This morning we visited a local health clinic, about one hour away from our camp where we will be doing our survey in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, all clinics and hospitals in Kenya are free – some funded by the government, and some, like the one we visited today with private funding. The clinic we visited today was built and is funded by a nurse from Chicago who used to vacation in Kenya at Amboseli national park. The clinic is always stocked with food and medications, most of which comes from Nairobi, but some that comes from the aid programs in the United States and other countries.

The clinic is free, however many Kenyans trust their own medicinal practices and medications rather than the doctors that work at the clinic. I should mention that all of the doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses were from Kenya (for the most part I believe). The head doctor of the clinic told us that medical training in the country is very extensive; there are not specialties (OB, orthopedics, radiologists…) but instead each doctor needs to have the skills to perform from every area of medicine.

The director of the clinic was kind enough to give us a tour of the whole facility. The waiting area is outside under a covered pavilion, and there is currently one ward which holds up to 40 patients (this serves as a doctor’s office/clinic and overnight hospital). We got to walk through the pharmacy and stock rooms which were filled with prenatal vitamins, milk and formula to prevent the spread of HIV from mother to baby. High protein peanuts and other foods were also stored in the pharmacy and are given to the patients receiving medications to help speed their recovery. The laboratory had four technicians working a wide variety of lab equipment to do all of the necessary testing. All of the medical staff live at the clinic (their homes, dining hall, and shower houses are all right on site) and work 8 hour shifts 6 days a week. I was really impressed with all of the medical services the clinic is able to provide – especially free of charge, I would love to meet the women who fund this all! There are currently new buildings in construction that will hold an additional 40-50 patients. The pharmacy said they usually fill 500 prescriptions a day so more room seems necessary!

The clinic also had a public health department with outreach programs for clean water (water testing and distribution of PUR water packets), HIV/AIDS testing, education, and support groups, establishment of proper latrines, and health and nutrition services. The public health study that our group will be doing covers many of the areas which the clinic’s public health department promotes. They were very pleased to learn about our survey and are anxious to see the results and statistics to see how their programs are working.

Check out the website for PUR Water products to learn more about the packets used to purify water here in Kenya. There is a video you can watch to see how they work and you can also make a donation. $1 buys 10 packets!! J