Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Dept. of Sociology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

ABSTRACT Background: About 90% of women in Kenya report at least one antenatal care (ANC) visit yet maternal mortality rate remains high at 414 per 100,000 live births. Only 40% of childbirths occur in health facilities. A previous study of Nairobi slums in 2000 indicated that only 10.3% of women initiated ANC visits in the first trimester. High incidence of maternal deaths in Kenya especially among the very poor has been attributed to inadequate emergency obstetrical care. Decreasing numbers of women are initiating ANC within the first trimester and this may be affecting the ability of the health system to identify and cater for women whose health conditions can be effectively managed through ANC. This study aimed to determine the proportion of women initiating ANC in the first and last trimesters and the background characteristics associated with these women in two slums of Nairobi, Kenya. It also sought to determine if timing of initial ANC visit was associated with number of visits and choice of place of delivery in a slum setting. Materials and methods: This research report is a secondary data analysis of the World Bank funded Maternal Health Project conducted between 1st April and 30th June, 2006 by the African Population and Health Research Center. Participants were women 12 to 54 years, enumerated in the Nairobi Urban Health Demographic Surveillance System living in two slums of Nairobi, who had a pregnancy outcome between January 2004 and December 2005. Women 15 to 49 years were included in this analysis. Analysis of the data was done using STATA 9.2. Findings: Only 7.3% of women initiated ANC in the first trimester, with 52% making four or more visits. In the third trimester 22% of women initiated ANC. Although 97% of women reported receiving their first ANC from a skilled health professional, only 48.4% delivered in well equipped health care facilities. The median number of months pregnant at first ANC was six and median number of visits was four. Women who were most likely to initiate early ANC had secondary school or higher level of education (p=0.055) and were in a union (p=0.008). The least likely to initiate care in the first trimester were of minority ethnicity (0.011) and high parity (p=0.019). As educational level and wealth status rise, the likelihood of late ANC initiation declines. Women living with unemployed partners were less likely to initiate care in the first trimester compared to those living with employed partners (OR 0.2, p=0.046). Only women with educated partners initiated care during the first trimester. Women who initiated ANC in the first trimester were more likely to have 4 visits and more likely to deliver in appropriate facilities than those who initiated care in the third trimester. Those who initiated care to obtain an ANC card were less likely to have 4 visits than those who initiated care to verify that pregnancy was normal (OR 0.5, p=0.000). Women who initiated care in first trimester were 1.5 and 5.0 times more likely to deliver in good health facilities than those who initiated care in third trimester (p=0.040) and those who had no ANC (p=0.000), respectively. Conclusion: Women in Korogocho and Viwandani may have better chances of delivering in appropriate facilities if they have low parity and secondary level education. The presence of a partner with a means of steady income may also make it easier for women to access delivery care in good facilities. Interventions to improve the level of educational attainment among women and provide affordable family planning are necessary to increase early ANC attendance and subsequently delivery in well equipped facilities.

Thesis (M.A.)--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-85).

The purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether Sheng, a language spoken in the Eastlands area of Nairobi, Kenya, is a mixed language (incorporating Swahili, English and local vernaculars). The study focuses on the lexicon and morphosyntax, but social factors are examined as well. Three broad research questions are addressed: (1) Does Sheng have a core vocabulary separate from that of Swahili? (2) How do the system morphemes of Sheng compare with those of Swahili? And (3) in what manner does Sheng provide its speakers a new identity?With respect to question one, the core lexicon, like Russenorsk's, Trio-Ndjuka's and Michif's, manifests a nearly fifty-fifty split in Sheng (52% Swahili; 48% other), making it a mixed language lexically.As for question two, the analysis reveals that Sheng has a composite morphosyntax. No object or relative affixes are marked on the verb. Predicate-argument structure from English has provided a null relativizer. The aerial feature imperfective suffix -a(n)g- is preferred 68% of the time. Noun classes show convergence leveling. The marker ma- serves as the generic plural. The diminutive markers, (ka-, to-), constitute a complete non-Swahili subsystem. Consequently, Sheng is also a mixed language morphosyntactically.In reference to question three, a negative correlation exists between competence in Sheng and income and housing. Though the affluent display a negative attitude towardSheng, they agree with the lower socio-economic groups that Sheng has a communicative utility in metropolitan Kenya. A comparison of the usage in the different residential areas establishes that community-wide grammatical norms (i. e., stability) exist in Sheng. Over two decades without institutional support for Swahili provided a niche in which Sheng, a non-standard language variety, flourished and a new urban identity emerged.Eastlanders walk a linguistic tightrope, balancing between the labels mshamba (`rube') and Mswahili (`slick talker'). However, Sheng provides a sociolinguistic embodiment symbolizing what nuances their existence. Over time, speakers formed a new identity group, whose language was initially `off target' (1899-1963) but subsequently became deliberate postcolonially. Finally, the name of the language itself (Sheng < LiSheng < lish-eng < English) results from and is symbolic of this social transformation. / Department of English

