By Stacy Harris | Program Coordinator
DR.PATEL PERFORMS SURGERY AT KAREN HOSPITAL IN KENYA
Global FICS Founder and Chairman, Dr. Parag V. Patel, will be performing free heart surgeries at Karen Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Six patients will receive pacemakers, stents and CDT’s during Dr. Patel’s two days of surgery. Surgeries are scheduled for Tuesday, March 30 – Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Six needy Kenyans will receive free procedures courtesy of Global FICS and Karen Hospital. Surgeries can cost over $7,000, without complications and not including devices, like pacemakers, which cost between $1500 - $2500. Dr. Patel will also be donating pacemakers from our main supporter Medtronic. Medtronic specialist will be flying in from South Africa to assist Dr. Patel.
Dr. Patel, Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL, will also be conducting training sessions for local Kenyan cardiologists. Dr. Patel brings his expertise and equipment and the leading cardiologists in Kenya get to have their skills upgraded. Medical students from the University of Nairobi will watch the procedures which will be performed by local cardiologists, Dr. Daniel Gikonyo, Karen Hospital and Dr. Nyamo, Nairobi Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Patel. Dr. Patel also operates as a consultant for operations year round.
In Kenya, if you do not have the money for treatment, you simply wait to die. If you do not have cash, i.e. $1000, the hospitals will not even admit you into the emergency room. Recently, a baby was on route to a hospital in an ambulance, and when it arrived, the hospital turned the ambulance away until the parents came up with $800, and this was at 4 am in the morning. The parents finally got the money, but the baby died because the ambulance ran out of oxygen. Lack of medical supplies and medicines is a huge problem in Africa. People die daily of easily preventable diseases, such as malaria, and people have to endure great pains just because there is no treatment available.
EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN AND GIRLS IN THE SLUMS OF NAIROBI
Dr. Rupa Patel will be visiting and giving health checkups to 88 young women and girls ages, 18 -22, from the slums of Kibera. Kibera is the world’s second largest slum with over 800,000 people. Dr. Patel will give each girl a physical and provide much needed antibiotics, medicines and even vitamins and sanitary pads. Life is very hard for girls in the slums of Kenya as they are treated as second class citizens. They rarely get proper healthcare and clinics lack medicines, equipment and nurses.
Last year, 18 of the 18 girls at the Hawkers Market location are either working or have opened their own business. At the Kibera Girls Center, located in the slums of Kibera, the world’s second largest slum, the 70 girls have many major obstacles to overcome. At the Centers, the girls stay all day and are given lunch each day. They learn new skills, such as sewing and computers, which will better enable them to get a job. They also learn life skills and personal hygiene, a lack of sanitary pads routinely keeps girls out of school. Global FICS is supplying healthcare supplies and training to help these girls stay healthy and improve their chances to join the workforce. We are empowering these girls and promoting self-esteem thanks to the volunteer trainers and teachers who work with the girls. See what they do on our You tube Site.
PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR AIDS ORPHANS
Dr. Rupa Patel will also be treating 400 AIDS orphans also in the slums of Nairobi. She will provide basic care and medicines and in addition, she will train the local doctors. The kids will also receive food and school supplies to help lift their spirits. It is hard enough being a child in Africa, but when you add sickness to the mix, it is even harder. Many children leave school simply to search for food and in many cases the parents take them from school, especially the girls, to search for food. Sometimes the girls are forced into prostitution or you can routinely find them digging through the piles of garbage.
75% of the students at Mzesa Academy are AIDS orphans. There are 1.4 million AIDS orphans in Kenya as this is a major problem in every slum community. Life is hard enough being a child in Africa, but when you are sick, it is extra burdensome. Global FICS will be providing much needed medical supplies to Soweto Community Clinic, also in the slums, to enable them to care for the children. We will train Kenyan nurses and they will visit the children each week.
8 YEAR OLD KENYAN BOY GETS BRAIN SURGERY
3 year ago, when Nigel Eddy was only 8 years old he began experiencing severe headaches. He was soon diagnoses with a brain tumor and needed immediate surgery. Global FICS organized and paid for Nigel’s surgery and 3 month radiation treatment in South Africa. Today, Nigel is the “miracle child”. “All the doctors told me he was going to die,” stated Nigel’s mother. When Nigel awoke from his 8 hour surgery, to the doctors’ surprise, his mother was overcome with joy, but the long road to recovery was just beginning.
After 3 months of treatment in South Africa, Nigel finally came home, but he was not the same. His speech is slurred, he cannot walk by himself, he used to be the top in his class and now he is in the bottom. His class has 68 students, yes that’s right, 68, and he will soon be lost in the system. There are few schools which cater to students like Nigel in Kenya, but we are seeking supporters to help Nigel get into a “Special Education” school. He needs to take a bus; his mother and aunt walk him to school every day, He requires hydro therapy two times per week which causes him to miss more days of school, which he cannot afford. Most of all, 3 years ago Nigel was like every other little boy, running and playing, and now he has lost a lot of his motor skills. But through it all he is such a thankful and happy boy that just needs some help to get his physical and mental skills back in order. TRAINING KENYAN HEALHCARE WORKERS
Global FICS and Melchizedek Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya will be working together on a variety of training projects to enhance the skills of local healthcare workers. Trained nurses and social workers go into the slums and provide medical services to those who otherwise would not receive it. Many people in Kenya die due to the lack of knowledge alongside the lack of money.
Melchizedek is opening a brand new surgical theatre, to better service the slum communities. In the past, they had to refer their patients who needed surgery to other hospitals, but this year, patients will be able to get affordable, in most cases free, and quality medical care. Melchizedek Hospital was named #1 in Kenya by the NHIF (National Hospital Insurance Fund); this is similar to the US social security program.
The surgical theatre was a gift from the TD Jakes Ministries in Texas (USA). The hospital handles thousands of patients per week and now will be able to provide new and improved services. Not only will we train physicians, nurses and biomedical engineers, we also supply state of the art equipment. The equipment donated is installed by a certified biomedical engineer, including all adjustments necessary to meet Kenya standards. All employees are trained in equipment usage and maintenance. In April we will be donating the following equipment to Melchizedek Hospital as they prepare for their first surgeries at the end of the month. We will also run a medical camp for the people living in the neighboring slums.
• Dialysis machines – 4 • Ultrasound machine • Baby Warmers – 2 • Patient Monitors – 3 • IV Stands • ECG machine – 2 • Surgical theatre supplies • Assorted medical supplies
Thank you for your support over and we look forward to doing bigger and better things this year. With your continued help, we can continue to bring medicines, medical equipment and supplies and conduct training workshops to help improve access to medical services for poor and needy Kenyans. Together, we can "Save Lives in Kenya".
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
