Urgent Medical Saves and Changes Lives in Kenya

YOUR support for our Urgent Medical program was there when tragedy struck recently in Kisumu.

Thank You!

Tragedy struck a family recently when a propane gas tank used for cooking exploded, destroying the home and taking the lives of a mother, two of her young children and sent the father and teenage daughter to the hospital in critical condition.

Sadly, the father did not survive more than a few days, but the daughter, just 19 years old, is expected to survive.

Urgent funds were needed to help with hospital costs and pain medication and because of YOU, our faithful supporters, Olalo was able to contribute to the mounting medical costs of this young woman.

Recently she was transported from the Kisumu area to a hospital in Nairobi which is better equipped to help her with the burns she received in the explosion.  Her recovery time will be long, and the costs will continue to mount.

We are so very grateful that your gifts allowed us to contribute to her cost and offered relief through pain medications and treatments.

Thank you for faithfully supporting the Urgent Medical Care project here on Global Giving…you ARE impacting lives!

Merry Broughal
Olalo of Hope-Kenya

While spending the last 6 weeks in Oyugis, Kenya the calls for urgent medical care came in almost non-stop!

Heavy rains drenched the area daily and although the town didn’t experience the flooding taking place in neighboring towns, it was having an impact on people’s lives.

A four-year old heading home from our Vision clinic and VBS was run down by a motorbike and seriously injured. We heard about her the next morning and escorted her mother and her inconsolable child to the local hospital to be checked out.  It broke our hearts to know she had suffered through the night without relief.  The X-rays revealed a broken leg.

Due to the nature of her break, we were advised to take her to the next town for treatment.  Olalo covered the costs of the transportation and both hospitals. This young child is now recovering at home.

Your support for our Urgent Medical Care project got this child the help she needed.  Thank You!

Olalo received an email the next day from a previous patient that alerted us to her elderly neighbor who had fallen and was thought to have multiple broken bones.

We trekked up into the hills bringing ugali flour and sugar, barely making it over the roads to see her.  We found our nearly eighty-year old woman propped up in her bed, sheets and cloths wrapped around her arm and legs.  We gave her family the food for her and got the details of her mishap.

On the previous Sunday, as she walked into her church, her cane slipped on the damp floor and she fell. Without any money to seek out medical attention, they carried her home and tried to stabilize her injuries with the sheets and cloths.

It was too late in the day to try to transport her down the hills, so the best we could do now was give her son money to purchase pain relief for her until we could get her to a hospital in the morning.

Due to the nature of her injuries, it was decided to take her into the next town for evaluation and treatment.  Ten x-rays revealed a broken arm, broken hip and broken leg.  The hospital casted what they could, provided her with strong pain medication, and Olalo transported her home where she is resting and recovering.

Your support for our Urgent Medical Care project got this woman the help she needed.  Thank You!

On another evening Olalo was taking a young man to the local hospital to examine a foot injury.  We were approached by hospital staff about a 4-year-old boy in desperate need of a blood transfusion.  The family had no money to pay for it and this young child was going down fast.  Without the transfusion there was little hope of his survival through the night.

Your support for our Urgent Medical Care project saved this child’s life, got him the blood transfusion and medical help he needed.  A few days later he went home and is recovering. Thank You!

These are just a few of the lives you have impacted in just the last few weeks through your generous and ongoing giving to our Urgent Medical Care project.  

We are always so grateful for your support! 

Knowing Olalo of Hope-Kenya has the funds available when the calls come in for urgent medical help is a great relief and joy for us at Olalo, but also for the families and lives that are impacted and changed because of your generosity and heart for helping those in need.  Thank You for everything that you do!

Merry Broughal
Olalo of Hope - Kenya

At Olalo of Hope-Kenya, we are always thankful for our generous supporters…. (That’s YOU!) …who enable us to step in and help those in need of urgent medical care. Recently two rare instances came up needing assistance. One was a burn injury, the other a snake bite.

Burn injuries in Africa are considered a major health care problem. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of pediatric burn (hospital) admissions in the world.[1] 

Scalding is the leading cause of burns, open fires are second. Many families use open fires to cook their food which leads to accidents among young children getting too close or too care-free around the fires.

We have been fortunate to only have two cases of burns that needed our assistance.

Recently a distraught mom contacted Olalo for help. Her husband had abandoned them three months earlier and her young son was in the hospital after being scalded by hot porridge.  Without any money for treatment she was very thankful her child did receive the care he needed at a local hospital.

He had improved some, and after spending 2.5 weeks in the hospital, he was ready to be released. The problem was the child wouldn’t be discharged without paying the bill.  With each additional day of admittance, the cost increased.

