Find your May Basket Treasure

Help Spanda Inc. raise money for the Kipkaren, Kenya health care clinic by attending our garage sale on May 1st from 8 AM-3PM at 1925 Parkland Drive in Ely. Be prepared to find almost anything at this "cadillac" of garage sales: children's clothes/toys; holiday decorations; tools; fresh baked cinnamon rolls; and much, much more. You are sure to find a perfect "May Basket" gift.

"Life is not a dress rehearsal"~Rose Termain

For the people living in the village of Kipkaren, Kenya, what a true statement. Each day they go about the business of surviving. When the Spanda team visited and worked at the clinic and in the village this past October, it was a common sight to see the villagers carrying water on their heads, bundled tree limbs on their bikes (if they had a bike) so they could boil the dirty water they had retrieved from a ditch or the river, all in the effort to survive. Amazingly, they did so with smiles on their faces and praises of thanksgiving for another day.

Julie McGowan who founded the Living Room, a nonprofit dedicated to providing hospice care for the villagers of Kipkaren who are facing life-ending illnesses, recently provided some sobering statistics on the stark and harsh realities of poverty. Did you know?

• According to UNICEF, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they"die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."
• Water problems affect one half of all humanity.
• Almost 2 in 3 people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with 1 in 3 surviving on less than $1 per day.
• Millions of women each day spend several hours a day collecting water. (UN Human Development Report, 2006).

You bet life is no dress rehearsal.

What does that mean for you and for me? I believe it is telling us that if life were truly a dress rehearsal, we could have many do-overs, several takes, before we got things absolutely right. But we don't. We have this one chance. And with this one chance, we should seize the opportunity to put our hearts, our knowledge, and our passion to work together for the advancement and betterment of all.

If you would like to learn more how to support this village and be a part of the Spanda team, please visit our website at http://www.spandainc.com/. There are many opportunties for all of us to work together to be a part of one of life's greatest acts. You will receive much more than you give!

"Water Is Life!"

"The truck arrives to start drilling the borehole"

At 3:25 AM on March 18, 2010, the Kipkaren well project officially began! Michelle Kiprop, clinic director, reported on the arrival of the trucks and the resounding cheers of the villagers shouting "Maji ni uhai ~Water is Life". By the end of April, the pump should be supplying fresh, clean water!

We will provide updates as we receive them.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who has made this possible--and to Dr. Fitzgerald for her fervent perseverance in making this a reality!

"The Healing Power of Nature" Photography Book

Zebra Smiles

While in Kenya, Dr. Fitzgerald has taken some amazing pictures of the native wildlife and landscape which illustrate the beauty of the land. In order to further our mission, we have compiled over 30 of her photos into a hard-back picture book. Dr. Fitzgerald also writes about her passion to start a nonprofit and how each of us through a "single action" can truly move the world.

The book will be available for sale on December 21, 2009, at a cost of $35.00. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the dentistry and clean water project at the Kipkaren clinic.

If you would like to help us by purchasing a book, please download an order form at our website: http://www.spandainc.com/ (fundraising tab) or call 319-364-2311.

We appreciate your support and happy holidays!

We Made It!

Just a quick post to let everyone know we made it home yesterday afternoon (10/18) at 4:30 PM. All of us are so grateful to our family and friends for supporting us during this trip. Your support and love is truly amazing.

Although the trip has been completed, our work is not done. Each of us have ideas and goals we hope will have a positive impact on the community of Kipkaren. We will be sharing with you our continued work through the blog.

Thank you again for your support,

The Eye Care Kenya Team

Ready to Come Home!

Hi Everyone--We have arrived back in Nairobi and will be leaving for London tonight at 11:45 PM (that is 3:45 CST). We have much to share with everyone and will try to do some more posts upon our return--the internet connections have been challenging!

We plan to be at the Cedar Rapids airport around 4:00-4:30 tomorrow afternoon. We are looking forward to seeing everyone, while at the same time remembering our Kenyan friends.

The Dolls Are A Hit!!

Thanks to Mary Uthe, we were able to take over 300 dolls to the children of KipKaren. Each child that received a dental cleaning from the Children's Home received one of the dolls. To see there bright shining faces as they received their dolls was an amazing experience!

