Mikinduri Children of Hope

Tracy Butt

“I had wanted to go to Kenya since I was 16 but didn’t want just a regular safari trip. I wanted something that had more meaning and even though it would be a short trip, would hopefully have an impact on my life and possibly others. That’s when I met Karen McKenna. Within the first few minutes of meeting, she asked me if I wanted to go to Kenya January 2009. She may have been joking, but it turned out that I booked my flight within the next few weeks as did my two sisters, Cheri and Cindy. It’s difficult to put into words what the whole experience has meant to me. Nothing quite prepares you for the range of emotions you feel; from pride in being part of a foundation that provides so much assistance to people in need, to sadness when you see people left homeless and no food to feed their families. There were days spent laughing and others crying. The rewards were endless: seeing the joy on the faces of those receiving a wheelchair that desperately needed one; providing support to families who had no means to feed their children; celebration and praise from displaced people being given food and blankets; training students to teach nutrition and hygiene classes; and the ceaseless efforts of our founder, Ted Grant, who took time to speak to anyone in need. It was a pleasure to work with local Kenyans and realize that we are all just “one community-jamii moja.”

Tracy is a food scientist from Toronto, whose knowledge and caring helped significantly to support the rest of the medical team. Tracey headed up the assessment team, whose job it was, among many other things, to measure, weigh and record the ages of all young people coming thru the clinics. I believe it is more than simply coincidence that Tracy’s nutritional knowledge was there when we needed it to address the serious malnourishment we faced.

Rita Grant , Co-Founder of MCOH Remembers

“It was an honor and a privelege to be able to help the people of Mikinduri.
It was very gratifying and humbling to look into the eyes of those people who along with the other members of the team, I was helping in some small way.
At the vision clinics, of which I was apart, I was taken a back by the humility of the faces I looked into. They were receiving a pair of glasses that to them meant so much. It was a “big deal”, for instance to the elderly gentleman who walked miles with the help of a cane to come to the clinic.

Serving hundreds of children at a feeding centre was another highlight of my trip. Six years ago, when Ted and I started the MCOH, I never realized how many children would benefit by getting a nourishing meal, much less being able to serve the meals in person. The look in the eyes of those children melted my heart and captured part of my soul.

At yet another orphanage, the team were able to present inexpensive toys to the children. It was evident on those tiny faces that it was the only toy that they ever received. I had a hard time imagining my own grandchildren being there in that situation. Another face that comes to mind as I try to relate some of my thoughts and feeling, ( which by the way is only a snipit of the volumes I could write if space allowed) is that of the elderly woman who was a part of a group of internally displaced refugees, who were livinoutside a park near our hotel. She looked to be in her nineties. She cried when we showed her and the couple of hundred others with her, some kindness. She deserved a lot more than we could give her. To live to be ninety and find yourself in that place at that time in your life is not acceptable.

Another women in that same group was a young pregnant women that for some reason caught my eye.  She was hoping to receive one of the 50 blankets we were giving to mothers of babies. She looked so relieved when someone in our group handed her a blanket too. At least she would have the clean blanket to put her newborn on.It wasn’t quite a soft baby blanket or colourful receiving blanket, but more than she dreamed of before we came that day.

These people have very little and most of the time nothing to give back.They give what they have which is a beautiful smile, a song and a dance.
There are many people that come to my mind and I say a prayer for them and wonder how they are doing. What a responsibility we have to share and be good stewards of what we have been given. There but for the grace of God goes all of us.”

Rita Grant reflecting on her first trip to Kenya as part of the vision team.

Paul Connolly, MCOH Board Member Reflects

“For me, one of the most satisfying aspects of the Kenyan Mission was the comradery of the team.
It was , in my view, a privilege to be part of this remarkable group of people covering a wide age range as well as many disciplines. The common denominator for all was a keen desire to help make a difference in the lives of those we came in contact with. Regarding my work in with the Vision Team, I found a lot of personal satisfaction from the smiles and the gestures of satisfaction from the Kenyans who were helped through the clinics. The one story that stands out in my mind is the elderly lady who came back to our Clinic after receiving glasses, to thank me as she could now finally read the Bible
The whole trip was a wonderful experience that will remain forever implanted in my mind.”  Paul Connolly

Paul serves on our board as well as our fundraising committee.