Having grown up abroad, the topic of architectural mediation has often made me pause. The world abounds with differences, and with today's globalization, many of us are being faced with cultural, social, and a multitude of physical differences/conditions. This thesis seeks to explore the role of architecture as a mediator and seeks designs that transition successfully between differing entities. The project is an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The program is comprised of young orphans and the project explores how the structure that they occupy can effectively accommodate their specific needs. Challenges which need to be mediated include consideration of two scales, one for the child under the age of 6, and the other for the caretaker who has adult proportions. The building also will need to reconcile cultural stigmatization and attitudes towards orphans while also providing a safe environment. And lastly, the specific social needs of the orphan need to be tended to. The design and experience within the spaces will need to convey feelings of security, affections, and hope. / Master of Architecture

Thesis (M.A.)--Columbia Biblical Seminary, 1988. / Abstract. Bibliography: leaves 106-111.

<p style="text-align: justify / " class="Default">In developing economies and specifically Sub-Saharan Africa physical inactivity has been identified as a risk factor along with tobacco use, poor nutrition and poor diet as this has increasingly formed part of today&rsquo / s lifestyle. Physical activity declines with age this decline is more marked during the adolescent period. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical inactivity and factors associated with it among adolescents in <st1:place><st1:city>Nairobi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Kenya</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The overall aim of the study is to determine the factors influencing their levels of physical activity in relation to their socio-economic characteristics. <o:p></o:p></p>

<p style="text-align: justify / " class="Default">In developing economies and specifically Sub-Saharan Africa physical inactivity has been identified as a risk factor along with tobacco use, poor nutrition and poor diet as this has increasingly formed part of today&rsquo / s lifestyle. Physical activity declines with age this decline is more marked during the adolescent period. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical inactivity and factors associated with it among adolescents in <st1:place><st1:city>Nairobi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Kenya</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The overall aim of the study is to determine the factors influencing their levels of physical activity in relation to their socio-economic characteristics. <o:p></o:p></p>

This study investigates the Daily Nation and Standard’s news coverage of Kenya’s 2007/2008 general election and the unprecedented eruptions of violence which followed. This research responds to the question which came about as Kenyan print journalists and editors considered their role in possibly contributing to the violence, which took on an ethnic dimension. Vernacular radio has been fingered for having escalated longstanding ethnic tensions, but the role of the press has not been fully understood. In the aftermath of the violence, print journalists and editors met over a series of Round Table events in Nairobi to consider whether their conduct during the election could have encouraged violence. Although ten years have passed since this incidence, much of what happened within the Kenyan print media during and after the 2007/2008 general election remains unexplored and, largely, unexplained today. Although the pre- and post-election phases spanned months, my research is confined to purposive samples from a four-week period from 3 December 2007 to 4 January 2008. These four weeks were selected as they are roughly representative of the three phases of the national election which are considered significant to this study, namely the pre-election phase, the election, and the post-election violence. The research is concerned with analysing and understanding the coverage in the two dailies, the Daily Nation and Standard, and comparing the discursive work of the two, particularly in relation to identity and ethnicity. This study draws on cultural studies, critical discourse analysis and normative theories of the media to inform the research project. The critical discourse analysis explores the discourses articulated during and after the election, with a particular focus on issues of identity, ethnicity and incitement. Through this process the study found that both publications avoided references to ethnicity, despite this being an important factor in Kenyan politics and voter behaviour. In analysing these issues the study found that while the publications might claim to attempt to avoid fuelling tensions by not reporting on ethnicity, the disavowal comprised a silence which positioned the press in a collaborative role, in which it colluded with a powerful Kenyan state. Although a significant amount of time has gone by since the 2007/2008 elections, this study still considers the event significant in understanding the conduct of journalists during times of violence, and specifically for the future of journalism in Kenya.

This dissertation is a critical, theoretical study focussing is on the contribution that popular music makes towards raising awareness and promoting the prevention of HIV/Aids in Nairobi, Kenya. Towards this end, an analysis of the lyrics and musical gestures of four Kenyan pop music songs is undertaken in order to highlight their communicative capabilities in this regard. These songs, namely, are Lulumbe by Wasike wa Musungu, Juala by Circute and Jo-el, Vuta Pumz by The Longombas, and Dunia Mbaya Chunguze by Princess Jully. The context in which these musical analyses occur is provided in: - An overview of the Kenya of today, in particular that of the diverse and hybrid ethnic, linguistic, musical and cultural practices of Nairobi, and of the various youth cultures in that city, as well as in an overview of the extent of the HIV/Aids pandemic in Kenya, especially amongst the youth of Nairobi, with some reflection on existing interventions. - An overview of current trends in popular music analysis and an explanation of the author’s own eclectic semiotic analytical methodology within this context. The study concludes that a repeating strategy may be discerned on the part of the composers and performers in question, namely, to first engage audiences through language and music with which they are familiar, and then to encourage audiences to confront the unknown and unfamiliar in music and language, but also ultimately in terms of their social practices. The known and the familiar is highlighted both in the lyrics and in the music itself. It includes use of commonlyspoken languages and dialects, popular musical styles typical of the particular sub-culture, and references to the day-to-day experiences of the ordinary person.