We are happy to announce Video Friday: every Friday we will have an inspiring video about youth making a difference around the world. This week's video is Lusaka Sunrise from Grassroot Soccer. It is about 7 minutes long and well worth it. If you have any interest in getting involved with Grassroot Soccer, send me a message and I can put you in touch.
Showing posts with label AIDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AIDS. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Helping Others in Guyana
Who: Sara Walde
Age: 19
What: Helping Others in Guyana
Sara Walde is taking a trip to Guyana to lend a helping hand in dealing with issues of AIDS and Gender Equality. She is going there to figure out what she wants to do and decide how she is going to make her mark on the world and how she will make the world a better place. This article is from The Cochrane Times.
CHS grad looks to make a difference
19-year-old U of C student looks to community for support as she prepares for Guyana trip
by Reagen Sulewski
Wednesday March 12, 2008
A young Cochrane resident is appealing to the community for help to allow her to help others around the world.
Sara Walde, a 19-year-old business student at the University of Calgary and a Cochrane High graduate, was recently accepted into the Youth Challenge International program, an organization that sends teams of Canadian youth to help with hands-on community projects in developing countries.
Walde discovered the program when she was looking for options to study abroad, and decided that this would be a good way to expand her horizons.
"I was thinking about North America and the world we live in. I'm kind of in a bubble and not exposed to much. It's a pretty cushy world, I want to expand to something different," she said.
Although the details are still to be worked out, her project will take place this June in Guyana, a country on the north coast of South America, and will deal with the issues of AIDS and gender equality.
Although she said the AIDS aspect of the trip seems "a bit abstract" to her, as it's not something she's been affected by, the gender equality issue is something that hits closer to home.
"That'll be the hardest thing for me to swallow, seeing the inequality and trying to do something about it," she said.
Walde expects there to be a lot of culture shock when she gets there.
"I know I'm just going to be absolutely shocked, so I'm trying not to have any expectations," she said.
One of the big attractions about the program for her was the team aspect, and that fact that she will be working with youth, for youth.
"You're going with people your own age, with people with similar goals," she said.
Projects are open to people aged 18 to 30 and run for five to 10 weeks. Her group will be made up of approximately 30 people.
Walde is hoping to raise $6,000 for the trip, to cover the program cost of $3,600, as well as airfare, medical expenses and first aid training.
In addition to canvassing local businesses for donations, she is also organizing a benefit concert, which will be held at Frank Willis Memorial Hall on March 22 at 7 p.m.
Three bands are scheduled for the show -- Calgary's Matt Blais Connection, and two bands from Cochrane, Walking Backward and Sing City Lights.
Matt Blais Connection was a recent second place finisher in Calgary's Battle of the Bands. Tickets will cost $10 each and proceeds will go towards funding her trip.
Donations can also be made at www.yci.org.
Walde said that beyond helping people, the goal of her trip is learn more about herself and decide what she wants to do with her life.
"I'm trying to figure out how to make my mark on the world and make the world a better place, as cheesy as that sounds," she said.
Age: 19
What: Helping Others in Guyana
Sara Walde is taking a trip to Guyana to lend a helping hand in dealing with issues of AIDS and Gender Equality. She is going there to figure out what she wants to do and decide how she is going to make her mark on the world and how she will make the world a better place. This article is from The Cochrane Times.
CHS grad looks to make a difference
19-year-old U of C student looks to community for support as she prepares for Guyana trip
by Reagen Sulewski
Wednesday March 12, 2008
A young Cochrane resident is appealing to the community for help to allow her to help others around the world.
Sara Walde, a 19-year-old business student at the University of Calgary and a Cochrane High graduate, was recently accepted into the Youth Challenge International program, an organization that sends teams of Canadian youth to help with hands-on community projects in developing countries.
Walde discovered the program when she was looking for options to study abroad, and decided that this would be a good way to expand her horizons.
"I was thinking about North America and the world we live in. I'm kind of in a bubble and not exposed to much. It's a pretty cushy world, I want to expand to something different," she said.
