Health Care In Africa

On a broader outlook, De-worm the World, a Young Global Leaders project, plans to bring treatment to 25 million children worldwide. Children suffering with worms usually display stunted development and impaired education.

Kenya Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga is quoted to say "Many people in the developing world don't know the importance of child-based worming as one of the most serious public health-based problems. Children are often too sick and weak to study at school or even to attend school at all...Children with worms are 13% more likely to be illiterate."

The Prime Minister has great hopes for the success of the program that will strengthen health care in Africa significantly.

We drove the old land rover to the clinic and loaded up a good amount of medical supplies, an older village woman complete with her own chair, and the team of nurses who would be assisting Zara, the clinic's director.

With Zara and I in front with Jim, and the rest securely in back, we set off on what they estimated to be an hour drive into the desert for an up close and personal experience of Africa health issues.

It Didn't Go Quite As Planned

Well after the hour mark we were still heading further out under Zara's direction. The road came to an unexpected end where it had been washed out by the major flooding they had experienced just weeks before we arrived.

This was a devastating blow to the region, being the worst flooding experienced in 50 years.

Photo © The Julia Project Foundation
Flooded road in outlying area of Garissa

After a brief discussion it was decided that the best option was to drive down into the washed out area, go further down and look for an opening up and out the other side and continue along to the village.

Poor Jim!

Stuck in a dry bed of sandy washed out road with a truckload of women on a typically hot Kenya day and no apparent way out in sight. The only recourse was to back-track and hope for the best.

So...everyone...including the older woman with her chair, and Zara with her cane, had to be unloaded from the truck while Jim worked away at getting it "unstuck" from the sand and back onto the road.

Zara only knew the way by this one road that was impassable. Where to go now was the big question.

Angels In The Desert?

At this point be assured that I was praying for HELP! Divinely, right about then, two young men appeared from what seemed to be nowhere -- and we were in the middle of nowhere as far as I was concerned! One hopped in the back with the girls and directed us to an alternative makeshift route that eventually took us to our destination, which happened to be his home village.

Under An African Tree

After much discussion, none of which Jim or I understood, some that seemed rather heated and even more that seemed to be heavily influenced by the old woman in the chair -- we were asked to back the truck up close to a nearby tree.

Zara medical outreach

Photo © The Julia Project Foundation
Medical outreach in remote village

A little table and a couple of chairs were set under the tree for Zara and her helpers. After Jim unloaded most of the supplies, we parked the land rover several yards away under the shade of another nearby tree and watched health care in Africa happen.

medical outreach under the tree

Slowly at first, and then quite steadily for hours later they came. There were African women with their babies and young children, men, and the village elders. They all gathered under the tree while Zara and the nurses ministered to them well into the heat of the afternoon without a break. This was health care in Africa in action.

Most of what was treated were typical Africa health issues related to respiratory, dysentery, malaria, parasitic worms, and general new-born or maternity health issues. These are among the most common of health problems faced in Africa. Zara challenged me to think of what life is like in these remote areas in the middle of the night when a child is crying out in pain and no relief is available. Or, harder still, for many mothers to lose their infants due to complications during childbirth with no assistance to call on.

Once again, we were so grateful for all the wonderful medical care so readily available to us at home. Faced with this strong contrast in this little village typical to so many African outlying areas, how could we not be?

We have so much...they have so little. Like Jim and I, you might want to help improve health care in Africa too.

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