to global warming.

1.      Global warming is real

Think of your parked car, in the middle of the sweltering heat of the afternoon. On opening the door, currents of hot air blow against you forcing you to quickly turn on the air conditioning system. This is a small, yet effective example of a process called the GREENHOUSE EFFECT. This effect involves a certain body of matter, be it a car, a green house or the earth itself, absorbing heat from another body, in our case – the sun. So back to your car, the glass enables the absorption of the heat, and traps the heat inside. Similarly, the earth's atmosphere contains GREENHOUSE GASES such as Carbon Dioxide, Ozone and Methane which absorb the radiations we receive from the sun, and trap the heat from it inside.  These gases also prevent the heat on the earth’s surface from going away. The more the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the more the heat gets trapped, and the more the temperature rises on the Earth and the oceans. This is GLOBAL WARMING.

2.         Global warming destroys life and livelihood

Increased evaporation of water, increase the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, hence increasing greenhouse gases. Looking at the damages of Hurricane Katrina of New Orleans, in 2005, and Hurricane Sunday in 2012 – the results are DEVASTATING, DEVASTATING, DEVASTATING. An estimated 1,836 people died in the hurricane and the floods, total property damage from Katrina was estimated at $81 billion. Scientists predict global temperatures to go up about 1.4 – 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100; Back home Mt. Kenya has lost over 92% of its ice in the last one century. And very soon we will have a continent without glaciers. These are some of the consequences of global warming.

3.         Global warming has a remedy

One way is by cutting down on the greenhouse gas emissions. The CO₂ being produced by factories and by burning of fossil fuels is more than the carbon dioxide being used up by plants. Plant more trees, reduce deforestation, and use alternatives sources of energy instead of fossil fuels, say no to plastic bags because they are not biodegradable. I urge all of you to educate your classmates, your colleagues, your parents, your friends, your sons and daughters. Tell them what’s at stake. Speak up at town halls, speak up in church groups, and speak up in PTA meetings. Broaden the circle of those who are willing to stand up and save the universe. Global warming is real, the effects of global warming are with us and there is a remedy to global warming, I hope my mother will one day plant before the rains fall, because she will rest assured that the rains will fall not whenever they shall but rather when they should.

(Content disclaimer: some content  borrowed from relevant sources)

When my daughter turned yellow

On landing at Jomo Kenyatta Interantional airport from Khartoum I was so excited that my unborn daughter had waited for me to be back. After two days I took my wife to hospital and Nina was born, at midnight 1st December 2013. She looked as fit as a fiddle despite one factor, my daughter had turned yellow on her skin and eyes. A condition known as Jaundice. Tonight I want to share with you: the causes of jaundice in newborns, the effects of jaundice and management of jaundice in children

1.                  Causes of Jaundice

According to “The Nemours Foundation” a non-profit organizations devoted to children’s health, bilirubin is a waste product of used red blood cells and it causes the yellow color of jaundice. It gives urine its light yellow colour and stools their dark brown colour. That’s why stool is always brown even after eating when ugali. Before birth, the mother's liver removes bilirubin from the baby's blood. But after birth the baby’s liver should do this on its own. However, the newborn’s liver is often immature and can't remove bilirubin quickly enough, resulting to its accumulation and a yellow pigmentation on the skin and eyes, and that is Jaundice.

The laboratory results indicated that Nina’s bilirubin levels escalated took a turn for the worse –to a staggering 340mmol/l a 30% deviation from the norm. According to Hansen et al., a professor in the department of newborns in Oslo University hospital Norway increased billirubin is prevalent among people of East Asia, American Indians, and Greeks but can be prevalent in other regions too and I guess I belong to other regions

2.                  Effects of Jaundice

According to the website of Mayo Clinic, a non-profit medical research group in Rochesta, Minnesota, bilirubin is toxic to cells of the brain. In severe jaundice, bilirubin may pass into the brain, a condition called acute bilirubin encephalopathy. If acute bilirubin encephalopathy causes permanent damage to the brain, Kernicterus is the syndrome that occurs. Kernicterus may result in many complications, among them: cerebral palsy, permanent upward gaze, hearing loss and intellectual impairment. Coming from a paramedical background, my wife and I were well aware of this threat and hoped against hope that our daughter shall break loose from this quandary. According to Bhutani et al., in his pediatric research, there are 250 cases of kanicterus in 1 million births in Africa. We refused to be part of this statistics and believed there was light beyond the tunnel