Although the details are still to be worked out, her project will take place this June in Guyana, a country on the north coast of South America, and will deal with the issues of AIDS and gender equality.
Although she said the AIDS aspect of the trip seems "a bit abstract" to her, as it's not something she's been affected by, the gender equality issue is something that hits closer to home.
"That'll be the hardest thing for me to swallow, seeing the inequality and trying to do something about it," she said.
Walde expects there to be a lot of culture shock when she gets there.
"I know I'm just going to be absolutely shocked, so I'm trying not to have any expectations," she said.
One of the big attractions about the program for her was the team aspect, and that fact that she will be working with youth, for youth.
"You're going with people your own age, with people with similar goals," she said.
Projects are open to people aged 18 to 30 and run for five to 10 weeks. Her group will be made up of approximately 30 people.
Walde is hoping to raise $6,000 for the trip, to cover the program cost of $3,600, as well as airfare, medical expenses and first aid training.
In addition to canvassing local businesses for donations, she is also organizing a benefit concert, which will be held at Frank Willis Memorial Hall on March 22 at 7 p.m.
Three bands are scheduled for the show -- Calgary's Matt Blais Connection, and two bands from Cochrane, Walking Backward and Sing City Lights.
Matt Blais Connection was a recent second place finisher in Calgary's Battle of the Bands. Tickets will cost $10 each and proceeds will go towards funding her trip.
Donations can also be made at www.yci.org.
Walde said that beyond helping people, the goal of her trip is learn more about herself and decide what she wants to do with her life.
"I'm trying to figure out how to make my mark on the world and make the world a better place, as cheesy as that sounds," she said.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tennessee to Tanzania: A Mzungu Adventure
Who: Brian Christie
Age: 23
What: Volunteering at HIV Clinic in Tanzania
Daniel Joseph, an avid BIY reader, sent us this story a little while back. It is a great thing when recent college graduates take the time after graduation to do something good rather than jumping straight into corporate life. It benefits both them as individuals and many in need of help. This is the story of one young man doing just that. Brian Christie is a 2007 graduate of Dartmouth College from Nashville, TN, volunteering at an HIV Clinic in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for most of this year. He is blogging about the experience here. His first three posts from July are below:
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
First Post
Hey.
My name is Brian and this is my blog. I left this July to work for a pediatric AIDS clinic in downtown Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Moving from suburban USA to sub-Saharan Africa, from the ups and downs of America to the hilarity and tragedy that is the third world, there’s a lot going on over here.
I want to use this space as a spot to tell you about where I am: the beautiful places I keep going, the crazy people I keep meeting, the horrible circumstances that seem to constantly engulf so many peoples lives. Although I’ve just gotten here, this experience has already taught me so much, and promises so much more. I hope that, in the few reflections I manage to get in here, I might share something with you.
And if you’re reading this, feel free to comment and let me know what you think.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Where We Live
Theres 2 1/2 of us who live together. Paul and I stay together, and Ben is here about 1/2 the time. Paul is one of my best friends from high-school; he just graduated from Penn. He’s staying here with me through April. Ben is a rising senior at Dartmouth and is here for a month longer. He spends most of his time working at the school that I’ll tell you about later.
So when Paul and I got here, Ben had already cased the joint out and found a couple good places for us to stay. We wanted to use the internet at home (so we could apply to med school) which meant we settled on the first place we came to. Its called Lamada and its hilarious.
Lamada is a hotel with apartments. What that means is we basically live in a glorified hotel room all the time. If you see a picture of the place, or walk around, it looks awesome. But as soon as you spend more than 15 min here, you start to notice things. Nothing works. As I’m currently typing this, there are 2 guys flipping the power on and off and messing with switches cause 3 of the lights in the main room don’t work and no one knows why. The main overhead light stays on all the time cause they forgot to put a switch in for it. Other funny shit includes– no door handles, a sink fixture with no pipes, and bathroom sink in the kitchen.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. This place is 1000x what we expected coming here, so its more entertaining than enraging. People come in all the time to fix something, tell us theyre going to get a wrench or a cord, and then never come back.