For less than $120, we were able to cover the hospital costs and have the child return to his home where he continues to heal. 

Earlier in the month our Kenyan volunteers were notified of a young girl who had been bitten by a snake the day before but was not receiving medical care because the family had no money for medical treatment.  Olalo was able to get her to a hospital and cover the $69 fee for treatment.

Urgent medical needs arise at all times, especially with children in third world countries. Olalo is always thankful to be able to offer assistance when called upon to help. 

The important thing about that is, we wouldn’t be able to help anyone without YOU!

You are the one who enables us to do this!
You are the one that allows healing to take place. 
You are the one impacting lives and we can’t thank you enough!!!! 

So....Thank You!

Merry

[1] Albertyn R, Numanoglu A, Rode H. Pediatric burn care in sub-Saharan Africa. Afr J Trauma 2014;3:61-7

Two Down…One To Go…Maybe….

Hello, Olalo Partners!

First and foremost, I want to catch you up on what is happening with Charles since our last report.

Surgery #2 was delayed for a bit of time, but has finally taken place and he is one step closer to getting back to normal. Much of his facial disfigurement has been removed and Charles is finally able to see out of his left eye. He is thrilled, and we say “Hurrah” and “Thank You, Donors, for your support!!!”

Surgery #3 is now on hold and may actually not be needed after all. That would be magnificent!

Charles will be traveling back to Nairobi soon to receive an injection that will prohibit new bone growth in his face and help dissolve any pieces left behind following his last surgery. Only time will tell if another surgery will be needed. We will surely keep you posted on the outcome.

In the meantime, your donations are helping us pay for surgery needed for 10-year-old orphan, Linder. She has a severe injury to her leg which will require surgery to prevent more damage. Linder lives with her grandmother who has taken care of her since her mother died when she was just three. It is a struggle to provide for Linder and her brother, and there is no money for medical care.

Your partnership and support to Olalo of Hope-Kenya is impacting lives in Kenya…lives so poor that a trip to see a doctor for even the most minor of ailments is not possible due to their poverty. Through your support you are allowing Olalo to help kids like Linder, and others like Charles get relief and healing with urgent medical care.

We know we couldn’t do this without YOU… so Thank You so very much!

Thank you for being part of a team that is changing lives and restoring health!

Nyasaye Ogwedhi!
Merry Broughal
Olalo of Hope-Kenya

Getting His Life Back on Track!

Charles is getting his life back on track, and it’s your support to our Urgent Medical Program that helps make it all possible.

Thank You!

With your support, we continued to provide urgent medical care to both adults and children suffering with common illnesses found in most third world countries – malaria, typhoid, respiratory illnesses. There were hospital visits and hospital stays.

We are thankful they received the help needed, but we are most excited about seeing Charles take the next step to getting his life back on track!

It was just over a year ago we met Charles. His condition was worsening and he had no money for the surgeries needed to remove the disfigurement from his face. He was no longer able to work and provide for his family. People were afraid of him because of how he looked so no one would hire him. They had no money, no food.
Olalo stepped in to help.

We are now coming up on the first anniversary of surgery #1 and getting ready for surgery #2 in just a few days.

It’s been a long road. Literally!

The ride on hot, crowded busses to Nairobi for the surgery is a long 7-8 hours. The roads alternate between paved areas for smooth sailing and areas filled with pot holes and what seem like mile-high speed bumps to slow you down. His journey back home is the same...in reverse.

Following surgery #1, an infection in the stitches flared up and Charles had to take that same long bus ride back to Nairobi for treatment, and then home again.

The entire process was a very stressful ordeal and Charles was disappointed in the outcome of surgery. He had expected more improvement than there was.

When we saw Charles back in April, we noticed a very big improvement and saw the difference that surgery had made. Before surgery, his eye was covered; following surgery, his eye was again visible and much of the disfigurement gone, but there is still much to be done.

Following a series of set backs and delays, Charles is now getting ready to travel once again to Nairobi for surgery #2 and a visit with the dentist. We know he is anxious for the outcome of it all, but as you can imagine not too excited and very stressed about the entire process and the long road back there and home again.

There is a strong possibility surgery #3 will be needed, but for now we are focused on #2 and its outcome. While he is away in Nairobi, Olalo will provide food for his family so he has one less thing to worry about.

Please remember to keep Charles and his family in your thoughts and in your prayers!

Thank you all for the support you give to our Urgent Medical Care fund. It is You that changes and impacts lives and gives hope to those without hope. We cannot thank you enough!

Merry Broughal
Olalo of Hope-Kenya