Dr. Bill Allen

“Nancy and I returned to Mikinduri this year for two weeks(after assessing the situation last year )and took with us six bags carrying “back pack” portable dental equipment and supplies with us. We worked in five locations over the eight clinic days. Nancy did all the sterilizing using a pressure cooker and Shari Quinn helped me by dental assisting.

The first three days in the Coulson School we worked without other dental partners. At our other locations we were joined by Dr George Kariuki, a Kenyan dentist , and Mercy, a dental technician. A dental technician is a term used in Kenya for dental students in training who spend an entire year doing nothing but extracting teeth. We left our forceps and supplies behind for the third week, so Dr Kariuki and Mercy could continue to work with the rest of the team.

Over the three week period 25 “man days” of dental extractions were done on all age groups and 877 teeth were removed. We limited extractions to 1 or 2 per person in order to give a little relief to as many people as possible and tried to remove whatever tooth caused the most pain. To put it into perspective, if the population of PEI was 150,000 people and we had only one dentist, then you know how serious the dental problems are in Kenya and how unlikely you are to get relief from constant pain. We were fortunate in some locations to have student doctors and nurses as interpreters who were extremely attentive and helpful. At other locations interpreters were less helpful. No different than here really.

Out of respect for our patients we would only register fifty first thing in the morning and depending on how our day progressed, we would reopen the line and add ten to twenty patients at a time (no shortage of work). We felt it was not fair to the people to stand all day in the hot sun only to be told at day’s end we could not see them This also meant they were free to try to be seen in the medical and vision clinics.

I spent one day working at the Meru Dental Clinic at the Meru District Hospital. There were four dental technicians and I worked with them on a rotating basis. I spent most of the day showing them how to properly give local anaesthesia as pain free as possible while I watched their techniques extracting teeth. I found they were better than most Canadian dentists doing extractions and I learned a lot by watching them, which was a great help for me over the rest of our stay. At the hospital clinic they only did extractions. They had three chairs in bad need of repair. Only two lights worked and they had no drills or suction to do fillings.

At our various field clinics the Kenyan dentists worked without lights and sat the patients in patio chairs to give anaesthesia and extract teeth. I don’t know how they could do it. What struck me the most was how tolerant the people are to pain and how cooperative they were when we worked on them. This went a long way to compensate for the lack of facilities we had to work with compared to home.

The most satisfying moment came in the Combi (van) when I was leaving the last clinic at the end of the two weeks knowing we, with the help of the Kenyan dentists and support people, had far surpassed our expectations. The portable equipment and supplies we purchased worked well over all and we had seen far more people than we had envisioned. Out of all those teeth removed (mostly George and Mercy ) only 2-3 proved to be difficult surgical extractions.

Special thanks to Shari and Nancy for making my days run smoothly as well as Greg McKenna for taking care of our equipment and for cherry picking younger kids in need of dental treatment, from the long lineups. Nancy and I are looking forward to returning next year hopefully working again side by side with the Kenyan dentists at fewer sites for longer stays to reduce set up and closing down times leaving more time for treating the people.”

Dr Bill and Nancy Allan are devoted members of our mission teams, not only purchasing the equipment and suppplies, but also serving on our medical committee and volunteering at fundraising events.

Karen and Greg McKenna

Karen and Greg have once again travelled to Mikinduri returning with unforgettable memories. This being Karen’s 4th trip and Greg’s 3rd, there were endless new experiences. Greg returned to PEI with the nickname Dr. Greg as one of his important roles during the clinc’s was to comb the 100’s of people and retrieve the individuals who were in most need of attention. This proved to be a very valuable procedure, especially when many very malnourished children were brought to the medical teams attention. As our saying goes, “the weak ones are usually pushed to the end of the lines, these particular cases could have been very easily missed”. With involvement in our new agriculture projects, Greg realized that the potential to grow anything they need is certainly there. This is going to take a lot of work and guidance but it can be achieved.

As the head of the Vision program, I had a very busy but productive 3 weeks. There were additional clinic’s performed in new areas which kept the vision team hopping. These clinic’s were as rewarding as they were challenging. One could not help feel a great sense of accomplishment realizing that approx 3000 pairs of glasses were given to those who otherwise would never receive a pair. Yes, planning for and making this trip is hard work and takes a lot of dedication, but being part of a team who allow these small

Karen and Greg’s participation in our mission trips has been critical to the success. Their committment and spirit of generosity really forms a great foundation for newer team members.

