I was honored to be invited to speak at the GlobalFest SnoCo -- an event that highlighted the work of local non-profits in the healthcare and development arena -- this last Friday. Here is an excerpt from my talk, celebrating the work of these amazing women -- Margaret, Perris and Jane -- who run Cura's Clinic:
Our work caring for orphans
isn’t exactly a public health project, but it is tied to a larger philosophical
question about what creates long term health for both an individual and her
community, of course. And that broader
definition of health is actually what we’re after.
Of course, we knew right from
the beginning that medical care would be a key part of our community health
project. So, at the same time as we were building the Home, we constructed a
basic medical clinic only steps away. This facility is small and
under-supplied, but it’s local and inexpensive and an enormous step up from the
options local villagers had prior to its construction.
In 2007, donations from the US paid the salary and the room and board of a
full-time nurse, but the Clinic quickly became economically self-sustaining
because of the constant flow of men, women and children who were eager to
utilize this local facility for their basic health care needs. Now, the Clinic
employs not only the nurse, but also a lab technician and an office manager,
all women who are deeply committed to the health and health education of the
community in which they live and work.
During my last visit to Cura,
I had a long set of interviews with Jane, Margaret and Perris, the women who provide
the services that save patients the time and expense of traveling to Nairobi to
access basic care – and charge very little to do so.
They told me that, at the current exchange rate,
a pregnancy test, for example, costs patients $1.18, and an HIV test costs
$1.76. The Clinic is in demand for these
and other tests and treatments, like for malaria and for typhoid, diseases that
are still pervasive in the rural Cura area.
Noting that prevention is really
the best medicine, the staff also provides immunizations for local children and
families. Over the last several years, these three women have mobilized
immunization efforts for diptheria, measles, yellow fever, pertussis, Hepatitis
B and more.
Of course, they also are
called upon to do basic first aid care and triage for referrals to
farther-flung facilities, when necessary. They offer basic pre-natal care, but
they also provide referrals to qualified midwives and physicians, so local
women get the pregnancy, childbirth and lactation support they need.
For anywhere between $300 and
$500 per event, the Clinic can also host workshops to teach the community about
health-related issues. They recently held a program, for example, on the
glamorous topic of hand-washing and the prevention of intestinal worms. 800
local school children got to practice good hygiene and get soaps and sanitizers
to take home – and they even got a healthy snack mid-afternoon! These
programs have enormous impact and are inexpensive by Western standards, but
even a couple hundred dollars is often prohibitive.
And free soaps and the like are often only available if they come in as
donations from well-wishers in Nairobi and beyond. Though I can’t bring proper
medical supplies or treatments in my own luggage, I’ve personally carried
things like sanitary pads, soap and sanitizer when I travel – and I’ve lugged
hundreds of toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss, donated by my own
dentist.
These donations of items and
funds to support the work of the Clinic are relatively few and far between, but the
three women who work there make the most of everything that comes their way. We
are immensely proud of the work the Clinic staff does to keep the Cura
community healthy, while also recognizing that they are working within
frustrating limitations.
