For Kenyans, Obama means all of this too, but he’s also the quintessential symbol of generational change—something, along with effective leadership, that Kenyans have yearned for throughout the nearly two decades I’ve lived here. Perhaps more importantly, he’s a symbol of Africa rising—of what might be possible if Kenya really put its resources to work building, through education and investment in infrastructure, and then multiplying, through wise strategies and policy making. As another Kenyan editorial writer wryly remarked, perhaps the thing that Obama highlights most clearly of all is just how wasteful Kenya has been with its human resources in the half century (!) since Independence. (Photo courtesy Alexis Waters)

When Professor Alexander Fleming noted the powerful effect of penicillium notatum mold on a lab dish of staphylococcus bacteria back in 1928, a new era in medical treatment was born. Infected wounds and previously life-threatening or debilitating illnesses, including many childhood diseases, soon became treatable—and survivable—as scientists developed a range of powerful antibiotic drugs. For those of us raising families now, the magnitude of this advance is difficult to imagine or overstate.

As parents, we face a number of new vaccine options. Because we didn’t grow up with these new vaccines or learn about them in school, they are not always well understood. And, since some of the new vaccines often are not part of national immunization schedules, a lot of parents wonder how necessary they are and if the extra expense is cost effective. Over the next weeks and months, we’ll be posting about some of these newer immunizations. We’ll start today by sharing some basic information.

Now that you know a lot more about swimmer’s ear and how to treat it, here are some tips that may prevent the condition from developing the next time your holiday plans or family routine include fun on the water. Earwax protects against foreign objects entering the ear canal and helps repel water. Its acidic pH also helps prevent the overgrowth of microorganisms. Removing the wax removes the moisture barrier, leaving exposed wet skin vulnerable to infection.

The coastal city of Mombasa is a major Kenyan tourist centre, famed for its Swahili stone town and its past role in the spice, ivory and slave trades. New details of its history are emerging following a pilot study last January of its port and tidal margins involving specialists from the University of Ulster. The university's Centre for Maritime Archaeology (CMA) is working in Mombasa with scientists from the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the National Museums of Kenya (NMK).