We also went on hut visits today. One of our stops was to check on a woman who was very sick due to HIV/AIDS Yesterday, her 18-month old son had been trying to feed her with one of his spoons. The medical team provided her with antibotics and medical care. Today, when we stopped she was doing much better. We were able to give the little boy and his brother dolls. They were so happy. They immediately started playing with their babies--rocking them to sleep and then putting them to bed on a rock.

We have much more to tell--but thank you Mary for all of your kindness!

Rotary Kakamega!!

We are in pursuit of the finalization of the paper work for the well to be dug in Kipkaren near the medical-dental eye clinic.  Thank goodness for google and safaricom so that we were able to find the rotary contact but instead of Eldoret which is forty five minutes away we had to go to Kakamega which was 2 hours away.  The clinic let us borrow the ambulance and with Adele at the helm and Randy pushing we were on our way!!
I'll clarify--the ambulance won't start but it's a clutch so today Randy is "the pusher man!!"
Making our way to Kakmega the roads have potholes the size of a kitchen table and can be 1-2 feet deep.  Most of the potholes are from the rioting in 2008 where they started fires in the middle of the road.  So daylight is our friend.  We finally arrive in Kakmega and we now have to find Mama Watoto Supermaket!!  We parked the ambulance carefully so that we could push it out.  And proceed to walk down a street out of who knows!!  3 people who look out of place standing in the middle of a busy street in front of Mama Watoto Supermarket and we see a very kindly man wave at us.  We cross the street to his shop that sells clothing.  "Welcome, welcome"  "Don't say a word you have come a long way.  And you are thirsty I will get you an orange Franta!!  For those of you who may remember that I am sensitive to sugar--Adele whispered  "Do you think it's a good idea for you to have this?" 
It was cold and good.  All went well.  He signed off on the paperwork and we thanked him--gave him the two rotary flags--I don't have any flags here!!  I said no problem I'll be back to collect the flags because Jack Hardin and Dr. Kingus will be after me!!Good, good you'll come to the meeting then...?!
A very successful trip and we got to see Olive Baboons on the way back sitting on the side of the road!!
Adele got us safely back before dark and lots of stories to tell and friendships made....Thank you Adele.

Oh and Randy...how fabulous he did an awesome job I only wish we could have see the footage of him and me pushing the Ambulance out into the road--  the engine starting and we both jump into the jeep.  Straight out of a hollywood movie!!  Randy and Adele --You Rock!!!

Simon

Today is Tuesday and some of the folks from Ilula came to have their eyes checked.  Simon is a 30 year teacher we saw in 2007 he had a -18.00 prescription.  He originally, he had no glasses. We did an exam and made his glasses in the US and had a team bring them over.  I was walking into clinic this AM and saw a man with very thick glasses.  "Simon is that you?"  "Yes, Daktari!" " How have you been? " " You and your team have changed my life.  I was a teacher and I could not see, now I wear the glasses all the time and I can see and now I am the headmaster of the school!!  His glasses were held together with bailing wire and one of the nose pads was missing.  Roy in his usual wizardry fixed Simon's glasses like new.  We rechecked his eyes and are making him a pair of glasses and these may become a back up. It was marvelous to see Simon and how well he was doing!!

Jambo!!

Haberi  (Hello)


It is Monday night in Kipkaren.  As all the posts have cited everyone is doing and doing "well."  No pun intended for Randy the "water guy".  The clinic was busy and so were we.  Carla, Carol and Bridgit were having a lot of fun and excitement with the teeth cleaning and education.  You guys are the bomb!!
Roy and Dr. K were busy with getting all the parts together for the lens grinder.  Julius takes about 2 hours to make a pair of glasses-- with the lens grinder and Roy's fabulous tutelage he can make a pair in 15 minutes (Roy name that tune!!)  Dr.  K is removing foreign bodies and refining the refraction for patients.
Michele and Sharon are doing very well with teaching the ultrasound and helping with seeing patients.
Dr. Fitz wants to thank all of those who help make this happen - family, friends, and patients - who feel like extended family, and of course this fabulous team.  And much appreciated team leader Adele Booysen--this absolutely could not have been done without  her leadership.