That brings me to the staff. We’re not actually sure who runs the place or is in charge, we only know the people we see every day. We’ve got:
Stephen: Receptionist, first guy we met. Probably about 20, speaks pretty good English. If we ever ask him about anything though, he just “HAHAHA!!!”s at us until we finally go away.
Fake Manager: We don’t actually know his name, we just know that he’s the main guy we talk to, that he acts like the manager, and that he’s not. When we asked him why the internet goes out all the time he shrugged his shoulders and set “Its a 3rd world country!”
Patrick/Joseph/3 other guys: The technicians. Always in to fix the internet and what not, but they have no actual expertise in the area. The just fiddle around on our computers til they get bored and then leave.
Mr. Martin: No idea what he does. Not even actually sure he works here, he just talks to us a lot. Unsure of his real name, except that the first name he introduced himself as “Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin Luther King! Hahahahahaha!!!!”
Terry: Receptionist. Shes probably about 20 years old and cares less about her job than the people at the DMV. They have some rule here that theres 24hr reception service, which means that she has night shifts a lot. She gets sheets and just lays out on the floor and goes to sleep.
So thats our apt. All in all, its a good time and a lot of fun. As much as we might want to get angry about the total lack of any work getting done here, people joke around about it so much that its hard to get mad.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Where I work, Part I
So I work at a couple places. The first one, the main one, is called the Dartmouth Pediatric Program. Its a pediatric HIV clinic in downtown Dar, about 200m from the ocean. Its a collaboration between Dartmouth and the MUCHS, the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences. I work there with about 8 other people. There are 2 doctors, Dr. File and Dr. Jema, both new doctors a couple years out of Muhimbili, the premier teaching hospital in Tanzania. File (pronounced “fee-lay”) is a really warmhearted woman, who loves to laugh and who knows her stuff. Jema is much the same way– they speak pretty perfect English, and use it to give me a hard time (all in good fun), especially about the fact that I suck at Swahili.
Speaking of Swahili, damn. All the native speakers here are like “Its an easy language!” or “You’ll be speaking in no time!” F that. This language has zero indo-european or romantic roots, so every word is straight memorization. Sure, the verb forms are pretty easy and straightforward, but that doesnt help much if you cant remember verb youre looking for is. As you can tell, its not coming too easily for me.
So back to the office. We’ve got our 2 counselors, Sister Janet and Sister Elimina. I havent gotten to know them very well yet, except that Elimina absolutely delights in all forms of humor that come at my expense. More on that later. Next is Etigala, who does most of the cleaning and other things (boiling water to drink in the morning, etc). Having a bit of a hard time to break through to her, seeing as she doesn’t speak much English.
The clinic is run by Dr. Helga Nuburi. She teaches at Muhimbili, among having her patients there and also being in charge here. Helga is a rock star. She’s super nice, gets right to the heart of what a problem might be, and just all around kicks-ass. She is only around once every couple days, which sucks, but when she is, things get done.
And I can’t forget Joyce. She’s our receptionist, and I share a room with her where my computer and desk are. She speaks pretty good English and, as I just learned from lending her my ipod, LOVES the Kings of Leon. Shes also the closest person in the clinic to my age, minus Margi, another intern. What that means, is that, because we share an office, everyone gives her tons of shit about the two of us. Constantly, people will speak really quickly in Swahlili to her and, even though I can’t catch a word of it, I can tell by her reactions and the way they keep glancing at me, that they’re giving us shit. Afterwards, as though I knew what they said word for word, she says “Sorry, they were joking!” Of course, the primary culprit for these acts are Elimina.
So those are the people I work with. Well, except Margi. Shes a rising sophmore at Dartmouth and has been here about a month longer than I have (I got here the 9th of July, I think). She works mainly in trying to connect DPP with other programs, and so is constantly exploring other NGOs and meeting new people. It seems like a pretty cool deal. She speaks a lot better Swahili than I do.
