DATA COLLECTION OF SNAKEBITES IN SAMBURU COUNTY.
KENYA SNAKEBITE RESEARCH AND INTERVENTION CENTRE.
REPORT BY THE PROJECT SUPERVISOR: MONICAH SMITH.
DATA COLLECTION PERIOD: BETWEEN 2ND DECEMBER 2019 TO MARCH 6TH 2020.
INTRODUCTION.
The data collection was clustered into 36 clusters across Samburu County with a threshold of 900 households mapped for data collection. Submitted and collected data standing at 890 households. Due to the nature of Samburu people migrating for pasture, water, ceremonies, e.g., circumcision and insecurity, we could not collect data in the remaining households.
CLUSTERS.
The 36 clusters each had 25 households, and the clusters were distributed across different regions in the county, namely:
- East
- Central
- North
Northern region
Eastern Region
Central Region
Grid
Town
Grid
Town
Grid
Town
18
Masikita
1
Kom
28
Maralal town
16
Lesirikan
2
Losesia
35
Loosuk
27
Tuum
3
Koya
34
Poro
29
Nachola
4
Serolipi
32
Morijo
17
Masikita
5
Koya
21
Barsaloi
15
Masikita
6
Serolipi
26
Siambu
19
Masikita
7
Ngari Narok
20
Ngilai
8
Lenkusaka
22
Masikita
9
Ngilai
23
Masikita
10
Nkaroni
24
South Horr
11
Ngilai
25
Nachola
12
Latakweny
26
Losurukoi
13
Swari
29
Nachola
14
Swari
30
Lonyangaten
31
Tuum
DATA COLLECTED AS INDICATED BELOW
GRID GRID
DATE VISITED
SAMPLED HOUSEHOLDS
UNSAMPLED HOUSEHOLDS
OVERSAMPLED HOUSEHOLDS
CHALLENGES
REMEDY
1
27/2/2020
26
0
1
Relocations
Replaced 10km from the original cluster
2
4/3/2020
25
0
0
Relocations towards British army
Replaced 5km from the initial cluster
3
27/2/2020
25
0
0
Relocations
Oversampled from grid 6
4
3/3/2020
25
0
0
Relocations
Oversampled from grid 1
5
2/3/2020
25
0
0
Relocations
Oversampled from grid 7
6
3/3/2020
25
0
0
Relocations
Interviewed 1km from the initial cluster
7
2/3/2020
24
1
0
Tribal differences
Replaced 5km from the original cluster
8
9/1/2020
25
0
0
Null
Null
9
10/1/2020
25
0
0
Null
Null
10
8/1/2020
25
0
0
Respondents not home
Oversampled from another grid
11
10/1/2020
24
1
0
Null
Null
12
10/12/2019
34
0
9
Tribal differences
Used community health volunteers and translators
13
19/2/2020
25
0
0
Poor roads
Accessed through river beds
14
16/12/2019
25
0
0
Null
Null
15
22/2/2020
25
0
0
Deserted and inaccessibility
Replaced 5km from the original cluster
16
11/12/2019
24
1
0
One household member refused to be interviewed
Respected his choice and oversampled from another grid
17
18/2/2020
15
10
0
Inaccessibility
Replaced 5km from the initial cluster and accessed the grid through dry river beds
18
9/12/2019
24
1
0
Migration
Replaced with another grid
19
26/2/2020
26
0
0
War zone
Replaced 5km from the original cluster
20
23/2/2020
31
0
6
War zone
Replaced 5km from the original cluster
21
5/12/2019
24
1
0
Respondent not home
Oversampled from another grid
22
27/2/2020
25
0
0
Relocations
Oversampled from another grid
23
27/2/2020
16
9
0
Relocations
Oversampled from another grid
24
24/2/2020
25
0
0
Relocations to Marsabit county due to green energy
Replaced the grid
25
13/2/2020
25
0
0
Tribal differences
Used community health volunteers and translators
26
20/2/2020
28
0
3
Language barrier and tribal differences
Used translators and health community volunteers
27
12/12/2019
25
0
0
Null
Null
28
6/2/2020
25
0
0
Null
Null
29
21/2/2020
25
0
0
Null
Null
30
13/2/2020
32
0
7
Language barrier and tribal differences
Used community health volunteers ,security and translators
31
22/2/2020
25
0
0
Relocations
Followed the respondents to the next grid
32
4/12/2019
23
2
0
Found bushes
Oversampled from another grid
33
26/2/2020
25
0
0
Population shifting
Followed the respondents to the next grid
34
3/12/2019
20
5
0
Null
Data check in the kobo tool box
35
2/12/2019
21
4
0
Null
Data check in the kobo tool box
36
6/3/2020
23
2
0
Inaccessibility
Oversampled from grid 32
SUMMARY NOTES
- Due to language barriers and serious communication breakdown, we had to use chiefs, community health volunteers (CHVS), and translators due to the high illiteracy level within Samburu County.