Rebecca Ellis,Pharmacist, Dr Jan Rogerson MD, Jennifer Boswell,Pharmacist

The members of the medical/pharmacy team that participated in the MCOH January 2009 mission have left Kenya with countless memories that continue to evoke many varied thoughts and feelings in each of us.  The hospitality and generosity of spirit of the Kenyan people is one such aspect that warmed our hearts.  It seemed like everyone in the area came out to welcome us and celebrate our arrival.  It was somewhat frustrating at the same time because it felt like they thought we had the answers to all of their problems.  When we looked at the sheer numbers of people who were in need, their problems seemed impossible to solve.  The hours were very long for us and it was physically and emotionally draining work. No matter how long or hard we worked there were always countless people turned away.  At times it seemed like we weren’t accomplishing anything.  Then we would stop and think of the individuals we were able to help.  We recognized that some of these people were in imminent danger of death and, were we not there to help, they may have not survived.  We realized that to these people we made all the difference in the world.

When we were preparing for the trip we did a lot of research concerning the needs in the area.  We had several meetings to discuss what equipment and medications we needed to obtain to best serve the medical needs of the population.  Our preparation paled in comparison to the experience we gained by actually conducting the clinics.  We learned a great deal and will no doubt be much better prepared for future clinics.

During our travels we spent time in several different areas and were able to take in the unparalleled beauty of the landscape from the semi-arid zones to the tropical mountainous regions.  It was difficult to comprehend how within such a beautiful country there could exist such poverty and despair.  It was remarkable how the Kenyan people were so happy even though they had next to nothing by Western standards.  It made us stop and wonder about the true definition of happiness and this experience will undoubtedly affect the way we live our lives in the future.

Rebecca, Jan, and Jennifer made a huge difference in our ability to deliver medical services to the Kenyan poor.

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.

Saturday morning saw the team head out to Mikinduri.  Ted Grant and Paul Connolly had been to Mikinduri the previous day and were stuck in the mud roads on four different occassions.  With the help of tractors and numerous Kenyan children they managed to get through to Mikinduri.  The Kenyan clay does dry quickly however a heavy rain overnight on Friday night produced roads that were next to impossible.  After contacting Fr. Bernard in Mikinduri, two four wheel drive vehicles were dispatched to come help us.  Without their assistance we could not have been able to get through. The trip was another one of those amazing experiences.  In spite of the hardship and the three hour duration, we were enriched by the generous assistance of Kenyans who came to lend a hand.

When we finally arrived in Mikinduri four hours late for the official opening of the feeding center that was built by MCOH we were treated to a bountiful supply of local culture, entertainment, food and politics.  It all lasted three and a half hours but was a wonderful way to connect us to the people of Mikinduri.  They went beyond the call of duty in expressing their deep gratitude for the support they are receiving from Canada.  The children served by the feeding center all waved Canadian flags with great excitement when we arrived and throughout the day.  The entire event was heartwarming, uplifting and provided further fuel to spar the team on for the final ten days.

The positive impact of the MCOH team continued to be made as clinics continued through to Friday.  The vision team which consists of Shawna and Shara Quinn, Karen McKenna, Paul Connolly, Rita Grant, Cheri and Cindy Butt have accommated record numbers of people during three days of clinics in Meru.  They along with a number of Kenyan assistants have served over 250 people each day.  All members of the vision team experience heartwrenching moments.  Two examples would be the lady who came back to the clinic a second day to thank us because she could now read her bible.  A second highlight entailed a young ten year old, assisted by Shawna, who walked seven kilometers and needed glasses for both distance and reading.  The heightend need of this young child and the broad smile on his face upon receiving his glasses was reward enough to fuel the vision team’s continued motivation.

The dental team headed by Bill Allen and his wife Nancy and assisted by Shara Quinn combined their efforts with Kenyans dentists to extract 302 teeth so far.  They have had so many people to see that they often have to extract the worst of two or three bad teeth.  It is truly amazing to see the wonderful work these people can perform under less than ideal circumstances.  It is really backpack dentistry with inadequate lighting and patients sitting in patio chairs.  This team demonstrated amazing efficency and effectiveness.  The saddest case we’ve seen was a three and a half year old who we removed two teeth from and within the next year or two will need all of his baby teeth removed.

The team will spend the next two weeks working with Fr. Bernard and Chief Alex setting up clinics in remote villages in Mikinduri.  We are very excited to be in the community where the organization was founded and working with the Kenyan people who first inspired Ted Grant to return to Kenya again and again.

