First Impressions

The first 48 hours in Pakistan so far have been a whirlwind! After arriving in Karachi on a flight from Dubai at 3am on Friday morning, we slept for a couple hours at a local hotel and left around 10am for the long-drive to Naushahro Feroze. Despite the 6-hour drive, my Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI), Saima, and I had a blast, stopping for a delicious lunch, ice cream, and tea along

the way. One of my favorite parts of the drive was all of the beautifully painted and decorated trucks along the road, and the changing landscape outside which included many mango groves and banana trees.

After arriving at the guest house and getting some much needed rest, Saima and our four RA's got right to work. One major component of the research study that Saima and I are co-leading is the child assessment. Although our research team is extremely well qualified and trained in using the tool, I brought an updated version that required further training and re-acquainting on our end. As a team, we worked all day to ensure that all of our material's were ready to go, and planned for the following week.