[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 863

Sat Jan 17 10:06:04 EST 2009

Regards

Garry Krischock

Runaway Bay Qld
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1. 

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1550;_ylc=X3oDMTJxOGZvO
WUwBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzE1N
TAEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIzMjE0MDE0MQ--> 1630: Medical mission
provides care for Kenyan children 

Posted by: "Sunil K Zachariah" sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk
<mailto:sunilkzach at yahoo.co.uk?Subject=%20Re%3A1630%3A%20Medical%20mission%2
0provides%20care%20for%20Kenyan%20children>    sunilkzach
<http://profiles.yahoo.com/sunilkzach> 

Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:45 pm (PST) 

Medical mission provides care for Kenyan children By Ryan Hyland

[http://www.rotary.org/SiteCollectionImages/Gallery/nairobimedical/1.jpg\
<http://www.rotary.org/SiteCollectionImages/Gallery/nairobimedical/1.jpg> 
] Bob Elser, a physician and a member of the Rotary Club of York-East,
Pennsylvania, USA, spends time with children during a medical mission in
Nairobi, Kenya, in September. Photo courtesy of Connie Spark. 

During a massive Rotary club-sponsored medical mission in September, a
team of 70 volunteers from 11 countries provided preventive health care
to more than 10,000 children in the poorest communities of Nairobi,
Kenya.

The medical team, including health care professionals and nonmedical
volunteers, screened patients to determine their most urgent needs
before sending them to specialty stations set up to provide dental care,
eye care, nutrition counseling, and treatment of infections.

"I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of this mission
and share my skills and knowledge in a way that may improve the lives of
the children," says Joseph Rebman, an optometrist from the Rotary Club
of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA. "In the midst of such astonishing
poverty, the children were generous in their smiles and waves."

The medical mission, the 10th of its kind and the first in Kenya,
focused on the health needs of children living in the slums of Mukuru,
Mathare, and Korogocho outside Nairobi, where the poverty rate is high
and preventive medical care is lacking.

The international team was hosted by the Rotary Club of Nairobi North,
many of them members of Rotarians for Fighting AIDS, a Rotarian Action
Group. The RFFA was one of several mobilizing partners, along with Hope
Worldwide <http://www.hopeww.org/> , AmericaShare
<http://www.americashare.org/> (the charitable arm of Micato Safaris),
and the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation
<http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/foundation_local.html#a>
.

In cooperation with RFFA, Hope Worldwide offered HIV testing and
counseling during the mission.
Changing lives
The medical team treated as many as 3,000 children a day. Co-team leader
Connie Spark, governor-elect of District 7390 (Pennsylvania), said the
communities benefit from better hygiene, disease prevention, and
education.

"Hundreds of happy-faced children lined the path, waving and chanting
happy goodbyes as we left the Mukuru camp on the last day," says Spark.
"That was quite a difference from the stares and solemn faces we passed
on the first day. This international team changed many lives with their
medical assistance."

The team had to turn away hundreds of people, mostly adults, says
Patricia Santos, a nurse and a member of the Rotary Club of
Americana-Carioba, São Paulo, Brazil.

"It was difficult to only focus on children with so many adults needing
care as well," says Santos. "But what we did accomplish will go a long
way. Providing health education will produce long-term benefits."

Santos said this was her fourth medical mission with Rotary. Her father,
Waldir, a Rotarian and past district governor, joined her in Nairobi.

"After these medical missions, I become a better and stronger Rotarian,"
says Santos. "I understand more about what Rotary is all about. Anyone
who goes through something like this will have a clearer vision of why
they are Rotarians."

Local physicians and other Kenyan health care professionals took part to
ensure that patients would continue to receive care after the mission
concluded.

The mission was supported by contributions totaling US$38,000, including
a $16,000 Matching Grant from The Rotary Foundation. Clubs in
Pennsylvania and Georgia, USA, and Kenya also contributed funds.

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Source:Rotary International News / Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

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