Sunday and Monday saw the continuation of all three clinics at Gil Gil where a number of significant impacts were made.  Malnutrition continues to be an ongoing problem as evidenced by the stories of two different families.  One case entailed a young mother with her ten year old son Benjarmin.  Both of whom were severely malnourished.  He has a very sore leg which inherits his ability to go to school.  The medical team treated the leg and conducted tests but also followed up the case on Monday before travelling to the next site clinic.  He has TB on the bone and will have a difficult uphill struggle but is so appreciative of the immediate relief.  There was a second case on a 9 year old child who came to the vision clinic but was quickly referred to medical because he was malnourished.  The nutritionist seen that he weighed 15kg and got him on a path that will level back to good health.  Additionally, he and his four siblings have been connected to Chalice for sponsorship.

This is a significant development because it guarantees medicine, clothing, education, and housing for all five children. Our newly established Nutty buddy supplement program is a God send for these extremely malnourished children. Most kids look like kids half their age. Let us pray that they respond to the nutty buddy. Details as follows

Because malnutrition is such a high issue the Mikinduri Children of Hope under the leadership of the nutritionist Tracy Butt, who is part of our team from Toronto, is undertaking a study to measure the impact of the supplement which is basically fortified peanut butter.  She has developed a product that adds a multivitamin to the peanut butter, honey, and milk powder.  For the next six weeks female students from Coulson school will be weighed and measured in a group receiving the product as well as a control group that will not be receving it.  This is an important initiative that underscores MCOH’s commitment to long term development work as contrasted with the immediate short term emergency needs.

This fact was reinforced on Tuesday when the entire team visited the Bridge of Hope Orphanage having 84 orphans, who have been abandoned by their families.  It was truly amazing and very emotional to witness these young children who basically have nothing other than a nurturing pastor and his wife who literally built the orphanage after recognizing the need for such a place.  With a lot of hard work and a lot of faith they are providing an enriched environment with scant resources.  The MCOH team was inspired by the enthusiasm and hope that the children demonstrated during or visit.  After receiving noise makers, balloons, dolls, and a couple of soccer balls we sang songs together and they stressed that it was their favourite day. MCOH were told these were the first toys these children ever received and we could tell by the smiles on the children’s’ faces.  The MCOH was also able to see the mattresses sheets and blankets that we were able to purchase with the generosity of the donors who responded so generously to our special appeal over Christmas. WE have yet to buy shoes schools supplies and uniforms for them. Altogether it is a great boost to the orphans. While there the docs treated some some kids with serious cases of ailments. The Docs are such a blessing for those we serve. WE also tested some older ladies who needed glasses. It would be wonderful if there was some way for our donors to experience the response from the kids and when they receive glasses. One quite old lady came back to tell us that she can now read her bible, after years without.

It is truly amazing to see the wonderful work being carried out by the medical pharmacy, dental and vision teams.  Dr. Jan was able to uncover a badly infected finger of a ten year old named Winnie.  It was so severe that surgery was required and the operation was completed last night again with donated funds.  Had this intervention not occurred the consequences for Winnie could have been disastrous.  To give you some idea of the commitment and dedication of the pharmacy team, they continued seeing people on Sunday evening until 7pm.  While exhausted, they are being fuelled by the satisfaction derived from delivering medication to meet many pressing medical needs.

The MCOH are now embarking on a four hour drive to the next destination, Meru.  The drive there will allow them to rest and get prepared for the next three days of clinics in Meru and Tumiani.

Please continue to pray for the very poor we serve. One must be here to truly understand to level of poverty they face.

Another blog to come soon.

Saturday saw the first day of clinics swung into full gear at Gil Gil. There was a steady flow of people who made their way  through all 3 streams, medical, vision, and dental. While it would be true of all 3  streams, the people working the vision clinic  pointed to the satisfaction they derived from seeing that look of surprise on the faces of those who all of  sudden had improved eye  sight after years of experiencing  impaired vision.

Prior to the clinics, the Mikinduri Children of Hope group experienced 2 very emotional situations. Quite by accident, Kathy Mutch and Tracey Butt encountered a group of 600 internally displaced Kenyans, victims of the Civil unrest following the most recent elections. While somewhat outside of our mandate, it was decided to purchase a large quantity of food to be distributed to this group. They live in a city park without tents, blankets or food and the group included 40 infant children. It was a pathetic situation exacerbated by a government that seems to turn a blind eye to their plight. Our intervention did nothing to address the real long term issues that this group will face, however that outpouring appreciation as expressed in song and dance was impressive and moving.

