A outstanding Canadian cell clinic service in distant Kenyan villages is branching out to handle maternal toddler mortality dangers by including a bike ambulance service.
A outstanding Canadian cell clinic service in distant Kenyan villages is branching out to handle maternal toddler mortality dangers by including a bike ambulance service.
Based by Gail Wolters in 2007, the group’s President, Oakville’s Patti Harbman, PhD, MN, NP-PHC, made the announcement at a profitable fundraising occasion in Oakville, the place she was offered a certificates of recognition for the group by Mayor Rob Burton.
Other than the pandemic years, a bunch of Canadian Nurses has been travelling to Kenya in West Africa yearly. Taking treasured trip time and flying at their very own expense, the nurses ship main well being care to distant villages.
Arriving in Kakamega, Vihiga county, about 10 hours’ drive from Nairobi airport, they stand up each morning early and journey in a special path every day, to arrange a clinic in a college or church. The villages they go to not often have operating water or electrical energy, and most housing has dust flooring.
Every morning, a protracted line of sufferers, who’ve typically walked lengthy distances awaits them. 
The roughly 14 nurses work continuous to supply care. They see malaria sufferers, wounds, fractures and lots of different illnesses. Once they can’t take care of the problem themselves, they fund transportation and care to distant hospitals. One frequent downside, particularly in youngsters, is jiggers, a sand flea that burrows below the pores and skin within the toes. Canadian Nurses for Africa (CNFA) treats this and restores the youngsters’s toes rapidly and simply, and so they fund and handle an ongoing therapy program that carries on all yr spherical whereas they’re again in Canada.
The remedies they supply convey individuals again to well being, typically enabling a household breadwinner to work once more. In a two-week interval they’ll see greater than seven thousand sufferers.
Among the many well being issues they’ve noticed within the area are the dangers to moms and infants in childbirth. Issues typically outcome within the demise of both mom or little one and typically each. It is just too far to get to the amenities wanted to take care of something that goes improper.
Studying of a program to handle the problem with specifically designed E-ranger bike ambulances in Uganda, CNFA contacted the Wales based mostly group, PONT (Partnerships Abroad Networking Belief), and researched the potential for introducing this extremely profitable answer in Kenya.
Bikes with sidecars are chosen as a result of they’re higher in a position to negotiate the difficult roads of the world, and naturally due to the price.
As soon as it had the approval of the Kenyan authorities for the challenge, CNFA set about elevating funds to purchase and equip bike ambulances and practice Neighborhood Well being Staff to function them.
Oakville didn’t disappoint. Plenty of households and foundations stepped ahead to finance a number of E-rangers. This was made simpler owing to beneficiant matching items by Oakville’s Cooper Building and an area philanthropist couple.
This challenge will save the lives of moms and infants in rural Kenya. Oakville may be happy with Dr. Harbman and CNFA for his or her life altering work. We want them each success on this thrilling, optimistic new initiative.
