Updates: From October 2008 to May 2

Updates: From October 2008 to May 2

In October, a group of five medical students made a trip to visit and work with the Embulbul community. The mission of the trip was to continue to support the community projects that were going on, as well as bring some needed supplies and information. The preparation for the trip required frequent communication with James and Daniel to set the itinerary, which would focus on education, youth sports, vision screening and eye glass distribution, sanitation, capitol and banking establishment, and art/craft sale.

Again, due to the medical school calendar, students were limited to about one week of ground time in Kenya. Once on site, we met with James, Daniel and Debbie to discuss the news of recent developments in the community. The original trip was initially scheduled for the spring of 2008, however due to the political instability and violence, the trip was postponed for the fall. Sadly, I also came to learn that a friend and health promoter in the community passed away. This point became painfully clear when we held one of our first open discussions with the women associated with the Embulbul Youth Art Project. Within the first few minutes of my opening remarks to the community, a young girl sat with tears with a faint cry, that only intensified. Soon, James would walk her outside the single room tin roof shack. Following my discussion with the group, James and Daniel both pulled me to the side to relay the message that the girl who was sobbing was the sister of Faridah- the friend who passed away. The sad reality of poor health care access and infectious disease in the third world claimed a victim whom I had worked with, and it was saddening. Knowing that my presence brought such strong emotions to her sister though showed me that we are not transient visitors, but that we are slowly becoming distant members of the community.

After initial meeting and discussions, we started to set-up vision screenings using office size Snellen charts to gage rough estimates of visual acuity. If an individual screened with poor acuity, we would offer glasses that were donated in the US. The difference in people sight was drastic in a few people. It was amazing to see someone smile when they put the glasses on for the first time, realizing that they are seeing the world in a truly different light- with more clarity then they imagined. Optometric work in visual acuity screening is very rewarding, because to these individuals, this treatment is one that will last for a long time after the vitamins we bring have run out. During our screening, we saw over 600 individuals and distributed over 250 eye glasses. Upon the first couple days of screening, we realized that the people helping us translate learned the screening procedure, so after a group reflection, we decided to focus on training. Now there are people in the community able to screen for defective acuity, with the hopes that the project could partner with other NPO/NGO's to provided prescription glasses to those who need them.

We also had workshops with the health promoters discussing topics from vitamin deficiency, rehydration therapy, alcoholism/ alcohol cessation, and HIV. The forum for discussion was an interactive model in attempts to keep participation and interest. Those in attendants had plenty to say, and our ability to listen gave us good ground in the information we presented. The value of education is immense, and the utility after we leave is independent of our presence. This is why this component of our visit is so crucial, because with the power of knowledge, people are better armed to find their own solutions.

Along the lines of sanitation, we continued to support the Community Clean-up project. Waste Management was kind enough to donate trash bags for the effort, and through the donations of churches, rotary club, and other private donations we were able to purchase gloves, sanitary handwash solution, boots, and rakes for the project. Although supplies will run-out, the community is very resourceful with those supplies. Through donations from a hospital maternity unit in Minnesota, we are able to sustain a Flour Distribution Program for those who participate in the community clean-up program. The idea came from the note in lack of participation from people in the community, the solution was to find an incentive to assist people in participating in the program. Through donations, the project is sustained and people are able to have a parcel of flour for their help.

One of the largest deterrents for youth is street influence. Drugs, gang activity, violence, and alcohol are all results of a more looming problem- namely poverty. The solution that James and Daniel have for this problem is to bring students off the streets through an after school program. Currently 80 children are enrolled, but more are being added. The program included school tutoring, art, singing and dancing as well as youth sports. This allows a safe haven for children to continue being children without the stress of being children in the impoverished third world. Of course the stress still exists, but while the children participate in these programs they can for a moment leave those issues aside. Again, through donations from a school, we were able to bring soccer equipment for the youth program as well as first aid kits. The hopes are to extend the youth sports activity to also include volleyball. I am confident that these programs will only increase as it is a great service that is recognized by the community and the local school.

Lastly, the issue of fiscal sustainability is crucial for the continuity of the project. Therefore, the development of the art project is of the utmost importance. It is through the sale of painted crafts, cards and canvas art that the Embulbul projects are able to find a source of funding. Tourism is a large source of revenue for Kenya, so souvenirs are a significant product for sale. The proposition made was that a portion of sales made through the project are split for the individual and the remainder goes to sustain the project. The hope is that enough capitol will be raised to fund future developments. This is why efforts are being made to find partnering merchants in the US around Chicago to promote sales.

So what does the future hold? The hope is that the organization will have established Non-Profit Organization Status and classified as an established Non-Governmental Organization. These steps will assist in grant proposals as well as partnering with other organizations for continued development. With additional funds, the project will stride to move to an independent facility to suit the needs of the youth education, art projects, and health education. For the past two years we have also been having discussions of establishing a well on the new site for use of the community as a clean and accessible source of water. More projects are being established through continued communication.

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