The clinics have served to uncover any number of minor miracles. The entire team was moved by circumstances of two young girls, Naomi  7 and Beth 5. The mother arrived at Sunday’s clinic with Naomi and Beth and the youngest member of the family who is  3 weeks old. The father has left the mother with 7 children. She is working to make the equivalent of $1.00 Can a day.  Doctors uncovered the fact that both Naomi and Beth are extremely malnourished and in need of immediate help. Their plight  has    moved two members of the team to sponsor Naomi and Beth through Chalice (formerly Christian Child Care International)  which will ensure a future with clothing, proper nourishment and education.

The line-ups for the medical clinic have been overwhelming. In the midst of the long line was John, aged 7, who has club feet and walks on his ankles. He comes from an extremely poor family in the MASAI  area of Kenya,  A decision has been made to fund a common operation to correct this severe disability. This case and many many others, once again serve to demonstrate the tremendous impact that our generous donors across PEI and other parts of Canada make with the support of MCOH. During last years mission we were moved to sponsor 13 year old Ruth for amputation  of one of her legs, as a result of cancer. We were able to meet Ruth  and discovered that she is doing well and about to be fitted for a prosthesis, which you our donors have been responsible for helping her with. She is overjoyed that she can play with her friends, running around with her crutches. Her goal is to get back to school so she can learn English, so she can talk to Ted. She wants to become a doctor so she can help other people like her.

There is a strong consensus among the members of this mission that any doubts we had about the merits of travelling to the other side of the world to lend a hand to our Kenyan brothers and sisters were quickly dismissed. Without question, all clinics are impacting in a positive way on the health and well being of the people. Their open expressions of appreciation make it all worth while and leave all members of the team, while feeling tired, also feeling privileged to be in their midst. Every one of them are small miracles.

Today (Monday) we have a full day of clinics, we must then pack up and move on to our next site for two sets of clinics in the Meru area of Kenya. We have an incredible team, all so anxious to serve the very needy people who are lined up waiting for glasses, or to see the doctors or get a tooth pulled.

Eleven of the 18 participants in the Mikinduri Children of Hope Mission departed from Charlottetown on Tuesday of this week. After flying to Heathrow and enduring a 12hr wait they flew 8 hrs to Nairboi, arriving Thursday morning meeting up with the Butt sisters at the airport. Tracy, Cheri, and Cindy Butt arrived in Nairboi Wednesday night with four bags and two wheelchairs- without one glance from Customs.

While fatiqued from the journey, the fatique was easily matched with abundance of anticipation and excitement at the project of fulfilling their mission. We will over the next 3 weeks offering vision, medical, and dental clinics in 4 different communities. The remaining members of the team will join the original group on Friday of this week.

The highlight of day 1 was meeting with Silvanos’s widow Seline and her two children Antionette age 8 and Ron age 11. Silvanos was our prime contact person and coordinator here in Kenya.

The group spent 3 days prior to depature carefully packing to ensure each clinic site had adequate equipment and supplies so as to effectively deliver much needed services to thousands of people in Kenya. Thursday was very much a set up day as 48 hockey bags with all kinds of materials and supplies had to be organized and put out into separate vehicles for each of the 4 clinic locations. The day finished with the delivery to of the bags to the first site Gil Gil in Nakuru. The trip to Nakuru for the most participants was a real eye opener marked by breath taking scenery, roads riddled with potholes and stops to allow Sheperds leading their flocks of sheep to cross the road.

The group has yet to start one mission, yet the appreciation and warmth of the Kenyan people was overwhelming. The community leaders are warm, gracious and appreciative and that will fulfill our efforts to help address many needs and receive gifts from us.

Our morning started at 6am going to the Safari in Lake Nakuru Game Park. Who needs coffee when you have a monkey jumping in your Kombi? We were able to see many varieties of animals including giraffes, frisky bamboos, zebras, warthogs, hyenas, water buffalos, water buck, gazelles, pelicans, flamingos , colourful lizards, and monkeys. With our heads sticking out of the Kombis you could almost hear the tribal drums in the wind.

Now we are packing toys and fun things to take to Ann and Ian’s orphanages, everyone is excited to have to opportunity to feed orphaned babies.

