Kenya: Lodwar Clinic and Turkana Drought Relief and Mobile Medical Outreach Project

Summary of RMF/MMI-sponsored activities carried out during the reporting period under each project objective:
 
– During the second quarter 2015, 2,312 patients were treated in the medical outreach clinics and 1,732 patients in the Lodwar Clinic.
– A total of 30 outreach clinics were conducted in the rural villages in the first quarter.
– 12 home visits (hospice visits) were made in the rural villages and within and around Lodwar Town to patients not able to come to the Lodwar Clinic.
– We made 15 referrals mostly collecting patients who were very sick from rural villages and transporting them to our clinic in Lodwar and Lodwar District Hospital.
– Continued public health education done at the beginning of every clinic session.
– Purchased medicines.
– The program met the cost of medical fees for some patients whom we referred for treatment to other secondary and tertiary health facilities. 
– The staff maintained the medicine inventory.
– The mobile clinic vehicle was serviced.

Results and/or accomplishments achieved during this reporting period:
 
– This quarter, we treated a total of 4,044 patients both in the Lodwar Clinic and villages.
– During this quarter, 1,732 laboratory tests were conducted with 806 tests showing positive results.  Many patients tested positive for malaria.
– The program conducted 30 outreach clinics in the rural villages where health facilities are far from reach.
– We made 12 home visits mostly in villages on the outskirts of Lodwar Town.
– We provided transportation for 15 referrals mostly from rural villages to health facilities in Lodwar.
– 558 children and expectant mothers were immunized where 214 were male children, 238 were female children and 106 were expectant mothers.
– Public health teaching was done at the beginning of every clinic day for the patients who arrive early and individual teaching on specific cases in the course of treatment.
– Purchased medicines from pharmaceutical company in Nairobi, Kenya.
– The program paid salaries for the staff.
– The mobile clinic vehicle serviced.
– The new room for maternal-child health services and medication storage was completed.

Number served/number of direct project beneficiaries:
 
A total of 4,044 patients were treated during this quarter; 1,676 patients were male and 2,368 were female. We treated 5,374 cases during this quarter.

Notable project challenges and obstacles:
 
The present maternal-child health clinic does not have adequate space to cater to the population requiring its services. Two additional rooms in the clinic are required to relieve the congestion in the current small building, which currently lacks a friendly environment for women presenting for prenatal care and for children visiting the clinic for immunizations.
 
Maternal-child health services are currently not sufficient to provide for all the patients in rural villages needing these services, where, i.e. children are not immunized against childhood immunizable diseases. The major problem is a shortage of staff that can offer these services to mothers and children. Three additional staff members would be required to run these programs to ensure adequate provision of maternal and child healthcare to the population we are serving.

If applicable, plans for next reporting:
 
– 36 mobile clinics in the next quarter.
– Make emergency trips to villages and offer transport to Lodwar District Hospital if needed; especially for complicated obstetrics deliveries and other medical conditions.
– 12 hospice services (home visits) in the next quarter.
– Consider how to best meet the needs of the special cases, which require funds not in the budget.
– Pay salaries for the staff.
– Purchase medicine from pharmaceutical company in Nairobi, Kenya at least on monthly basis.
– Continue supporting education for staff members, including additional training for the nurse in charge.
– Continue looking for additional means of support like the County Government of Turkana supplying the program with medicines on a quarterly basis through the Ministry of Health.

Success story(s) highlighting project impact.
 
1.  Health education is the key in promoting health.  This past quarter our program intensified health education in all villages in a bid to promote good health among the rural population. The villagers had sessions on various topics related to health problems facing the community. The topics given included personal hygiene, good use of pharmaceuticals, good nutrition and food nutrients, prompt seeking of treatment when sick, boiling of water, practicing farming along the Turkwel River for families living on the banks of the river, and the need to take children to school. During this period we had a nutritionist from the government whom we invited to teach people on nutrition. This was positively received by the communities living in the rural areas, and they wish such detailed sessions to be held in every outreach.

2. In June we managed to take David Ekai, an 8 year old boy, for a very important surgical procedure at Lodwar District Hospital where he had a urinary stone in the urinary bladder removed.  David had this condition over the last three years; Dr. Rebekah’s brother, Nathan, paid for his medical investigation at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where scanning was carried out and the result revealed no urinary stones at that time.  Also, urinalysis was done and showed an infection which was treated by then.

However, recently the grandmother brought David to our Lodwar Clinic because the same pain with passing urine had started again; he was also passing bloody urine. This time, the team was able to take him to Lodwar District Hospital to see the visiting pediatric surgeon. The patient was scanned and found to have a urinary stone; he underwent surgery successfully.

David Ekai and his grandmother are full of joy and grateful for the good that our program has done to them. The grandmother thanks all those who made it possible for David to have successful surgery. She had no money to take him to the hospital but our health program, thanks to our generous donors, did everything to cure his disease.

3. Mercy, eight years old, sustained burns to half of her right upper arm while cooking with her grandmother over a fire at night.  By accident, she had hot soup poured on her by her grandmother in the kitchen.  Mercy lives with her grandmother in Nabuin Village, about ten miles from Lodwar Town and had to walk up to our clinic in Lodwar to seek treatment. In the clinic, Mercy received treatment with dressing on alternate days.  The treatment took one week. Her grandmother was grateful for the free services that Mercy received since she had no money to pay any medical bill.

4. The extra building to accommodate the maternal-child health clinic work was built!  It allows for appropriate space for immunization clinics and prenatal care.  Thanks so much to RMF and MMI for the generous funding for providing this much needed space!