You might be wondering now, what do I do? Good question. Considering I have no medical education thus far, really, it would seem like an extremely specialized clinic (by Tanzanian standards) wouldnt be the best place for me. Well, I’m doing a couple things. The main one is helping with getting an online database running here. After getting everything online, I’m analzying it to try to help get kids on ARVs (anti-HIV drugs) faster, as right now the time between figuring out they have HIV and getting them on drugs is taking too long. Besides that, I’m doing alot of random things, like teaching the nurses how to use computer applications, designing a new broshure, and trying to learn how AIDS treatment works. Oh, and I’m the resident “my computer broke, come fix it” guy. So I’m about 33% awkward American, 33% medical student, and 33% IT guy.
Oh, and 1% total badass.
Age: 23
What: Volunteering at HIV Clinic in Tanzania
Daniel Joseph, an avid BIY reader, sent us this story a little while back. It is a great thing when recent college graduates take the time after graduation to do something good rather than jumping straight into corporate life. It benefits both them as individuals and many in need of help. This is the story of one young man doing just that. Brian Christie is a 2007 graduate of Dartmouth College from Nashville, TN, volunteering at an HIV Clinic in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for most of this year. He is blogging about the experience here. His first three posts from July are below:
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
First Post
Hey.
My name is Brian and this is my blog. I left this July to work for a pediatric AIDS clinic in downtown Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Moving from suburban USA to sub-Saharan Africa, from the ups and downs of America to the hilarity and tragedy that is the third world, there’s a lot going on over here.
I want to use this space as a spot to tell you about where I am: the beautiful places I keep going, the crazy people I keep meeting, the horrible circumstances that seem to constantly engulf so many peoples lives. Although I’ve just gotten here, this experience has already taught me so much, and promises so much more. I hope that, in the few reflections I manage to get in here, I might share something with you.
And if you’re reading this, feel free to comment and let me know what you think.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Where We Live
Theres 2 1/2 of us who live together. Paul and I stay together, and Ben is here about 1/2 the time. Paul is one of my best friends from high-school; he just graduated from Penn. He’s staying here with me through April. Ben is a rising senior at Dartmouth and is here for a month longer. He spends most of his time working at the school that I’ll tell you about later.
So when Paul and I got here, Ben had already cased the joint out and found a couple good places for us to stay. We wanted to use the internet at home (so we could apply to med school) which meant we settled on the first place we came to. Its called Lamada and its hilarious.
Lamada is a hotel with apartments. What that means is we basically live in a glorified hotel room all the time. If you see a picture of the place, or walk around, it looks awesome. But as soon as you spend more than 15 min here, you start to notice things. Nothing works. As I’m currently typing this, there are 2 guys flipping the power on and off and messing with switches cause 3 of the lights in the main room don’t work and no one knows why. The main overhead light stays on all the time cause they forgot to put a switch in for it. Other funny shit includes– no door handles, a sink fixture with no pipes, and bathroom sink in the kitchen.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. This place is 1000x what we expected coming here, so its more entertaining than enraging. People come in all the time to fix something, tell us theyre going to get a wrench or a cord, and then never come back.
That brings me to the staff. We’re not actually sure who runs the place or is in charge, we only know the people we see every day. We’ve got:
Stephen: Receptionist, first guy we met. Probably about 20, speaks pretty good English. If we ever ask him about anything though, he just “HAHAHA!!!”s at us until we finally go away.
Fake Manager: We don’t actually know his name, we just know that he’s the main guy we talk to, that he acts like the manager, and that he’s not. When we asked him why the internet goes out all the time he shrugged his shoulders and set “Its a 3rd world country!”
Patrick/Joseph/3 other guys: The technicians. Always in to fix the internet and what not, but they have no actual expertise in the area. The just fiddle around on our computers til they get bored and then leave.