3.                   Management of Jaundice

Jaundice can be treated by exposing the baby to sunlight if the levels are not severe. Phototherapy can also be done where the baby is placed under special lighting that emits blue-green light of the light spectrum. In some cases the baby may need an exchange transfusion of blood. Which involves withdrawing small amounts of blood, diluting the bilirubin, and transferring blood back into the baby — this is an intensive care procedure

In our case the pediatrician dint gamble with life and recommended a double phototherapy treatment. The medical team was full of vim and vigour to safe Nina's threatened life. To all prospective parents reading this blog, always be vigilant in your future births now that you know the causes of jaundice in newborns, the complications of neonatal jaundice, and the management of jaundice. I left work and camped at the hospital ward to give moral support to my wife, and after 11 protracted days Nina was given a clean bill of health we happily went home to recharge our batteries and see Nina grow.

The Pilgrimage to Ulm

T

Our flight from JKIA to Doha Qatar was faultless. Alighting at Doha past midnight, we were smacked by scotching temperatures of 40⁰C. Our mouths swallowed the hot air in silent pain. Being on transit to Frankfurt Germany meant that our stay at Doha was short-lived. We got to Frankfurt in the early hours of the morning. The electric train to Munich was swift and fast and by midday we breathed the cool breeze of Ulm. Ulm is situated between Stuttgart and Munich. Ulm occupies a central position in southern Germany. Documentaries about Ulm date back to the year 845. Ulm is also the birth place of Albert Einstein. I wish to share with you the three things I experienced during my trip to Europe

1.                  The Ulm Minster or the Ulm Cathedral

The Ulm Minster is one of the most attractive and biggest churches of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture in Germany. The Ulm minster was built as parish church financed by both municipal funds and donations of less than 10,000 Ulmites. On June 30^th 1377, three hours after sunrise, the then mayor of Ulm Lutz Krafft laid the foundation stone of Ulm Cathedral. Today with its 124 m length, 161.5 m height it makes the highest church steeple in the world. The people of Ulm pride in the Ulm minster, which is the center of attraction to hundred of thousands of tourists every year. The Ulm Cathedral has stood for over 600 years and from the look of things its has not covered half of its shelf life

2.                  The Ulmites festivals: The Oath Monday and the serenade of lights

The oath Monday is celebrated annually on the last but one Monday of the Month of July. Celebrations begin with the Serenade of Lights on the river Danube. The Danube is the second longest river in Europe originating from the Black Forest and emptying into the Black Sea covering 2, 872 km. Once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, the river passes through ten countries: Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Ukraine, and Moldova. On the Saturday before Oath Monday, young men in boats race many kilometers upstream river Danube, let down candles and lanterns to flow downstream the river, making it the river of lights. Fire masters and pyrotechnic experts perform firework display from river Danube, resulting to a river covered by a romantic scene of flowing lighting candles and a heaven covered by fireworks of assorted colors. So romantic is the scene that I guess proposals are made and broken marriages re-united. After the celebration people join in feasting along river Danube under the shadow of temporarily riverside lighting. They enjoy all manner of foods and drinks, boys dance to music tunes from the stalls alongside their temporary girlfriends, men cuddle their wives with warmth, young mothers nurse their babies in the open and life in a sudden seems a glorious spectacle. On the Oath Monday the Ulmites gather for an important celebration marked by an address by the incumbent mayor of Ulm vowing to protect the city of Ulm and its inhabitants. He then awards the annual outstanding Citizens Award and the Science Award of Ulm.

3.                  The Castles of Europe

Germany, like other European nations has a rich history of Castles built by ancient Kings in show of their might, wealth, and strategy for battle. Some castles date back to the 7^th Century and portray great architectural work of the ancient Europe. We visited the Castle of Hohenzollern built in the 11^th Century. Despite having been destroyed almost thrice it still stands firm and is a major tourist attraction in the southern part of Germany and is visited by over 300,000 people every year making it one of the most popular castles in Germany.

