Back in the UK

It is certainly a shock to the system. I have been back for over 36 hours, but my body clock is still on Kenyan time (+2 hours). I have not experienced this before. After all, it is only 2 hours, but at 5.30 in the morning, that is a long time.

I am also having problems with the temperature here. Although it is hovering around the 18° to 20°C, I am finding it very cold and have to wear a jumper.

So I have concluded that I spent a little too long in Kenya, 36 days, and it is taking me time to adjust.

After all, the last 10 days I was in Kenya, I was at the coast, where the temperature was in the high 20s, albeit with torrential rain and a cool breeze of the ocean, rather pleasant really, apart from the mosquitoes and other little (and not so little) nasties that bite, sting, or just annoy.

But, lying on a sun bed, under the mango tree just outside the front door, looking at the blue sky and cotton wool clouds through the fronds of the coconut palms, being cooled by a breeze with the slight smell of the sea, I forget all the things I dislike about the coastal region for a while.

But, back here, I am cold, tired (having woken up at 5.30 again) and feeling a bit deflated. I am glad to be home and my system will get back into routine, but I think today is going to be another lazy one, the most exhausting thing I shall be doing is to watch the British Grand Prix.

Leap of Faith

I will not be ordering anti-malaria tablets for my next trip to Kenya in January. Apart from the fact that one month's supply costs almost £30, which is a big slice out of my meagre budget, they have horrible side-effects that I can do without.

No, I will be placing my well-being fairly on the shoulders of a solution for which there have been claims that it can prevent malaria, and if the user is unfortunate enough to contract the disease, on increasing the dose, will cure within a couple of hours.

This may be a dangerous action to take, but, I need to know if this stuff really works, and if I want to see the results first-hand, who better to test it on than me - not exactly scientific, but it's the best I can do.

If this stuff really works, then I will have in my possession a product that will flush the disease out of a body at the cost of a couple of pennies. Presently, treatment for malaria in Kenya costs Ksh 2,000, or about £17 ($25 US).

We intend to set up an education programme, aimed at schools. The idea is to show kids how the mosquito breeds in standing water, then show them where this standing water may be, in old discarded tyres, buckets, tin cans, puddles.

They will be encouraged to try and eradicate these breeding grounds, thereby offering fewer places for mosquitoes to breed.

We may also try a leaflet campaign in the town, as long as we can get support from the municipal council (we don't want to be accused of littering or fly-posting).