Mr. Martin: No idea what he does. Not even actually sure he works here, he just talks to us a lot. Unsure of his real name, except that the first name he introduced himself as “Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin Luther King! Hahahahahaha!!!!”
Terry: Receptionist. Shes probably about 20 years old and cares less about her job than the people at the DMV. They have some rule here that theres 24hr reception service, which means that she has night shifts a lot. She gets sheets and just lays out on the floor and goes to sleep.
So thats our apt. All in all, its a good time and a lot of fun. As much as we might want to get angry about the total lack of any work getting done here, people joke around about it so much that its hard to get mad.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Where I work, Part I
So I work at a couple places. The first one, the main one, is called the Dartmouth Pediatric Program. Its a pediatric HIV clinic in downtown Dar, about 200m from the ocean. Its a collaboration between Dartmouth and the MUCHS, the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences. I work there with about 8 other people. There are 2 doctors, Dr. File and Dr. Jema, both new doctors a couple years out of Muhimbili, the premier teaching hospital in Tanzania. File (pronounced “fee-lay”) is a really warmhearted woman, who loves to laugh and who knows her stuff. Jema is much the same way– they speak pretty perfect English, and use it to give me a hard time (all in good fun), especially about the fact that I suck at Swahili.
Speaking of Swahili, damn. All the native speakers here are like “Its an easy language!” or “You’ll be speaking in no time!” F that. This language has zero indo-european or romantic roots, so every word is straight memorization. Sure, the verb forms are pretty easy and straightforward, but that doesnt help much if you cant remember verb youre looking for is. As you can tell, its not coming too easily for me.
So back to the office. We’ve got our 2 counselors, Sister Janet and Sister Elimina. I havent gotten to know them very well yet, except that Elimina absolutely delights in all forms of humor that come at my expense. More on that later. Next is Etigala, who does most of the cleaning and other things (boiling water to drink in the morning, etc). Having a bit of a hard time to break through to her, seeing as she doesn’t speak much English.
The clinic is run by Dr. Helga Nuburi. She teaches at Muhimbili, among having her patients there and also being in charge here. Helga is a rock star. She’s super nice, gets right to the heart of what a problem might be, and just all around kicks-ass. She is only around once every couple days, which sucks, but when she is, things get done.
And I can’t forget Joyce. She’s our receptionist, and I share a room with her where my computer and desk are. She speaks pretty good English and, as I just learned from lending her my ipod, LOVES the Kings of Leon. Shes also the closest person in the clinic to my age, minus Margi, another intern. What that means, is that, because we share an office, everyone gives her tons of shit about the two of us. Constantly, people will speak really quickly in Swahlili to her and, even though I can’t catch a word of it, I can tell by her reactions and the way they keep glancing at me, that they’re giving us shit. Afterwards, as though I knew what they said word for word, she says “Sorry, they were joking!” Of course, the primary culprit for these acts are Elimina.
So those are the people I work with. Well, except Margi. Shes a rising sophmore at Dartmouth and has been here about a month longer than I have (I got here the 9th of July, I think). She works mainly in trying to connect DPP with other programs, and so is constantly exploring other NGOs and meeting new people. It seems like a pretty cool deal. She speaks a lot better Swahili than I do.
You might be wondering now, what do I do? Good question. Considering I have no medical education thus far, really, it would seem like an extremely specialized clinic (by Tanzanian standards) wouldnt be the best place for me. Well, I’m doing a couple things. The main one is helping with getting an online database running here. After getting everything online, I’m analzying it to try to help get kids on ARVs (anti-HIV drugs) faster, as right now the time between figuring out they have HIV and getting them on drugs is taking too long. Besides that, I’m doing alot of random things, like teaching the nurses how to use computer applications, designing a new broshure, and trying to learn how AIDS treatment works. Oh, and I’m the resident “my computer broke, come fix it” guy. So I’m about 33% awkward American, 33% medical student, and 33% IT guy.
Oh, and 1% total badass.
Update From Lwala Kenya
BIY got a note from Milton Ochieng after our feature on him this past Sunday. The clinic has opened and been a great help to the community, but there is still much to be done.
