January 2009 Mission - Update 5
January 21st saw the departure of four of the Mikinduri Children of Hope team. Sherry and Cindy Butt along with Nancy and Bill Allen left for Canada after each of them made significant contributions to the life of the mission. Bill Allen partnering with Kenyan dentists continues to pay dividends as Dr. Kariuki extracts 60 or so teeth daily.
Saturday of this week saw Ted Grant, Greg McKenna, Paul Connolly, and Pam Bryson-Weaver along with numerous Kenyan helpers set up a demonstration of an effective drip irrigation system. Powered by a pedal pump system, it will enable the agricultural people to irrigate sloped land that previously could not be harvested. It has the potential to be a pivotal measure in eliminating poverty in this part of the world.
The clinics continue to produce a number of small miracles highlighted by important referrals to central hospitals that can provide a more heightened level of expert interventions. The referrals included an epileptic whose fall resulted in serious burns (plastic surgery), a lady with a nerve problem in her leg, the gentlemen with an abnormal growth in his neck, the small boy with a lump on his head and a number of children whose level of malnourishment was alarming. Dr. Jan Rogerson is currently in the process of trying to refer and arrange transport for a poor child who has locked himself in his house since his father passed away a couple of years ago.
The vision team consisting of Karen McKenna, Shawna Quinn, Paul Connolly, Shara Quinn, Rita Grant, Sherry Butt, Jane Farmer and Cindy Butt continue to be very active. They are seeing approximately 300 people daily and get to garner the satisfaction associated with seeing first hand the surprised look on the client’s face when they can finally see well enough to red the bible, sew for their family or peel the vegetables without injuring themselves.
The mission has also afforded the team the opportunity to follow up on serious medical cases that were referred to specialists. The individual who had leprosy and was prior to last year shunned by the community, is now effectively integrated into the community after receiving treatment at the Leprosy Unit in Nairobi. The team was also able to meet with little James who had never walked up to age 9. People were encouraged and buoyed by the sight of James now walking with crutches after intervention by the orthopaedic unit of the Meru Hospital.
Monday’s clinic witnessed a turn away crowd that by times became unruly. The start up of the clinic was delayed for two hours while steps were taken to systemize the registration process. Despite the late start, many, many people were helped in the dental, medical and vision fronts. The significance of these clinics was underscored by the referral of three small infants who were seriously undernourished. All three children and their mothers were immediately transported to the Meru Hospital accompanied by Dr Ed Harrison. These incidents underscore for all of us in the team how fortunate we are to live in a country like Canada. In spite of our system’s warts and blemishes, we are blessed with bountiful resources and services that the people of Kenya can only dream about. Meanwhile, back at the ranch (literally), a hen crept unseen past triage and several waiting patients into the pharmacy where she wreaked havoc to the unsuspecting pharmacists Jennifer Boswell, Rebecca Ellis, and Bethany Lund. The girls’ screams offered great entertainment to the local people waiting to been seen. It was a long and tiring day for our nurses Etta Connolly and Kathy Mutch, whose invaluable contributions to the mission include but are not limited to rehydrating malnourished children who are identified by nutritionist Tracy Butt, triaging for physicians and testing for malaria.
And so we have one final set of clinics in Mikinduri and then set sail for home. While the Mikinduri Children of Hope team is emotionally and physically exhausted, in many ways we feel privileged to have been part of this mission that has performed a number of small miracles and in the process made life a little more bearable for the people of Kenya.