The BIG BANG in Ngong!
Yesterday was the day of the much heralded Mashavu ‘Big Bang’ Demonstration. Numerous representatives from governments, investors, corporations and NGOs had been invited to a remote site about an hour southwest of Nairobi to see Mashavu in action for the first time; the hope being that one of these entities might take the Mashavu dream and run with it, commercializing and implementing the telemedicine system on a large scale.
As we’re all aware, the Big Bang was the purported start of the universe, a colossal explosion from which all planets, stars, and solar systems sprang and from which they have been racing outward ever since. We hope that, in the wake of our Big Bang, Mashavu might expand just as quickly.
The day before the demonstration, the Mashavu team had split in two, one group traveling to Ngong for preliminary setup, the other traveling to Nairobi for a series of meetings. It was held in Olosho Oibor. The location of this demonstration, at the foot of the Ngong Hills in Masai country, was chosen for several reasons. Firstly, it is the site of a UNIDO energy kiosk a local clinic (UNIDO is one of our partners). This clinic administers to a number of communities, some as many as 12 kilometers away and on the opposite side of the Ngong Hills, the peaks of which, the locals informed us, were about a day’s travel distant. At a school in one of these far off communities, separated from the clinic by the gorgeous yet seemingly impassable slopes of these same “hills,” a group of students from the initial team had established a kiosk to transmit patient data back to the clinic on the other side where Dr. Musimyi, the local doctor and our collaborator, could respond with his recommendations. In this manner we hoped to demonstrate how Mashavu could save patients the time and money spent to reach a doctor by connecting them virtually.
At the clinic, the first Mashavu team had set up an additional kiosk to demonstrate the biomedical devices and software. These devices had been created by a team of Penn State bioengineers to be significantly cheaper than those currently on the market. Typical biomedical devices exist independent of one another, each processing and displaying data individually. With the Mashavu system, all processing is done by the computer and displayed on screen. By eliminating these processes from each device, Mashavu has dropped the prices of these devices dramatically.
By the time the second team arrived at the clinic on the day of the demonstration, a small crowd had gathered beneath the large Mashavu banner strung beneath the buildings awning. In addition to those waiting for the Mashavu demonstration, a dozen or so Masai women, many bedecked in their traditional red shawls and brightly beaded bracelets and necklaces, idled outside waiting for a weekly clinic hosted there.
The clinic was a single story, L-shaped structure. The demonstration kiosk was located approximately in the middle, surrounded by a team of bioengineers preparing their devices and linking them to the computer. Many of the visitors wore suits. The Penn State team appeared in matching green t-shirts with the Mashavu name and logo.
Members of the Mashavu public relations team presented the system to those visitors who arrived prior to the beginning of the demonstration and answered any questions. Such representatives included and Alexander Varghese and Patrick Kimathi from UNIDO.
By about 10:30am everyone had arrived and the UNIDO representative, Alexander Varghese, gathered everyone around. By this point all the representatives present. Mr. Varghese welcomed them and outlined the morning’s agenda before introducing Khanjan. Khanjan then provided a brief explanation of the Mashavu system and was followed by Simon, the local manager of the UNIDO power kiosk.
Following this series of introductions, welcomes, thank-you’s, and the presentation of the Mashavu system and dream, the crowd proceeded over to the demonstration. Here four Penn State students and Khanjan provided further explanation about the goals of Mashavu and how the system could achieve them. They first demonstrated the blood pressure cuff which performed admirably although it had to be done twice because one of our CYEC student partners who had been working with us for the past three weeks removed the cuff mid-demonstration. The thermometer followed and performed equally well. These demonstrations were punctuated by further explanations of the devices and system. The students then moved on to the pulse oximeter which, despite having given precise readings all morning, failed to give a proper measurement in its most public trial. However, this device’s rugged design and average percent error of less than 1% more than adequately speak to its robust design.
Khanjan and the students responded to questions throughout the demonstration and afterwards. Those gathered were curious as to the system’s power requirements, diagnostic capabilities, and additional applications among other things. Once these questions had been answered, Mr. Varghese directed everyone out of the clinic and over to the UNIDO power station. However, many representatives lingered to see more of Mashavu. CJ Jones, a representative of GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition) and Stefan Engles, the manager of private sector development for UNDP (United Nationa Development Program) were also present. Additional questions were answered and people watched as patient data arrived from distant kiosk and doctor responses flowed back.
Gradually the crowd made their way over to the power station and only some students and Masai mothers and children remained. Soon after however, a number of community members arrived and over the next several hours our kiosk operators demonstrated kiosk to each and every new group of arrivals.
Many members of the Mashavu team followed over to the power station and following the presentation there continued to discuss the Mashavu project with the representatives gathered there. (who and what discussed here). Samosas and water were served and within a couple hours of its start, the demonstration was largely over. Both kiosks continued to operate for several more hours but the ‘big bang’ had largely finished its presentation to the group that was present.
The Olosho Oibor village was home of the Masai tribe, known for its warriors. The Masai men traditionally must kill a lion (or other dangerous and scary animal) before becoming a man (some also apparently drink blood!). Some of the students had a chance to interact with the Masai people, and even met with a man who had already killed a lion. Since he had already completed his first rite of passage into the tribe, his task now was to find a wife to marry. Fortunately, Julie was “single and ready to mingle,” and was introduced to the man. However, the plans were made in haste and could not be carried out before the Mashavu team had to leave in the afternoon.
The students that were not part of the failed engagement ceremony were able to look at some homemade jewelry that was being sold by some of the Masai people. Beaded bracelets, necklaces, keychains and even a belt were sold at slightly unreasonable prices. Although Shengnan tried to bargain with the entrepreneurs, they did not budge much. The jewelry was good quality and many people walked away as happy customers.
Around 3pm, the students at the school clinic returned to the UNIDO demonstration. Everyone packed up and said their goodbyes to their new friends and business acquaintances. Some students got into a matatu, while the rest of the students climbed back onto the Safari vehicle. The matatu included Dr. Butler, Khanjan, Roma, Rachel and Steve. They had dinner at a restaurant with better vegetarian options along with some interested potential customers of Mashavu.
The rest of the group traveled to Carnivore restaurant, where they dined on a unlimited supply of pork, ribs, chicken, leg of lamb, turkey, beef, chicken gizzards, liver, crocodile and ostrich meatballs. Some also tried Carnivore’s “world famous Dawa,” an alcoholic mixed drink made with vodka, lime, sugar, honey and stirred with a bamboo stick. The students sat at two tables, which were almost divided completely into males and females. The CYEC student champions were also present, and seemed to have a great time and fun experience at the restaurant. After having their fill, the “boys” table surrendered with their Carnivore white flag. Bello won the eating contest as well as a Smirnoff Ice, while Jeff sulked in defeat. Fortunately, no hard feelings were rendered, and the students piled back onto the Safari bus, with their stomachs full and their hearts content.
The bus ride back to Nyeri and Ivory Resort, the students’ now accepted home, took about 4 hours in the pouring rain. This was the first time that the CYEC students had a chance to go into the big city of Nairobi. They seemed to have a great experience in the city, and this showed as they all sang some Swahili songs on the ride back. Some of the Penn State students grabbed wine bottles at Nakumatt and celebrated the last Mashavu clinic for the trip in Kenya. It was a bittersweet car ride, especially after saying goodbye to Brianna, the mother hen.
The safari bus returned to Ivory Resort shortly after 1am. Everyone went to bed exhausted, while nurse Mary and the CYEC students rode back to CYEC. It was a long but successful day.