To Iowa--Tally Ho for now and may God bless,


Dr. Fitz

First Day of Clinic - Well Water

Randy Luth spent the day walking miles and miles to different wells around the clinic, training center, Children's Home, and other neighboring wells.  He was able to get a water sample from each well.  The water sample tests take 24-48 hours to develop, and Randy will report back with his findings as soon as they are available.

First Day of Clinic - Dental

We had a successful day of dental cleaning and fluoride treatments - 44 children were treated.  She commented that all the children we saw today had excellent teeth.  They are really brushing well, and very few patients had cavities.  We recorded the names of the patients with cavities for further treatment in town. 


Carol brushed their teeth and painted on a fluoride treatment.  The fluoride treatment adheres with saliva, and is activated for 4 hours.  Each child will receive a new toothbrush after they have brushed the fluoride treatment off their teeth tonight. 


Bridgit gave each child a sticker and a Duduza (comfort) Doll, and took a picture of each child.  The children really loved the dolls, especially since they got to pick from 3 or 4 choices.  


Noella is in charge of Health at the clinic.  She assisted us with calming a few scared patients, and they found it did not hurt at all.  She translated to the younger children whose English is not strong yet.  She also taught us, "meza", which means "swallow".  Carla started the day standing and bending over each patient, but Noella was able to find a low bench for the children to sit on, so Carla could sit.  Carol was kneeling on the concrete floor to brush teeth, so Noella found a well-padded cushion for her knees.  A dental chair would be most beneficial to the dental clinic here in Kipkaren. 


At the children's devotions tonight, Carla demonstrated how to brush their teeth.  They all tend to have deep grooves in their back teeth, so she stressed really scrubbing those teeth, and not forgetting to brush their tongues.  Many children came up to show us their clean teeth tonight.

First Day of Clinic - Optometry

Dr. Kingus saw approximately 20 patients today.  Joseph returned for a re-check of his eye.  The swelling had gone down somewhat, so Dr. Kingus was able to determine there was a foreign body in the eye.  Dr. Kingus removed a tiny piece of plastic and gave Joseph more eye drops for the swelling. 


Another patient was in her 20's, diabetic, and she previously had cataract surgery.  She has had blurry vision lately.  Dr. Kingus found that her eyes had developed fibrotic tissue, which creates strands or sheets of tissue that run together and impede vision.  Unfortunately, only a laser treatment can remove the fibrotic tissue.


Roy organized the optical supplies, including many donated eyeglass frames.  He was able to assemble the lens edger that arrived a few days after the team's previous trip in 2007.  Tomorrow the edger will be calibrated and fine-tuned.  Roy will teach Kenyan Julius Kimboy to operate the edger and make custom lenses.  Currently, Julius hand-grinds each lens, a very time consuming process.  Roy will also train Julius to adjust glasses. 

First Day of Clinic - Medical

Michele gave a training session about burns to the clinic staff. They were very attentive and appreciated her time.  Michele saw some medical patients at the clinic, including a young boy around 9 years old.  The Kenyan children typically run through the corn fields, and the corn husks sometimes injure them.  This young boy had been stuck in the leg with a corn husk the day before, but he pulled it out himself.  Today, his leg was very swollen and hurt too much to walk on it.  Michele cleaned the wound and dressed it with a bandage.  


Sharon trained the clinic staff on the portable ultrasound machine.  They hope to use it more tomorrow during the Mama/Baby Clinic scheduled for Tuesday morning. 

A Rare Treat in Kenya

Sunday night we enjoyed a rare treat in Kenya - cold Fanta soda pop.  We Americans were grateful for the treat while we were at David and Allison Tarus' home for supper.  Randy offered to test the water in their well. Once again it rained, but it stopped in time for the team to return to our cottages for the night.  

Duduza Dolls in Ilula

After we greeted the children, we were given personal tours of their rooms and the grounds.  One child was especially excited to show us their cows, rabbits, and chickens. They milk the cows and collect the eggs, and the rabbits will be used as meat when they grow more.  They also have a very large garden and an oyster mushroom house.  We were served a mushroom stew that was delicious!  The Children's Home in Ilula was very self-sufficient, growing and producing most of their own food for consumption.  


