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SENSE is delighted to announce that it has offered a Tuition Scholarship for a 2 year MSc in Nutritional Sciences Degree Programme at Egerton University, Kenya |
This followed recruitment through the university for a suitable student that fulfilled the following eligibility criteria:
Eligibility
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Kenyan citizen with undergraduate nutrition degree from a Kenyan University, with at least 2nd Class Upper Division
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Admission to study for an MSc course at the Human Nutrition Department at Egerton University
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Successful student commits to working within Kenya for at least 2 years following graduation.
Catherine’s Profile
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Catherine Sarange Ogenche
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Community Services
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Counselling and advisory services, community clean ups and nutritional education which have enabled me to interact and communicate with people of different backgrounds. Gained invaluable experience from serving as: class representative, executive committee member, social health and temperance leader, Adventist ladies organization leader, bible study leader.
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Currently in a youth group (MAGONGO QUANTUM) that engages in nurturing talent and imparting life skills to children and giving them hope for building their future. We are presently attached with Port Reitz School for the physically handicapped in Mombasa, Mwijabu and Umoja primary schools and are looking forward to reaching more schools.
Work experience
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Research assistant in Alive & Thrive project that aimed at improving exclusive breastfeeding through Peer Support Group & Cell Phone Support in Nakuru Municipality.
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Sweet-potato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA) involving a formative qualitative research on feeding tools to improve the nutrition of mothers and their infants in Bungoma and Busia counties. While in the projects I participated in field work activities in a multi-cultural setting and this enabled me to gain public relations and interpersonal skills.
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Community Interventions Coordinator in Alive & Thrive project. Being in charge of trained peer leaders, and research assistants enabled me gain leadership and management skills as well as capabilities in content delivery, community mobilization and handled multiple tasks with minimal supervision.
Catherine said: “I decided to advance my studies as it is my desire to improve my career by deepening my knowledge and skills. This will be utilized in reaching and educating my community and country at large in order to improve their health and alleviate human suffering bearing in mind that economic growth and human development require well nourished populations who can learn new skills, think critically and contribute to their communities”.
Watch Catherine’s Progress here:
Catherine’s statement of intention of her planned research is now available and regular updates on her academic progress will be posted as they become available.
Course commenced: September 2013
Research statement of intention:
VALIDATION OF TOOLS FOR ASSESSMENT OF CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AMONG CHILDREN (6-18MONTHS) IN NAKURU MUNICIPALITY.
The life stage from conception to five years is conceptualized as a period of brain development and as a critical stage for the programming of neurobiological pathways that can affect health, learning and behaviour during the entire life cycle (Tinajero and Mustard, 2011). The development of children is in three areas; physical development, cognitive development and socio-emotional development. The development of the brain and its pathways can be influenced by biological, social and contextual risk factors (e.g. maternal depression) (Walker et al., 2007). According to Grantham McGregor et al. in 2007 around 200 million children under five years of age in developing countries fail annually to reach their full potential in cognitive, language, and socio-emotional development hence this necessitates measures to curb the situation. Caregivers also play a crucial role in the development of a child, from before birth through infancy and beyond. A father’s regular interactions with his child in the early years can help to improve child well-being, including cognitive, socio-emotional, physical development, school readiness and long-lasting general life skills as indicated by research (Rahman et al., 2009). The mother’s breast milk on the other hand contains a set of nutrients, growth factors, and hormones that are important for brain development, including critical building blocks such as docosahexaenoic acid. (DHA) and choline. When a child is adequately nourished during gestation and infancy, the essential energy, protein, fatty acids, and micronutrients necessary for brain development are available during this crucial period, laying a foundation for lifetime brain function (Hernandez et al., 2008).
A Cross-sectional survey will be conducted where by exposure (poverty indices, social-cultural, psychosocial, biological, brain development risk factors) and outcome (basic child survival and nutrition, developmental education and developmental health) will be assessed at one point. This approach will demonstrate the child growth and development outcomes at ages (6-18 months) with respect to what would be expected in a reference population.
The tools to be used include; UNICEF’s Multiple Cluster Indicator Survey (MICS), Bayley Scale of Infant Development (BSID-III), Child Development Index (CDI) and Guide for Monitoring Child Development (GMCD). A validation of these tools in Kenya will aid in reduction of errors during the measuring process and also serve as a baseline measure for other studies.
Catherine’s Academic progress as at 20th January 2015
Year One: 2013/2014 Mean grade: B Mean Score; 68.27%
Year Two: 2014/2015 Research and Thesis – Proposal development is ongoing:-
Title: VALIDATION OF CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR CHILDREN (6-18 MONTHS) IN NAKURU MUNICIPALITY
Chapter one (Introduction and background information), Chapter Two (Literature Review) and Chapter Three (Methodology) done. Working on the tools (Appendices).
Proposal defense February 2015
Proposal research permit: Research ethics approval from Egerton’s Research Ethics Committee is still underway. Applied in November 2014 is yet to be approved after few corrections and additions. Application of a research permit from National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) will be sought after both departmental and faculty proposal defense and approval from the graduate school.
Extracurricular activities:
1. Attended Demographic Health Survey (DHS) and Service Provision Assessment (SPA) training in February 2014
Objective of SPA: To provide a snap-shot of the service environment, resources, and practices used to provide health services in formal health facilities.
Objective of DHS: Monitor and evaluate population, health and nutrition programmes.
2. Workshop on development of innovative proposals by Division of Research and Extension Egerton University in March 2014.
3. Workshops; deploying interactive online networking platform for improving quality and relevance of African University Graduates to Labour Markets by Egerton University 2014.
4. Surveys in (Arid and Semi-arid areas) ASAL areas
Conducted trainings in use of the MoH KAP Survey questionnaire, data entry and supervised field work (data collection and focused group discussions) as an assistant to the MIYCN consultant.
Objective of the surveys: The surveys helped provided baseline data on Maternal, Infant Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) indicators and establish related factors contributing to the existing situation in the areas.
– Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice (KAP) survey in Garissa County in February 2014 with Terre Des Hommes (TDH).
– Knowledge, Practices and Coverage (KPC) survey in Mandera County in September – October 2014 with Save the Children Kenya (SCUK).
– KAP survey in Samburu Central County in December 2014 with World Vision Kenya.
Update on Catherine’s project as at March 2016
As a result of withdrawal of some funding by another party, we have been notified that Catherine’s research project can no longer continue as proposed. Catherine is not giving up however and is currently preparing an alternate, less costly project. We hope to provide more news on her progress once this is available.