School Visits

Breaking the Cycle When surveying the problems that plague Sub-Saharan Africa, we tend to be overwhelmed and lose focus and hope.  Drought, famine, HIV/AIDS, malaria, poverty, tuberculosis, parasites, typhoid, tribal warfare, unemployment, contaminated drinking water and violence are intimidating.  Too often it seems that we are applying band-aids on gaping wounds without attempting to solve the underlying problems.  We rush to the immediate need to extinguish fires wherever we can, only to watch them reignite when we turn our attention elsewhere.  The East Africa Partnership is attempting to develop comprehensive care for the people of East Africa by focusing on the root causes of their major problems and creating programs that are self-sustaining.  One of our most important mission goals is investing in the health, education, and future of children.

As the East Africa Partnership developed a health care program, we formed the infrastructure to assist children in the community.  Our health care clinics, located in suburban and rural locations, reach at least 25,000 people and are staffed with well-trained medical personnel.  We also conduct mobile clinics throughout Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania.  Additionally, we have established a parish nursing program to increase the effectiveness of these clinics.  A parish nurse is a layperson or nurse, who is trained in basic medical care and is usually certified as an HIV/AIDs counselor.  They are able to educate their families, friends, schools and congregations about health and give medical advice.  Visiting at least two local churches or schools each month, the parish nurse is responsible for giving a quick examination to someone who is ill, providing preventative care protocols, giving educational lectures and determining the need of a patient to go to the health clinic.  The Partnership has already trained 42 parish nurses, and many more are currently taking classes.

Vaccinations, taken for granted in most Western countries, are finally being given by the governments in East Africa.  With proper vaccination, it is possible to prevent mumps, measles, yellow fever, tetanus, cholera, the bubonic plague, polio, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.  Despite dedicating multiple resources to furnish free vaccines for children, the government of Kenya has encountered many obstacles to providing proper care to every child.  Further, as the government focused more on HIV/AIDs, the vaccination program became less effective.  A recent Partnership medical trip treated more than 500 children at a rural school for mumps, which had rapidly spread through the entire student population.  The vaccination for mumps is currently not recommended by the Kenya government.

The major challenges of country wide vaccinations include:  i) lack of medical personnel to administer the vaccines, ii) lack of vaccines, iii) inability to store refrigerated vaccines in rural areas, iv) inability to transport refrigerated vaccines and v) poor record-keeping.  The challenge of documenting vaccinations for children in the United States is formidable. In Kenya, without computerized records and a comprehensive vaccination program, it is a Herculean task.  As part of our infrastructure development, we have resolved the last three issues and taken steps to address the first two.

Another, more insidious, challenge for children in East Africa is the lack of eye and ear examinations.  Problems with vision or hearing usually go undiagnosed with drastic effects for the child.  Most classrooms house 70-100 children without electricity. Consequently, natural light is the only light source available. When a child cannot see the tar paper used as a blackboard or hear the teacher, he or she is often assumed to be ‘slow.’  These children are ignored often because the teachers elect to concentrate their limited time with students they believe can be helped.  During our medical trips, we have seen children with cataracts so severe they are unable to walk without stumbling over every small rock in their path. Often they are called clumsy or misdiagnosed with epilepsy.  Hearing difficulties are also extremely common.  Sometimes a hearing challenged children present at a clinic with so much earwax buildup that they are unable to hear.  In these cases, the medical team is often able to perform what seems like a miracle—a few minutes to clean the ears and the child can hear again.  Almost as common and much more tragic are the children who, having been taught to clean their ears with sticks found on the road, puncture their eardrums.  Even when they are properly diagnosed, there is little that can be done to restore hearing for them.  Custom-made glasses are prohibitively expensive for most families and hearing aids are rarer.  Children with eye and ear problems are often condemned to a life without education and no hope for improvement.

Preventable diseases abound in Sub-Saharan African; proper education is the single most important aspect in improving the health of the people of East Africa.  Knowledge can reduce or eliminate some of the major killers in Africa: typhoid, malaria, HIV/AIDS, dysentery, worms and other parasites, fungal infections, tuberculosis, and many others.  Unfortunately, there is no widespread or consistent system to educate the populace on how to avoid contracting these conditions. The schools include the discussion of these health issues at the end of primary school.  Millions of dollars are expended by the Kenyan government and charitable aid groups to treat these diseases when little attention is paid to the prevention and breaking the cycle of disease.
The East Africa Partnership has developed a program to address all these major issues—vaccinations, eye and ear problems, and education—called “Breaking the Cycle.”  The program depends on medical personnel and parish nurses who have already been trained and prepared to serve in their communities.  At the beginning of every school year a medical person will visit each primary school.  Their priority is to ensure that every child has received the proper vaccinations.  Any child who has not been properly vaccinated will be promptly vaccinated with the free vaccines provided by the government of Kenya.  This will prevent children from maturing unprotected from preventable diseases.  It will also assure that their parents track immunizations so that the child can be accepted into school.  Secondly, the nurses will administer a routine eye and ear exam to every child in the school.  Any child found to have deficient eyesight or hearing will be asked to visit the health care clinic and undergo a more thorough exam.  Charitable groups have donated glasses and hearing aids to our program, and children who are in need will be given what they require free of charge.  Finally, through early education on their health, children will be given the knowledge and tools to break the cycle of disease.  They will be taught about the importance of personal hygiene in preventing disease, the dangers of contaminated drinking water, prevention techniques for fungal infections, how to avoid lice and scabies, how to clean their ears and teeth, avoidance of worms and other parasites, and basic wound care, to prevent infection in the common childhood cuts and scrapes . The children will also learn how to determine when an illness is serious enough to see a doctor or nurse immediately.

The program will be used to break the cycle of disease in these communities.  It takes advantage of the support of the Kenyan government and charitable organizations to provide vaccines, glasses, and hearing aids to those in need.  Basic education for the children will greatly improve their health and ability to learn.  Because of the partnerships with charitable organizations and the government, this program will also be run at a minimal cost; $6.25 per day for a trained nurse.   There are 500 schools in the area currently covered by East Africa Partnership.  For $25,000 we could reach all of these schools.  With the cooperation of the government and other Presbyteries, both of which have committed to this program, and with an investment of $250,000 per year we could reach all of the children in Kenya as they start school.  Children, who have never received immunizations, had their eyes and ears checked, or been told why their heads are always itching will be examined and treated.  Education and prevention can save lives and empower people with control over their own health.  Once successful, this program can be expanded throughout Kenya.  The East Africa Partnership has already started training nurses and healthcare workers in other areas to extend this preventative treatment to all children.

The smile on a child’s face when she first hears sound clearly is music to our hearts. Healthy communities will flourish and lives will be transformed with the simple treatments and humble hearts.

copyright 2010, East Africa Partnership, Inc. All Rights Reserved.