Here is the note from Milton:
“Thanks for featuring our project. We have made quite some progress, but with a lot of support from many young people. I just included some more websites that might give you a sense of what we have done and what else is still to be done.”
http://www.realmedicinefoundation.org/initiatives/IN1-13.asp
http://www.pulitzercenter.org/showproject.cfm?id=39
http://www.hopeforlwala.com/
An excerpt from the first site:
“During the first three months of operations (April-June 2007) the Lwala Community Clinic saw a total of 1854 new patients with nearly 60% of those patients being children under the age of five; approximately 13% more new patients each month.”
Here is the note from Milton:
“Thanks for featuring our project. We have made quite some progress, but with a lot of support from many young people. I just included some more websites that might give you a sense of what we have done and what else is still to be done.”
http://www.realmedicinefoundation.org/initiatives/IN1-13.asp
http://www.pulitzercenter.org/showproject.cfm?id=39
http://www.hopeforlwala.com/
An excerpt from the first site:
“During the first three months of operations (April-June 2007) the Lwala Community Clinic saw a total of 1854 new patients with nearly 60% of those patients being children under the age of five; approximately 13% more new patients each month.”
Brothers Start Kenyan Clinic
Who: Fred and Milton Ochieng
Age: 25 and 26
What: Two brothers start clinic in hometown of Lwala, Kenya
The following is an interview with Fred Ochieng from Exquisite Safaris. Fred and his brother Milton (pictured, center) are two of the most inspiring people we at BIY have ever met, so it was only natural to start with their story.
Who are you, where do you come from, what are you attempting to accomplish?
My name is Frederick Otieno Ochieng and I am the 3rd born in a family of 6 children. My brother Milton Oludhe Ochieng is currently in his 3rd year of medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine whereas I am in the 1st year class. We all grew up in Lwala, a rural village without running water or electricity, in Nyanza province of Kenya. To get to see a doctor, one walks 5.5 miles down an unpaved road, then waits for public service vans, matatus, to take them on a bumpy 20 mile ride to the nearest government owned hospital. The lack of health facilities at times had tragic consequences. We vividly remember how one time, a pregnant mother who developed complications during labor had to be hauled in a neighbor’s wheelbarrow to try to get her to the paved road then to the hospital, passed away en route. The body of the baby and the mother were returned to a wailing village by the same wheelbarrow. While growing up, we were always aware of the lack of health care in our village and surrounding communities. Both Milton and I got interested in medicine. With inspiration from a cross-cultural service trip to Nicaragua during his undergraduate years in Dartmouth College when they built a medical clinic, Milton was inspired to start a clinic in our village during his first year of medical school. He consulted via e-mail and phone with my ailing father, Mr. Erastus Ochieng. He spoke with me about the vision. In early 2005, while he and my father worked on the plans and details, he asked me to begin fundraising for the clinic. During a Navigators Northeast Conference at the end of January 2005, I gave an address to students and staff from some 13 colleges and universities who raised $9,000 for the clinic. Unfortunately, along the way, we lost both our parents to AIDS. Beloved Margaret in January 2004 and Erastus in May 2006. My eldest brother Maurice Omondi Ochieng has taken over the role of the coordinator back in Lwala, working with the community members. The vision has gathered momentum. We hope to see patients early April 2007. Now we need funds and partners to sustain the running of the clinic.
How do two brothers in a remote village in Kenya get scholarships to Dartmouth and attend medical school at Vanderbilt?
