Trip Summary | June 2014

The Mary Ballard Medical Clinic is open!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A group of 10 volunteers, including two doctors and a nurse, traveled to Kenya from June 7th – 22nd. The main mission of the trip was to officially open the Mary Ballard Medical Clinic in Amani and to see patients at other locations in the area. The group also visited several schools and farms supported by Hearts for Kenya.

 

The Mary Ballard Medical Clinic

To prepare for the grand opening, the group painted signs; cleaned, organized and stocked the pharmacy; prepared the exam rooms and painted animals on the walls for the children. Final work on the electrical and septic systems was also completed.

In the first four days that it was open, the Mary Ballard Medical Clinic saw more than 450 patients. It has already been a great help to the farmers of the Amani community. The current water tank provides clean water for the patients, but the addition of two more will ensure adequate supply during the dry season.

Our group also saw patients at three different locations in the area, including a church and a preschool. Doctors saw about 350 patients at these improvised clinics, treating everything from cuts and scrapes to malaria.

Schools & Farms Update

The area has had good rains so far this season, so when our group went to visit some of the farmers in our co-op, the crops were all looking very good. The farmers should have a great harvest in another 3 to 4 weeks.

At the schools that Hearts for Kenya supports, the crops also looked good. The harvest will support the feeding program we have created that allows more than 8,000 students to have at least one meal a day.

The school also brought school supplies and soccer balls to each school visited, and worked with local carpenters to build a swingset for the Sikiri preschool. The teachers and students were very pleased. Our group also replaced many broken window panes in the Amani Center and the preschool building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asante Sana! (Thank You!)

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this trip a reality, especially

• Steepleton in Louisville for donating the playground swings
• The 5th grade students at Goshen Elementary School in Kentucky for raising funds from cookbook sales and for collecting supplies
• Students at St. Matthew’s Elementary School in Columbus, Ga for collecting medical supplies to stock the clinic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trip was a great experience for everyone involved. It was life changing for those who traveled to Amani and, because of the work they did, it was also life changing for the people of the Amani community.