Two years ago my wife, Sandy and I had been part of a team running Primary Healthcare Courses in Kenya. This year we were taking the best of those trained in 2005 and assisting them to run their own course with a new set of delegates.

At the same time we set up a free eye clinic for the people in the area. We bought 750 pairs of glasses and gave out 622 in the week. 750 patients were seen, there were 6 referrals for Glaucoma and 25 for Cataracts and one emergency operation was carried out in the Optician’s room! Afterwards we were able to underwrite all of the Glaucoma and 6 of the Cataract operations.

Our second week was taken up with visiting projects. I was particularly interested in a cow that had been paid for by the company that I work for in Stevenage. This was the second cow that we had bought as the first one had unfortunately died and I was keen to see how Charity II, as she was known, was progressing.

The school that had been chosen was Ena Primary and on the day of our visit the headmaster, Harry Karuga had extra lessons going on for several of his classes as schools in Kenya are normally closed during August.

Ena has 600 pupils and 18 teachers and a nursery with a further 200 children. The cow had been purchased for 28000 Kenya Shillings (£215) and is producing 14 litres of milk per day which is enough to give a drink to the children in the nursery. The surplus is sold to the neighbourhood and the money has paid for the end of term exam for needy children in the school, some of whom have been orphaned due to AIDS. The local community has provided Napier grass to feed the cow and helped to build the grazing unit.

The cow had been supplied in April and she had been served in May. If Charity II calves successfully we expect that the firstborn will be given to another community group. After that Ena School can do what they choose with further animals that are produced. During our visit some of the older girls assembled and sang to us as a gesture of thanks.

We also visited another cow that had recently been placed with Wadeni Women’s Self Help Group. The sponsors were Hoddeston District Nursing Team, who had held a car boot sale to raise the money. Booty was placed in June 2007 and gave birth soon after to Caroline. It was particularly good to visit this cow as Liz Hawkins, one of the nurses who had bought the cow had come with us on this visit. Both mother and calf are doing well and the ladies are very grateful. Caroline will be passed on to another group after 6 months.

During the rest of our time we visited the local cottage hospital and gave out blankets for the babies, arranged for irrigation pump and brick making demonstrations to prospective candidates for interest free loans, distributed 4150 Mosquito nets to schools and gave out toys to children in an orphan’s home in Embu, the nearest town to our base. We also gave pens pencils and rulers out to Madam Grace Kauma, the Principal of Plainsview Academy and Patrick Nyaga the Administrator at Kivuria School for Physically Handicapped children.

This was my second visit to Kenya; the first being in 2005 when we helped set up a Primary Healthcare course and assisted with a free eye clinic with an Optician from the UK.

This time we were doing a similar thing but the Optician was a Kenyan, whose name was James. He actually was also a retired surgeon. Accompanying us too were Christine, a retired Administrator and Elizabeth, a Practice nurse from Great Amwell. Christine worked in the Optician's room whilst Liz assisted me on a part time basis. There were several young Kenyans on hand to assist with translations. 

The first day at the eye clinic was pretty steady, patients walking various distances from Runyenjes and Embu to have a free eye test and if needed a free pair of glasses. But then of course word got out on the Kenyan grapevine that we were carrying out these free eye tests and boy the next day they were queuing from 7.30 in the morning!

Thankfully the weather picked up too, because the first two weeks in August in Kenya had been pretty cold, but we were told that it could be cool at this time of year. They also had had a reasonable amount of rain which was unusual. We started the day at roughly 8:00am to 8.30 and finished at 5:00pm. The majority of the patients we saw were either Cataract or Glaucoma patients but we did have to carry out a minor operation or should I say the Optician did with the help of Christine. The patient had managed to get a husk of a small plant (unsure what plant) imbedded in his eye which the Optician managed to remove thankfully, and I should think the patient was pretty glad too.

We bought the glasses through donations to Peacemakers. The total number of patients seen were 750, 622 of these received glasses. Patients needing Cataract operations came to 25 and 6 Glaucoma. So I think the majority of patients went away happy. The good news is that we have been able to underwrite all of the Glaucoma and 6 of the Cataract operations.

The Snellen Eye Charts were provided free of charge by Vision Aid International.

Malaria kills many in Kenya, particularly the young (including babies) and much work is needed to educate the rural population to take preventative measures and protect themselves. The local Medical Officer had confirmed that Malaria is responsible for 33% of all deaths in the country so Peacemakers were ready to help.

If you looked at the DVD of the Peacemaker’s August/September 2006 trip to Kenya you would have seen a distressed mother and her 7 month old baby (one of twin boys), possibly dying of malaria. He was being administered life saving treatment and we now know there is a happy sequel to those distressing scenes. This photograph was taken a few days later and as you can see the baby is alive and well with a relieved and happy mother.

If you looked at the DVD of the Peacemaker’s August/September 2006 trip to Kenya you would have seen a distressed mother and her 7 month old baby (one of twin boys), possibly dying of malaria. He was being administered life saving treatment and we now know there is a happy sequel to those distressing scenes. This photograph was taken a few days later and as you can see the baby is alive and well with a relieved and happy mother.
In the same baby unit the narrator on the DVD mentioned “Abandoned babies”.
	In the same baby unit the narrator on the DVD mentioned “Abandoned babies”. This photo is a close-up of one of them. The only comfort and love the baby has is a knitted blanket donated by a sponsor that cared. The baby is in waiting to placed somewhere. These babies are abandoned by there young mothers at birth. The mothers are probably dying of aids and are unable to cope with a baby. Can you help us to set up a haven or drop-in centre, where pregnant girls can come anonymously for care, a bed and maybe medication? When the baby is born, it will not need to be left abandoned in a sewer
or similar place for hopefully the police to find before it is too late! Instead it would have already be in a place of love and care in a community, even if unfortunately the mother dies.
This is a primary school in rural Kenya where free double sized, treated mosquito nets are being distributed to every child in the school to take home. They are big enough for a family.
	This photo shows a demonstration to children and their parents, on setting up and using a net in their ‘shambas’ (homes).
This photograph displays mothers and their babies arriving at the school when they heard that free mosquito nets were being given out. Peacemakers only had enough for the school children and their families on that particular day. The young mothers in the photo went without, but if you would like to purchase a mosquito net for them at a small price of £1.00 per net – then please send your donation to Peacemakers in the knowledge that every penny will help to save a family’s life.

Kingsbury Women’s Institute.

At their meeting on the 21^st August 2007, members of the Kingsbury W.I. arranged a colourful display of knitted clothes, blankets and toys, under the Kenyan flag.


Kingsbury W.I. Secetary Gill & President Linda

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