Pippetting in Kenya

As M previously mentioned, I am helping out in the lab for a few weeks so we don’t overwork the Kenyans. Working alongside Mzungu has been interesting to say the least. First, notice his name? Yes, his given name is the exact same word as “person of European descent” that people constantly yell at us. Why you would name your Kenyan child, “person of European descent”, I have no idea but it sort of rounds out his oddities so I guess it makes sense.

Despite having an excellent command of English (including lab terms), Mzungu rarely does more than grunt when you speak to him. In fact, he’s perfected the non-response to the point where you’re often not sure whether he has heard the question. The hilarious thing is that despite uttering about 25 words a day directed at me in the 8 hours we spend together, he actually speaks to me significantly more than the other people in the lab. The other men in the lab enter every morning and greet only M, asking him about his health, his sleep, and making pleasant morning conversation. I think I’m adapting to Kenya because M noticed that they don’t speak to me, I didn’t even register this fact.

Mzungu is a trained laboratory technician but he does not, under any circumstances, multi-task. He was thoroughly horrified that I was labeling the next set of tubes the first day while the samples were spinning in the centrifuge.

“How do you know how to label the tubes” he exclaimed
“Well I was copying them from your log book and then I double-check them when the samples are done spinning”
[Furrowed brow, no further comment]

He spent 2 full days this past week watching my every move with the pipette. After the 15th hour over 2 days, I asked him if I was doing it ok or if he had any suggestions. He shook his head. I asked if he wanted to take over and he again shook his head.

“Well, I think you can probably do it faster than me and I feel badly that I’m not saving you any time since you have to watch me so let me know if you want to do it”
[Quick scurrying away, no further oversight from him, luckily M's lab advisor is here and I'm doing it fine]

The end of the experiments involves plating all the samples and then applying different antigens to see whether or not the baby is making the correct antibodies to infectious agents. You can plate 2 samples on each plate so I usually make 3-5 plates per day. 90% of what goes on each plate is the same since the process is standardized. The only thing deviating from plate to plate is the sample of the baby’s blood. Given this 90% continuity across plates, I typically plate the samples one by one but then add the first antigen to all the plates before moving on to the second antigen, etc. This allows me to be efficient and not to have to open and close plates and antigens constantly. Mzungu watched this whole process silently before just shaking his head.

To be fair, I’m sure he’s concerned that I’m being accurate given the importance of processing these samples. I know, however, that this organization is actually preventing me from making mistakes since this is how my brain is organized. Also, it’s kind of ironic to be concerned about quality control when you were so concerned that you had help in the lab that you allowed me, an untrained biotech consultant, to take on 50% of your job. In the past, they’ve had 2 Kenyans [Mzungu + 1 other] do this job that I estimate takes me roughly 4 solid hours plus Mzungu’s 3-4 hours. For those of you playing at home, that’s eight hours of actual work but it’s important that the lab people don’t feel overworked and walk off the job during the all important follow-up appointments for the babies or the lab loses all its data.

The upside is that I also am able to help M with his experiments every morning. Plus, we get to blare country music and watch Mzungu make faces about how terrible it is, and that is totally worth it.