Getting it right

It is very difficult not to consider the outcomes of each test session individually. The self test kit is not for one specific individual, but an entire community. If one individual does not deposit enough blood onto the cassette, it does not necessarily mean the instructions aren't working – he or she may not have read the instructions at all.

Regardless of the recent test sessions, we do need to improve the success rate for procuring sufficient blood samples. Do we change the tools? (Is there a better lancet out there?) Do we change the text? (Are written instructions getting lost in translation?) Do we expand the instructions to a fourth panel? (Are we over-simplifying?) Everything else is working; I am very nervous about making any significant changes. At least I can review the alternatives with the team more efficiently than I could from NY.
 

Siya setting up for a test session.

Each new day I'm here, the more I realize just how different this place is from home. It's crazy to think that a successful self test kit could have been created inside the walls of a NY office. I have just barely broken the surface of the complexities in dealing with HIV (and health in general) in Kwa-Zulu Natal, but it is clear that second hand knowledge will not cut it anymore. The iTEACH self test kit team has been extraordinarily thorough in their testing reports (they are the best eyes, ears, and minds anyone could ever ask for), but there are some things can only be understood through firsthand experience.

I have a lot of work to do – both observational and creative – between now and my departure. I just hope that I make the right decisions.

Imabli - view from Mam T's house.

Behind Edendale - view from the iTEACH annex.