Latest from the Amani Health Centre

AMANI PARTNERS KENYA

THANKS YOU!

Your dollars and prayers have been at work, and are appreciated throughout

the year!

Dear Amani Partners Kenya friends and supporters,

We had a wonderful and productive trip to Kenya in July. Our team of 6 held our 2nd Amani Health Centre medical camp of the year in partnership with our Kenyan colleagues. Over 1000 people were seen, the most in a very long time. Everyone worked together as a cohesive team even as we were, in Dr. Mike's words, "crazy busy".

We are grateful for your support. You have made Amani Health Centre 'happen' and now continue to grow!

Asante sana, (thank you)

Lynn

Come with us on a day in the life of the

Amani Partners Kenya

Medical Camp July, 2023

It's early morning on the first day of medical camp, and we're getting ready! This is the view down the hill from the Health Centre...

...and this is the view from the road.

Our official but friendly security guard is ready to greet people who will be arriving early and throughout the day.

The early morning sun shines on the registration tent. It's very peaceful and the birds are singing.

Meanwhile, inside the Health Centre, Melissa is doing a last minute cleaning of the dental room...

...and our Ophthalmologists, Dr. Frank and Dr. Mike, are making last minute adjustments to equipment even if it means lying on the floor to access it.

Then, after all our planning, packing, traveling, and setting up, we are ready to start welcoming clients! (Sue is in the room behind us preparing the auto-refractor to connect with the computer program that is used to match eyes with glasses. Melissa is in the dental room preparing for her first client.) There is a sense of excitement and anticipation that can be felt by everyone in the building!

Clients, who have been waiting outside the gate along the red dirt road, are invited in, about 10 at a time. (They had registered ahead of time at different locations for a particular day and time of day, and had paid their equivalent of 50 cents.) It's basically an organized waiting game! They wait, seated under the tent, to be checked in, when blood pressures and temperatures are taken and chief complaints identified. Then they sit and wait to be ushered inside, where they again sit in the halls outside the various rooms where they will be seen by medical personnel. They are very patient, but it's usually not a terribly long wait! And we give them cookies (biscuits) and clean water (maji safi), smiles and handshakes.

Dr. Frank is doing a preliminary exam on a client who comes with "eye problems."

Dr. Mike is using a newly purchased slit lamp. Most of you with glasses have had your eyes tested on one of these. A beam of light points inside the eye. We are excited to have this instrument at Amani.

Dr. Mike is doing cataract surgery on the 2nd floor of the Health Centre, with a trained Kenyan surgical tech. We are excited to have the equipment needed for this surgery at Amani.

Cataract surgery is new for the people in the villages. Being able to bring sight to the blind has been a long time dream of ours, and is a real blessing for the community.

Catelyn is helping a client understand where his chin should go on the autorefractor. It's a bit scary your first time. Sue is a master of the autorefractor - computer program

The laptop program attached to the autorefractor gives Catelyn several choices of used glasses that best match the person's refraction. The glasses are numbered and kept in order in plastic bins on shelves that have been made for that purpose.

A pair of glasses has been found, and....it's a match!

Across the hall, Lisa is testing eyes for best matches in reading glasses out of the hundreds that we have brought with us. She has a happy customer too!

We brought over 300 handmade glasses cases with us, thanks to Andrea Gordon and friends. People loved them!

Having teeth cleaned during a visit to the dentist is a new concept for the villagers. You can tell by this woman's face that she is not sure what is going to be happening.

But Melissa did a great job showing how it is done. We hope to concentrate on education and prevention, not just extraction.

Speaking of extractions, these people are waiting in line to have a tooth extracted, probably because of infection. They are smiling through their pain!

Dentist Janet has just begun to see people and is prepping for this woman's extraction. Don't worry, gloves will come on!

If a client has a general medical problem they will consult with a medic like this clinical officer. We have well equipped exam rooms.

If a client needs to have lab work done, they will see Virginia, our lab technician.

Our x ray technician did ultrasounds with our new machine.

A sweet family is talking with Dr. Frank. The colorful fabrics used for their clothes are amazing!

Alfred, our pharmacist, has been with us for 10 years, and is a friendly, energetic worker.

At the end of each medical camp the meds are pretty well, but not totally, depleted. Everyone will have received the medications that are prescribed, at no charge.

We have a new refrigerator in the pharmacy for perishable meds.

We have added health education classes and screenings, in the Amani Learning Centre, to our medical camps, and these have been well received. During the last few medical camps, our male clinical officer has talked to groups of men about prostate cancer, and one of our nurses to groups of women about breast and cervical cancer. Then each group is screened.

Lisa is checking women in for their screenings

The last stop at the Medical Camp: The pharmacy. These friendly women had finished their visits to one or more medics at Amani, and are waiting here to receive their prescribed meds from the pharmacy. This health care service is really important for people in the surrounding villages. They come in their "Sunday best" and say thank you over and over again. They always ask that God will bless all of you who are making this service possible. So I pass this on to you with humility and love.

Kudos to this Kenyan and American team that worked on your behalf to bring better health to underserved, underprivileged people in rural Kenya. We, from the states, volunteer our time and travel, but are happy that Amani Partners Kenya provides stipends to our Kenyan colleagues, because they make very little in their daily lives and work.

During the rest of the year, Dr. Frank provides medical and eye care including surgery at Amani every Wednesday. Our nurse, Ruth, provides medical care every day but Sunday. W have full time day and night watchmen, a cleaning person, part time lab and xray technicians who are on call, and a dentist who comes on Saturdays and by appointment. They are given small salaries by you, through Amani Partners Kenya. We look ahead at the days when we will grow into an increasingly thriving health centre with the best medical care in Nyamira county if not beyond!

Thank you for believing in the dream and helping us grow the Amani (Peace) Health Centre over the past 6 years. We look forward to partnering with you during the years of expansion and growth ahead!

Mungu akubarike, (God bless you)

Lynn, on behalf of the Board of Directors of Amani Partners Kenya, Inc

Amy O'Connell, President

Lynn Renne, Treasurer

Sydney McClary and Carol Watson, Co-Secretaries

Anirudh Banuru

Steve Burger

Amy Covington

Dr. Michel Gelinas

Kristian Lockyear

Laila Reyes-Schafer

Susan Solomon