Polio Campaign
Today the Harambee team left Kenya after 3 weeks in country. It is hard to put into words the last 3 weeks…..so much has happened, so much has been witnessed and experienced.
- The polio campaign……….
- The outreach clinics……..
- The business training……..
- Remote First Aid….
- Healthy Schools HECA Training
- Sustainable Tourism trekking
- Maternal Health
- Essential Obstetric and Neonatal care courses
- Girls for Girls
- Education Bursary Interviews
The list goes on………there have been many memories…….
- The welcome….
- The community
- The villages
- The children
- The students in schools
- The mandazis
- The outreach experience
- The jeeps
- The smiles & the laughing
- The mountains
- The singing
- The friendship
- The sunrise
- The views
- The craic!
So much has been achieved……..so much learnt…..
It has been a privilege to be part of a great Harambee……..we will treasure the memories and friendships forever.
Asante Sana to all the Volunteers and Project Leaders………a job very well done!
Safe journey home……….Safari Salama
Outreach Clinic
On Thursday a team of 7 with Albina ventured to Kiptoror for an outreach clinic. When we reached Kuresoi we were informed that the roads were impassable. The Health Centre was relatively new, clean and spacious. We were given a guided tour by the CHO Elkan. The staff consisted of 1CHO, 2 Nurses, 1Laboratory Technician and support staff. This facility serves a population of almost 50,000 people.
We travelled only half way as the road was treacherous. We were met by the community at the church in Tumoyet. To utilise the time the clinic was held in the open air until the church was opened. Our time was limited as we had to travel back before the rains, otherwise we would be stranded in the forest. We treated 60 children and adults, vaccinated 50 babies and distributed mosquito nets. The last outreach clinic for this community was in August.
This community is in great need and because of the dangers in travelling on such dangerous terrain they are the forgotten community. What Albina under the banner of the Mercy Mobile Clinic is achieving is good but with planning, transport and extra staff there is a lot of challenge. Albina is only one person ”lighting the light“ where there is huge darkness.
Visiting the home of Peter Soi
On Monday, a team of five volunteers travelled to Ndubusat for 3 days to complete a number of tasks. Liam and Pat spent two days visiting 4 villages to continue on the sustainable tourism surveys begun in September. A Village Health Committee training was run over 2 days by the Public Health Office Chichila and FOL. 5 villages attended. These committees are working to implement healthy homesteads throughout their villages. The key message of the course was “your health is in your hands” and this very much describes the Kenyan Ministry of Health’s community health strategy – where healthcare is based in the communities – from the ground up. The PHO gave an outline of the many statistics from Kenya which were quite shocking for all present – including that approximately 80% of hospital attendance in Kenya is due to preventable diseases, and 50% of these diseases are water and sanitation related. “Your health is in your hands” takes on new meaning when we understand the importance of hand washing and hygiene across all levels of society. Course participants visited the home of Peter Soi who has a healthy homestead including the first FOL smokless stove in Ndubusat. The enthusiasm and energy was incredible – 5 villages who want to improve the lives of all their communities. Each of the villages was challenged to come up with an income generating project that would allow them to implement the healthy village methodology throughout their villages. They were given tools of business, income generation and assistance from FOL to come up with ideas. Each village will submit their proposals to FOL by end of November and a further course will be held in January to further the proposals. The journey for these five villages towards healthy homesteads has begun…..
A community water meeting was also held over the two days. The importance of sustainability on all projects was discussed, and ideas were shared.
The team arrived back to Kipkelion on Wednesday where everyone shared their activites so far in the week – and a great game of spoons was had!
HECA Club designing posters with health messages for school
It’s the start of a new week, and our tasks continue. The medical team made a long journey to Sirikwo with the Mercy Outreach Clinic. It’s a village in the mountains, in a most beautiful setting, surrounded by fertile land. The population numbers approximately 22,000 and their closest health facility is Molo at a distance of 20kms. That’s a fairly hefty hike if your only reliable mode of transport is on foot! We were warmly welcomed by the Chief, and we set about vaccinating around 500 children, providing ante-natal advice to pregnant ladies, and giving medical advice to some of the older members of the community.
The HECA Team were at Kipchorian Secondary today, for day one of their two day program. The students were enthusiastic, motivated and commited and the team are looking forward to getting stuck into the practical side of things tomorrow.
Finally, we welcomed Laura to the fold today. It’s her ninth trip to Kenya as a FOL volunteer and the rest of us are delighted to have her here. Not that it has anything to do with the supply of Irish newspapers and chocolate, of course. Anita, Maria, Martin, Pat and Liam are in Ndubasat to complete the business training, trekking and water projects.
Volunteers with RedNet team
Red Net (Rural economic development Network) is based in Kipkelion near the Mercy Clinic. 7 members of the team visited on Wednesday.
The group is a training centre for young girls, aged 17 – 22, the girls generally have some life setbacks, left school early, learning difficulties, one girl was speech impaired, teenage pregnancy etc. The centre caters for 13 girls, (Lule the head of the group said she could have 30 in group but has not got facilities for anymore).
The centre has two buildings both of which belong to Lule’s father. One is used as a sewing room, they had made a number of garments, as yet they are not making clothes for sale but hope if they can increase resources that they can start something more commercial. The second building has 3 second hand knitting machines.
A timetable on the wall indicated the following training; Dressmaking, cooking, knitting, handwork, life skills (one session a week, given by Rebecca Tanwi). They are also hoping to add an English language module to programme.
The group presented each of us with a lovely knitted red scarf. The group were very impressed with the opportunity and skills the girls were developing.
Another worthwhile project to support…..