Dear Toastmasters and guests; I wish to urge you that every time you visit a new place, write down your story and tell it to the toastmasters. In my case what are the things I can write home about my visit to Europe?

1.         The Ulm Minster or the Ulm Cathedral – the church with the tallest steeple in the world

2.      The festivities of the Ulmites – which include the serenade of lights on river Danube and the Oath    Monday

3.      The Castles of Europe and in particular the Hohenzollern castle standing at the top of mount Hohenzollern 855 m above sea level

I wish you a nice picnic to Europe during your next pilgrimage and remember to visit the city of Ulm and see the wonders of Europe.

Diarrhea; the potential killer for travelers

Food poisoning can cause diarrhea and diarrhea kills. It is more serious when it occurs to people on transit hence the name traveler’s diarrhea. To me a couple of years ago, every journey was an epic story and the question of food poisoning never lingered my mind. However this is not so when you are away from home; your choices are limited and at times you eat what comes your way. Tonight I will share with you three points to remember about food, and more so when away from home

Ten years ago we embarked on a mission together with 63 of my colleagues while in college, to reach out to the communities in Northern Kenya. We centralized our base for community activities at Laisamis Secondary school in Marsabit district. One evening we cooked rice and camel meat for supper. The meal was so mouth-watering that i told myself whatever remained would be my lunch for the next day. The following day 7 of my colleagues and I decided to take the previous nights food instead of the Githeri that had been prepared lunch. Little did we know that the leftover mixture of rice and camel meat had turned poisonous overnight, thanks to the high temperatures which propagate bacteria growth and spoil food even in the cover of darkness. After lunch we had a free afternoon so we tried some volleyball game; it is in the volley pitch that tragedy struck. Our referee left his stool and sat down in a slow motion style and that marked the end of the game. He had caught real time diarrhea

The fastest means to ferry him to hospital was by use of a wheelbarrow. He was bundled into the one legged container and as we pushed him to hospital I felt an urge to vomit. At some point i thought I had vomited out the organs of my digestive system. Our physically energetic team leader carried me on his back and we were all rushed to Laisimis mission hospital located on a slope a kilometer away from the school. Upon reaching the hospital the nurses rushed us into the ward full of canvas beds; each bed had a conspicuous hole at the middle and a large plastic bucket underneath.  I later learnt that these types of beds are commonly known as “Cholera beds”. We were meant to relieve ourselves from the comfort of our beds as we writhed in excruciating pain emanating from our stomachs. No sooner had we been laid to the bed than our colleagues who brought us to hospital went down one after the other with loud cries of “my stomach! my stomach”! – Our saviors turned victims of the tragedy of the deadly leftover meal of rice and camel meat.  They joined us in our canvas beds with a big hole and a bucket underneath! That became our home for the next two days. We were at the brick of death were it not for the quick response of the nurses who rehydrated us with drips and drips of fluids and electrolytes. Even being airlifted to Isiolo district hospital could not have saved us, besides the fact that we dint have even a light aircraft, all that we had was a wheelbarrow. I guess the following day’s papers could have read “students die of diarrhea while on a mission in Northern Kenya”.

Food poisoning is a serious threat to travelers; eating snacks prepared on the roadside, as we see on bus stops in Nairobi, and buying roasted maize from peddlers who by all standards do not qualify to handle food can cause travelers diarrhea.  It is certain that you would curse the day traveler’s diarrhea would get hold of you while on the crazy Nairobi traffic and am certain some of us have a story to tell.

1. If you don’t preserve food it can turn poisonous and you may end up catching real time diarrhea whose repercussions are detrimental to health
2. Incase you get diarrhea get to the nearest hospital in whichever means available. If you will use an aircraft, or a lorry, a wheelbarrow or be carried on someone’s back just ensure you get to the hospital. You better find yourself writhing in pain in a canvas bed with a hole in the middle and a bucket underneath rather that die of dehydration occasioned by diarrhea and vomiting
3. Develop discipline on the choices of food you eat. Avoid buying snacks on the roadside and eating foods in unhygienic places!

Here is a solemn call “when on a journey do not be ignorant of the foods you eat especially now that you know bad food can cause diarrhea, and diarrhea kills”!