My mother taught in primary school and my father taught Chemistry and Biology in secondary school. They both valued education; they acquired loans to send us to good boarding schools and instilled in us good discipline. Milton was the 1st to qualify for admission to Alliance High School, the oldest and probably the finest high school in Kenya. I joined him a year later. In his 3rd year, he was one of the 2 students selected to represent Alliance High School on an exchange program with Brooks School, Andover, Massachusetts. He met Alliance alumni who were attending Harvard, MIT and other colleges in the U.S. The capable advisors and fellow students guided us through the test and application process. We both gave up our chances to attend medical school in Nairobi University for liberal arts training at Dartmouth College in the U.S. The need-blind admission policy offered a unique opportunity for a wonderful education for both of us. Getting into medical school is especially tough for an international student given the narrow selection of schools that admit them. However, Milton, a Biochemistry major, was later accepted into Yale, Vanderbilt and Dartmouth Medical Schools. Warm weather for his tropical soul, a full tuition Deans Scholarship, amongst other things drew Milton to Vanderbilt. A Biophysical Chemistry major, I got in after taking a year off to do chemistry research at Dartmouth, fundraising and conducting a needs assessment survey for the clinic. Looking at how far we have come, we are always heartbroken to reflect upon the countless sacrifices our parents made for us to get educated, yet neither of them ever witnessed our college graduations nor ever got to see the country where they had faith to let their children go to learn.
What challenges do you face starting and managing a medical clinic in a remote village in Kenya while attending medical school in Nashville, TN
Medical School is very involving and intense. It is tough staying on top of the material you cover, making time to exercise and play soccer, let alone fundraising, and designing a functional clinic thousands of miles away. Poorly developed communication infrastructure in the village makes it tough to connect and frankly, quite frustrating. My brother Omondi has to travel to Rongo town 9 miles away to charge his cell phone. Due to the 8 hour time difference, we try to call either early in the day or late at night here in the U.S. We are but novices. There are lots of complex decisions that we have to wade through.
How would you describe the current need for medical, educational and basic infrastructure in Kenya?
Very urgent, especially referring to medical services and basic infrastructure. There are many more educational facilities around. However, with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, TB, malaria menace, just to mention a few, there is need for a more robust health network. Unfortunately, some recent changes may not be beneficial. Mandatory retirement at the age of 55 for physicians and the fact that young doctors right out of medical school are no longer assured of assimilation into the field are two examples of recent policy recommendations.
What’s your vision for the future of Lwala/Kenya?
To provide affordable health care to thousands in a rural setting.
To address and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
To improve maternal and child health.
To improve the education of youths in Lwala and introduce microfinance projects.
How often do you travel back to Lwala?
Once a year, as school schedule and money allow. This year, due to the opening of the clinic, we may get to go home twice.
This article and photo are courtesy of Equsite Safaris and available at: http://www.exquisitesafaris.com/index.php/journal/more/philanthropic_visionary_travelers/
More articles on Fred and Milton are available at:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dartlife/archives/17-2/ochieng.html
http://thedartmouth.com/2007/03/27/news/alum/
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?site=lwala
Age: 25 and 26
What: Two brothers start clinic in hometown of Lwala, Kenya
The following is an interview with Fred Ochieng from Exquisite Safaris. Fred and his brother Milton (pictured, center) are two of the most inspiring people we at BIY have ever met, so it was only natural to start with their story.
Who are you, where do you come from, what are you attempting to accomplish?
My name is Frederick Otieno Ochieng and I am the 3rd born in a family of 6 children. My brother Milton Oludhe Ochieng is currently in his 3rd year of medical school at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine whereas I am in the 1st year class. We all grew up in Lwala, a rural village without running water or electricity, in Nyanza province of Kenya. To get to see a doctor, one walks 5.5 miles down an unpaved road, then waits for public service vans, matatus, to take them on a bumpy 20 mile ride to the nearest government owned hospital. The lack of health facilities at times had tragic consequences. We vividly remember how one time, a pregnant mother who developed complications during labor had to be hauled in a neighbor’s wheelbarrow to try to get her to the paved road then to the hospital, passed away en route. The body of the baby and the mother were returned to a wailing village by the same wheelbarrow. While growing up, we were always aware of the lack of health care in our village and surrounding communities. Both Milton and I got interested in medicine. With inspiration from a cross-cultural service trip to Nicaragua during his undergraduate years in Dartmouth College when they built a medical clinic, Milton was inspired to start a clinic in our village during his first year of medical school. He consulted via e-mail and phone with my ailing father, Mr. Erastus Ochieng. He spoke with me about the vision. In early 2005, while he and my father worked on the plans and details, he asked me to begin fundraising for the clinic. During a Navigators Northeast Conference at the end of January 2005, I gave an address to students and staff from some 13 colleges and universities who raised $9,000 for the clinic. Unfortunately, along the way, we lost both our parents to AIDS. Beloved Margaret in January 2004 and Erastus in May 2006. My eldest brother Maurice Omondi Ochieng has taken over the role of the coordinator back in Lwala, working with the community members. The vision has gathered momentum. We hope to see patients early April 2007. Now we need funds and partners to sustain the running of the clinic.
