Medical Camp in Maasai Land

A medical team from the U.S. recently traveled to Kenya to provide care and comfort in two different locations. A collaboration between First Central Presbyterian Church, Abilene, Texas, the PCEA hospital, churches on the ground, and a local hospital, St. Crispin, the team spent 5 days caring for over 700 patients. Here is an excerpt from their report:

Dear friends,

We started this adventure on November 1 and completed it on November 5. We had camps in two different locations outside of Kajiado town, KMQ and Nandupoi. We collaborated with several groups who provided the following:

PCEA Kikuyu Hospital – 3 eye unit employees, an orthopedist, and a pediatrician
St. Crispin Hospital in Kajiado – 3 general doctors
First Central Presbyterian Church, Abilene, Texas – ENT doctor, endocrinologist, 2 nurses, 2 non-medical personnel
The Outreach Foundation – 3 organizers

We saw 768 patients during the five days spent there. We collected blood pressures, temperatures, O2 saturation, some blood sugars, and urinalysis where indicated. We had the ability to do ultrasounds, urinalysis, and EKGs.

We started off in KMQ (Kenya Marble Quarry), a small town with a population of about 5,000 located about 15 km off the Namanga highway. We picked this location because of the population and the fact that we have a church there, PCEA Nasuruni Church, which we used as our base of operation. Drugs had been procured in advance with the help of Kikuyu Hospital and St. Crispin. They were stored and distributed from the lockable vestry of the church. We saw 234 patients on the first day, 205 on the second, and 115 on the final day, a half-day. Almost all the patients that we saw received eyeglasses and/or medications. In total, we saw 554 patients in 2 1/2 days. Then we packed up and moved to Nandupoi approximately 25 km further into the interior.

We chose Nandupoi because there was a church presence there also and church leaders that we could work with on the ground. PCEA Nandupoi Church served as our base. This is a far less populated area and the patient traffic was less but still needed medical attention. We cared for 214 patients in Nandupoi.

In both locations, we had an evangelist who was dedicated to assisting and praying with patients. Local churches provided leaders for registration, door monitors, and translators. The local women provided tea, water, and bread for the workers.

The different teams worked extremely well together. It was truly an outstanding collaboration. We thought the final outcome was excellent but can be even better in future medical camps. We look forward to our next endeavor.

Blessings,

The Bush Medical Team