Stay tuned for updates…..

March 17, 2008

Being a bright beautiful morning, we prepared ourselves for yet another busy day. All the nurses, pharmarcists and the team of the vision clinic went to the clinic to start their day’s event. Lona and faith had to work on the distribution of the mattresses and other supplies. They visited tent by tent to ensure that the needy ones get them first. In the process they met a young lady of 20years old that was physically handicapped. The girl’s legs were completely destroyed, she couldn’t walk. The girl’s family helped her to do everything. The best part of this is that she was so determined in life and wanted to make the best out of it. She had this beautiful smile and she had a small grocery business beside their tent and tried to make money. We were so touched and helped her by offering her a wheelchair, to enable her move from one place to another. She was so thrilled by this act and she could not stop thanking the Lord.

We had a very early start because today is our last day in the camp. We are taking Ruth, the 13 yr old girl, who has severe spinal problems and badly swollen leg to Kajabi hospital.  She showed up with a bright pink dress, clean but very old and stained, and with a jacket that at some point had been white, but now was a dirty off white. She had a blue knitted woollen cap on her head, which she always wears. When I make a fuss over her, she always smiles but turns away with embarrassment. Her mother is the same but not to the same degree. So by the time we left the camp it was 9.00 o’clock.

As we drove along in the combi, Ruth with her badly curved spine could just see out the combi window. I don’t know if this was her first ride in a vehicle or not, but I am absolutely sure it was her first time on the main highway. She was absorbing every scene as we drove the 2.5 hrs to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital, and as we departed the combi, I found myself with a great urgency to prey like never before that something could be done to help her. We reached the waiting room and there was only one other family waiting. After about 15 min the admin person, after hearing our urgent story, told us that the surgeon was in the operating room and we would have to wait. As we moved upstairs I could imagine a three hr wait. To our great surprise the surgeon, and American, had just come out of the OR and after about five min’s was talking to us and examining Ruth. He felt her badly deformed back and without delay informed us that there was nothing could be done. He continued to explain why and the potential future impacts of that condition. Essentially she may live to her mid 20’s because of complications with her lungs.

He then went on to examine her hideous looking leg(I am not being disrespectful). He lifted her dress and examined up her thigh and squeezed the calf area and after about 5 min’s told us that the condition is neurofibrosmatosis. He explained that the only real solution is to amputate her leg about 6 in above her knee, and give her a prosthesis.

If her parents agreed they could fit her in mid May. I agreed that MCOH would cover the entire cost including transportation and mothers accommodation, the prosthesis etc. The total cost $1000.00 cdn. Can you believe it? I was so impressed with this hospital and with the staff. They were incredible.

As we climbed back into the combi, I felt a great relief that at least she would have some reasonable normality in her short life. We continued on to Nairobi. Neither Ruth nor her mother had ever been to the “big city” She was glued to the window as she ate the fresh mangoes and bananas we bought at a roadside stand for lunch. We said good buy to Faith, who was accompanying them back to the camp in Nakuru, another world away from the crowds and busyiness of the city. We then started our 5 hr drive to Mikinduri arriving after dark at 7.30.

Tomorrow is filled with meetings with the Community Dev Comm  as well as some inspections. Tonight I am working on doing an inspection on the accounts of the projects.

Even being in Mik seems like another world away from the camp in Nakuru. I got a phone call from Jessie, the camp director about some funds I left which I had allocated to the Polytechnique program. “Save the Children” had agreed to purchase some of the materials for the school desks and Jessie wanted permission to use the $1000.00 to purchase more sewing machines, since there are now 20 confirmed students in the tailoring program.

Our new jekos have been used in the kitchen at the camp and have performed well, so thanks to our technology committee members for that contribution.

The weather in Mik today was at least 35 degrees and it doesn’t get much cooler at night. The villagers tell me that is a pure sign of the start of the rainy season.(but not until I leave on sat).

I hope this email goes thru after all this one finger typing.

Prayers are needed for the mother of the little baby whom we rushed to hospital when we were here in Oct. He died on Monday from complications with malaria. I thought we were winning the battle with that little one.

Peninah, the mother of the little child who died, whom we sponsored for spina bifida shunt operations is working at the sewing center. She seems to be doing well. Jennifer the blind lady who runs the knitting machine says hi to all her friends from Can.

God bless to all. I will try to get off one more blog before I depart for home.

Happy Easter to all.