How do two brothers in a remote village in Kenya get scholarships to Dartmouth and attend medical school at Vanderbilt?
My mother taught in primary school and my father taught Chemistry and Biology in secondary school. They both valued education; they acquired loans to send us to good boarding schools and instilled in us good discipline. Milton was the 1st to qualify for admission to Alliance High School, the oldest and probably the finest high school in Kenya. I joined him a year later. In his 3rd year, he was one of the 2 students selected to represent Alliance High School on an exchange program with Brooks School, Andover, Massachusetts. He met Alliance alumni who were attending Harvard, MIT and other colleges in the U.S. The capable advisors and fellow students guided us through the test and application process. We both gave up our chances to attend medical school in Nairobi University for liberal arts training at Dartmouth College in the U.S. The need-blind admission policy offered a unique opportunity for a wonderful education for both of us. Getting into medical school is especially tough for an international student given the narrow selection of schools that admit them. However, Milton, a Biochemistry major, was later accepted into Yale, Vanderbilt and Dartmouth Medical Schools. Warm weather for his tropical soul, a full tuition Deans Scholarship, amongst other things drew Milton to Vanderbilt. A Biophysical Chemistry major, I got in after taking a year off to do chemistry research at Dartmouth, fundraising and conducting a needs assessment survey for the clinic. Looking at how far we have come, we are always heartbroken to reflect upon the countless sacrifices our parents made for us to get educated, yet neither of them ever witnessed our college graduations nor ever got to see the country where they had faith to let their children go to learn.
What challenges do you face starting and managing a medical clinic in a remote village in Kenya while attending medical school in Nashville, TN
Medical School is very involving and intense. It is tough staying on top of the material you cover, making time to exercise and play soccer, let alone fundraising, and designing a functional clinic thousands of miles away. Poorly developed communication infrastructure in the village makes it tough to connect and frankly, quite frustrating. My brother Omondi has to travel to Rongo town 9 miles away to charge his cell phone. Due to the 8 hour time difference, we try to call either early in the day or late at night here in the U.S. We are but novices. There are lots of complex decisions that we have to wade through.
How would you describe the current need for medical, educational and basic infrastructure in Kenya?
Very urgent, especially referring to medical services and basic infrastructure. There are many more educational facilities around. However, with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, TB, malaria menace, just to mention a few, there is need for a more robust health network. Unfortunately, some recent changes may not be beneficial. Mandatory retirement at the age of 55 for physicians and the fact that young doctors right out of medical school are no longer assured of assimilation into the field are two examples of recent policy recommendations.
What’s your vision for the future of Lwala/Kenya?
To provide affordable health care to thousands in a rural setting.
To address and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.
To improve maternal and child health.
To improve the education of youths in Lwala and introduce microfinance projects.
How often do you travel back to Lwala?
Once a year, as school schedule and money allow. This year, due to the opening of the clinic, we may get to go home twice.
This article and photo are courtesy of Equsite Safaris and available at: http://www.exquisitesafaris.com/index.php/journal/more/philanthropic_visionary_travelers/
More articles on Fred and Milton are available at:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~dartlife/archives/17-2/ochieng.html
http://thedartmouth.com/2007/03/27/news/alum/
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?site=lwala
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