That evening we joined the children for their devotional time.  The team members gave each child a Duduza (Comfort) Doll of their very own.  We have lots of pictures of the children with their dolls.  Please refer to the earlier post about how you can support the Duduza Doll project. 


We had supper with the staff, and shared many ideas about community development.  Empowering Lives International (ELI) really works with the surrounding villages as well as the childrens' home.  Due to continued jet lag, we turned in early. 


After breakfast Sunday morning, we had a relaxing team meeting with a lot of laughter.  Sunday morning we joined the children, parents, and staff for church service.  Many groups off children sang and danced, including a visiting school from Sudan.  We heard beautiful singing in Swahili, and we were able to sing along to the English songs. 

Welcome to Ilula

After lunch on Saturday, the team headed to Ilula.  We picked up Adele and Dr. Fitzgerald at the Eldoret Air Strip and continued to Ilula.  There will be an additional update at a later time regarding their trip to Korr, Kenya.  

The team was again greeted by singing as we arrived at the Children's Home in Ilula.  Each team member went around the circle and greeted each child individually.  Everyone was so welcoming!  We were also given red, yellow, and orange roses.  Then the older children treated us to three songs on their flute-a-phones, or recorders.  Then they sang more songs and recited Bible verses and chapters.  

Each team member was asked to introduce themselves and was greeted warmly by the Children's Home director and staff members.  When the formal introductions were done, the children immediately came to us for hugs and personal greetings.  

ELI School Tour in Kipkaren

The ELI Brook of Faith School tour began with a report of the students' performance.  There are 285 students at the school.  This includes children from the orphanage, children that board at the school, and local children from the community.  The students grades (marks) are very high.  They participated in a district-wide test for the first time this year.  There are nearly 250 schools in the district, and the ELI Brook of Faith School placed 9th for the whole district.  Many students go on to higher learning at the national schools - a prestigious honor. 


The children begin school at age 3, the "baby class".  Next is the "middle class", and then the "top class".  After that, there are standard grades 1-8.  The students attend school from 8:00-3:20 p.m.  The teachers are at the school from 6:30-5:00, and then from 7:00-9:00 p.m. to help students that learn slower than others.  The teachers are very dedicated to the students' education. 

Kipkaren Children's Home Tour

The team got to meet and play with the children at the Kipkaren children's home today.  The children are all very friendly and love hugs!  Many of the team members got a buddy for the tour.  They especially liked to swing between two of us holding their hands.  


There are two parents for 24 children - Baba and Mama.  The young children live with the parents until age 4.  Then they go to either the girls' or boys' dormitories.  Twice a day the children and parents gather together for devotions.  They also eat their meals together.  There is one kitchen for the entire Children's Home, which provides the meals for everyone.  This allows the parents to focus on the children's emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.  There are approximately 90 children, and they are all full of joy and smiles. 


The older children were eager to show us how they shuck the maize (corn), then they dry it in the sun on tarps.  Every part of the maize is used.  The cobs are ground in a diesel-powered grinding machine.  The ground maize is then mixed with other grains and fed to the cows.  

ELI Facility Tour in Kipkaren

Today the team had a full tour of the Empowering Lives International (ELI) facility in Kipkaren.  This included the training center, community building, the kitchen, and a small store run by women from the village.  These women are generally single mothers or widows.  They make crafts and sell them at the small store onsite to provide for their families.  They are very talented, and the team will certainly bring back some souvenirs. 


The outside of the grounds features a very large garden and a tomato greenhouse.  The garden includes lettuce, kale, cucumbers, papayas, and many, many other vegetables.  The garden is an example of other produce that be grown besides maize (corn). Kenyans traditionally have grown only maize, which is dried in the sun and sold.  However, due to drought all summer, and now a late rainy season, the maize harvest is very, very small.  When other vegetables are grown, the Kenyan people can feed their own families, and sell the excess to make a profit for themselves. 


There is also an agri-forestry area where fast-growing trees are cultivated. The philosophy is when you cut down one tree, plant two others in it's place.  The agricultural students tend the gardens and agri-forestry areas as part of their studies.  The garden also has an apiary - a bee-keeping area, as well as a tilapia fish pond.