From Mikinduri

Ted

Saturday, March 15th

I apologize for not getting the above blog emailed. The system was down when I tried one day and it isn’t always convenient to get it done.

It is a very funny thing to say that it was another amazing two days (14 &15th) in the camp, when one is faced with so much misery.

We have been concentrating on three fronts

1) Buying and distributing foam mattresses and blankets for the elderly, the young mothers and the sickly, especially HIV/ Aids victims. Faith is a wonderful 18 yr old young lady volunteer, who is from Nakuru, and who started volunteering when the idp’s first started arriving in early Jan. She  visits  tent after tent verifying the individual requests for mattresses blankets etc. A Better World have been working with her since their arrival very early on in Jan. She does a great job.

2) Buying the materials and hiring the labour to build fuel efficient jekos.

3) Developing a trade school for the IDP’s, so that they can learn a trade like carpentry, masonry or tailoring, which will provide them an opportunity to earn a living when they eventually get settled some where. We have bought a lot of lumber and other supplies to start the school.

I must mention another of our great volunteers, Lona from Mikinduri, who is 20 yrs old, also a wonderful young lady. She has been trained by Karen to do the eye clinics. She has been handling the eye clinics since Karen and Greg departure, and has a great way with the clients.

One never knows what the next moment will bring. I had been asking Faith and Lona to keep an eye out for candidates who might need one of the two wheelchairs we took with us. Yesterday afternoon Faith took me to a tent to visit a 17 yr old girl who is quite mentally handicapped. She also has very limited use of her legs. It appears to be a severe case of polio. The best she can do is crawl around very slowly like a baby. She has a beautiful one yr old baby girl as a result of being raped. She lives with her mother in the tent, and hardly ever gets around because of the clay and dust. We had to lift her into the wheel chair. I have seldom been touched so deeply as that moment, when tears of joy flowed down her face, as a crowd of neighbours clapped for her. You can imagine how much her mother thanked us. The most beautiful part of this story is that as I was driving out of the camp about 15 minutes later, quite far from her tent, there she was being pushed around in her new wheelchair. Clarey Stubbert from Harding Med Supplies, who donates all the wheel chairs, truly made a life changing difference in that young lady’s life.

Sunday I plan to revisit this girl with one of the nurses to see if therapy might be helpful for her physical disability, if so, we will sponsor the cost of taking her to a very special hospital called Kajabi, near Nairobi.

I was walking thru one of the tent areas and noticed a small hunched over person, sort of shuffling along with a limp. As I drew closer to her from behind, I was shocked to see that her right leg was incredibly swollen from about the middle of her foot to above her knee. Her toes are normal size. It was not normal swelling, but rather appeared to be more like a very big growth of some sort. She also had a very bad case of curvature of the spine, the worst I have ever seen. When I found Faith, I asked if she knew of her. She confirmed that she knew her tent number. So we visited with her and her mother and one of the camp medical people. She is 13 yrs old, quite shy. Upon questioning, her mother informed us that when she was born, her leg was fatter than the other, and as she grew older, it had grown in size. She agreed to allow us to take them to Kajabi hospital as well. Perhaps there is something they can do for her back and her leg condition. As we assured the young girl that we would try to help her, a beautiful shy smile appeared. Please prey that something can be done to help her, otherwise she has a very long life to live in this condition.

Our work on the polytechnique school has been progressing well. On Friday morning, 18 young women showed up for their first day of class with Eunice. We don’t have all their tables finished yet, so they had to use another area. The carpenter class will have the tables finished by Mon afternoon, all nicely varnished.

The masonry people have built two more jekos. This time they were for an ngo called Action against Hunger. They run a feeding program for 500 children up to 5 yrs of age, They feed them twice a day. So these two jikoes will make a big diff to them not only in wasted, scarce wood, but also in reducing the smoke by a great amount. So in total, we have built 9 of them with four more to do on Monday, our last day at the camp.

Also on Monday, we are going to build an enclosure over and around the kitchen that feeds he feeds the 500 school kids, for which we built the gang of four jikos on wed. We are going to build it big enough to include an extra room for the volunteer teachers to have a place to escape from the class for a few minutes and also be able to store their supplies.

Our last day will be a very busy one. I have been invited to visit with the local president of Rotary in Nukuru to talk about a vision program. There will be lots to do, and things to clean up before departing.

Until next time,

From Camp Nakuru

Ted