- Insecurity due to cattle rustling and tribal clashes between Samburu and Turkana people made the community keep relocating, making us take a longer time to collect the data than scheduled.
- Cultures within the local communities worked negatively on our data collection since there was no approval for a male or a female to talk to either gender directly, and that is why we used the community health volunteers (CHVS), chiefs, and translators to introduce us into the community since they were local people.
- Rite of passage for the local communities was happening concurrently with our data collection. This involved the young men who were to be initiated to relocate to different locations, thus affecting our data field work-study.
- Naturally, Samburu people are pastoralists and nomads, and so they keep moving from one place to another, searching for pasture and water, which really affected our data collection.
- Having multi-ethnic communities in Samburu County, such as Borana, Turkana, Pokot, and Samburu, the region has developed tribal intolerance amongst communities, thus lacking in accepting one another, bearing in mind that all our data collectors were from the Samburu community.
- Climate change:There were heavy rains during the data collection period making the rivers overflow bearing in mind that the communities settle along the river beds for pasture and water, making them relocate.
- The clustered mapped area, the especially northern part of Samburu, e.g., Baragoi and part of the eastern side, had very poor accessibility, thus making us create our own routes and to walk for long distances, which made us waste a lot of time and run behind schedule.
- Sarima area was clustered and mapped as grid 24, but the government relocated the inhabitants due to the green energy project making us replace the grid with another cluster, bearing in mind this had the most snakebites cases.
- Lerata area, which is clustered grid 6, the inhabitants moved towards the British army camp for settlements because of borehole water and security enhancements.
CONCLUSION
FACTORS CONSIDERED FOR GRID REPLACEMENT AND OVERSAMPLING.
- Population density of specific people changed location unexpectedly.
- Having spatial considerations of proximity movements of people, we authenticated samples and data taken within the acceptable areas.
- The population distribution pattern, Samburu people, considered to live as a community due to insecurity.
- In areas with relocations oversampling was considered due to non-respondency. It was done within a radius of 5km from the initial cluster.
MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS.
- When bitten by a snake and you take traditional liquor (chang’aa), the community believes that you will vomit the poison and continue living.
- The community also believes that when you take raw meat from sheep and take a lot of it, it will help you vomit the poison and continue living.
- The community believes that if you are born as twins and one of the twins is dead, the snake cannot bite the other remaining twin.
- The community believes that your considered an outcast if your area bitten more than twice by a snake.
- The community also believes that the enemies can use snakes to unleash a form of punishment.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
- Future research should employ a multi ethnical approach to train and recruit researchers across the board to avoid data biasness and non-ground reconnaissance.
- It is of paramount importance to consider the existing data available locally an e.g., hospital snake bites data base which is in line with the research.
- Due to a lack of snake information awareness, the victims of snakebites go through hell when explaining to the doctors and nurses the event of their snakebites. We recommend that awareness be conducted to the communities in highly prone snake areas.
- Due to frequent snakebites within the Samburu county, their fatalities due to lack of hospitals and poor roads make the patients take too long to access medical facilities, so we recommend hospitals with adequate medicines to be taken near the prone areas.
- Through the ministry of health, we recommend that the government work closely with the already existing health infrastructures to cub the already increasing cases of snakebites.
APPRECIATION
I give special thanks to; Dr.George Omondi Oluoch for his steadfast
financial arrangements, Mr Denis Otundo PhD fellow for his unwavering support on this project’s issues, the Locate IT team for helping us locate all the clusters not forgetting the team of able researchers who worked day and night tirelessly to make this project a success.