Friday Newsletter

Dear Centre Leaders,
Greetings from the INDEPTH Secretariat. We hope you have had a good week.

We have three items for your attention this week:

1. Policy Engagement and Research Communications Specialist
INDEPTH Network is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Policy Engagement and Research Communications Specialist to head the Policy Engagement and Communications Section of the Secretariat in Accra.

Click for details (Policy Engagement and Research Communications Specialist )

2. INDEPTH Small Grants Programme
Don’t miss this opportunity to apply for small grants from INDEPTH. The overall goal of this INDEPTH Small Grants programme is to support research and research capacity strengthening among INDEPTH member centres in low- and middle-income countries. We fund collaborative projects among three or more INDEPTH member centres.

Please see attached for details.

3. Meet our graduates from the INDEPTH-funded MSc Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
This series of short profiles is to introduce the more than 30 HDSS scientists who have been funded by INDEPTH to pursue the MSc in Population-based Field Epidemiology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Scholarships for this programme have been graciously provided by Sida, Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation. .

More information on the INDEPTH Scientific Development and Leadership Programme can be obtained by clicking on the following link: Leadership Programme.

Today, we feature Kanyiva Muindi of Nairobi Urban HDSS, Kenya.

Full name: Kanyiva Muindi
Position before the programme: Field Supervisor, Nairobi Urban HDSS, Nairobi.
Current Position : Research Officer, Nairobi Urban HDSS, Nairobi.
Student years at Wits University: 2005 - 2006
Host HDSS centre for the field attachment: Navrongo HDSS, Ghana

“The programme was and still remains great! When I consider the skills I had before joining the programme and those that I left with, the transition was amazing” says Kanyiva.

According to her, she initially had very rudimentary analytical skills both for qualitative and quantitative data but by the time she left for the field attachment, she had gained skills that saw her through analysing data on her own and writing up the thesis.

“These analytical skills have been applied in my work as I have been involved in cleaning and analysing data for publications” she said.

Kanyiva said the skills she gained in project management have been central to her work at the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) where she has had to apply these over and over as she oversees diverse projects including both local (HDSS based) and national.

“The writing skills I developed during the programme have remained relevant and can be attested by the papers for publication I continue to be involved in at APHRC” she added.

Beyond the skills gained or strengthened through the training, Kanyiva said the students were challenged to go back to their home countries and identify epidemiological issues which needed their leadership.

“To this end I am pursuing doctoral training with emphasis on air pollution, an issue largely missing in policy and other debates in Kenya and perhaps the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region. I wish to be a leader in advocating clean air policies in my country and in Sub-Saharan Africa so that all people can enjoy healthy and productive lives - after all we all must breathe the air around us, whether polluted or not- and our inaction just makes the future gloomy for millions” she said.

“I would like to express my gratitude to those who contributed to developing me into the person I am today- from the people who envisioned this programme, the donors who made it possible for me and many others to go through the training, and the many wonderful individuals who mentored and continue mentoring me in this exciting research journey. May God bless you!” Kanyiva said.

Kanyiva's research topic was "Adolescent sexual behaviour in Navrongo: Does family count?"

Thank you.

Have a restful weekend!

Becky Kwei