Health Program Update - March Efforts

As usual the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust Health Program team has been working hard. The month of March had them extending their efforts all across Kuku Group Ranch.

The routine health outreaches continued into the month of March, including an outreach to Kuku in which 85 patients were attended to. Further, a new outreach was initiated in the month of March - a mobile laboratory. The MWCT lab technician, whom is permanently stationed at Iltilal Health Center, travelled 25 kilometres away to the Langata Dispensary. Here he managed to do complete prenatal testing for 7 women, as well as a total of 5 tests from the outpatient clinic. The objective of this mobile outreach is to increase the diagnostic capacity of all the health facilities within Kuku, and also increase revenues in order to allow the laboratory to become self-sustained.

As a part of ensuring access and continuity of health services by residents of Kuku Group Ranch, Dr. Gabriel travelled to Langata dispensary and stayed there for 4 days.

The second round of the Tetanus Campaign continued in March. As you may remember, MWCT has partnered with the Ministry of Health to immunize all women of reproductive age. The Iltilal Health Centre Team managed to exceed the set target of 900 women, and immunized a total of 997 women at the end of the campaign!

Lining up for the Tetanus vaccination

Some exciting news about our Community Health Volunteers! The new group of 15 community health volunteers attached to the Iltilal Health Centre completed their 10-day training at the Marla on March 7! Certificates were awarded by the District Medical Office of Health.

New Community Health Workers

Health Program Update - Community Health Workers & Distribution of Sanitary Pads

As part of our Kuku Group Ranch-wide Community Health Worker project, we re-established the community health workers at Iltilal Health Centre. the first meeting with the community hospital committee was held on February 3, and the proposal to enrol the community health workers was passed.

The second meeting was held the following week and the names of the proposed candidates were presented for adoption. A total of 16 community health workers were selected; three of these from the Moilo/Olpusare area. All candidates presented themselves for interviews and briefing on the roles of community health workers. These newly selected CHW's are currently undergoing induction training conducted by the Ministry of Health and sponsored by MWCT.

Meeting with potential community health workers in Iltilal

In the month of February, we also started a rotational CHW forum at the four health facilities within Kuku Group Ranch. This forum brings the community health workers from a particular health centre together for a brief training and joint meal. The purpose of these forums is to foster unity among the CHW's and motivate them towards community health development! They also provide MWCT with a forum to articulate its' health goals for the local community.

The Health Program has a big task this month; thanks for Dr. Michael Brownstein's generous donation, we have been able to distribute reusable cloth sanitary pads to all schoolgirls on Kuku Group Ranch. The objective of the project is to ensure girls are not missing school during menstruation because they do not have the means to purchase sanitary pads. Each girl is given 4 cloth pads (lasting over 1 year), a bar of soap, and a plastic bag to store their pads!

Shokut School Girls

The primary schools in Iltilal, Moilo, Shokut, Marla, Inkisanjani, and Langata were visited this month. We teach them about menstruation, and show them how to use and clean their pads. They were also given to the teachers so that they can assist the children.  

Marlal school girl with cloth sanitary pads

Health Program Update - Outreaches & Deliveries

The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust Health Program was very busy for the month of January!

Medical and Educational Outreaches continued across the Group Ranch. On January 13 an 27, Medical Outreaches took place at Kuku Primary School. 76 patients were seen and 24 immunizations were given, 7 family planning were distributed, and 14 women attended the antenatal clinic, and all of the children were dewormed at Kuku Primary School!

Students at Kuku School watch a video on proper nutrition

On January 17, a medical outreach took place in Oltiasika; where 15 patients were seen and deworming of children at the nearby school took place. An education session was also held for the community on the topic of family planning and cervical screening.

Oltiasika Health Workers and Gabriel teaching community about family planning and cervical cancer

Further, the health staff of Oltiasika Dispensary were happy to report that since the installation of the solar lights at the dispensary in September 2013, they have seen an increase in facility deliveries! What great news!

Oltiasika Dispensary with overhead lighting

Health Program Update - New Bicycles, Education Session, & Project Osiligi

Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust distributed 3 more bicycles in November, to 3 community health workers in Olorika. The facility health workers chose these 3 workers as the most dedicated community health workers (CHW) in Olorika.

The CHW's were delighted to receive the bicycles, and asserted that the bicycle would help them in their visits to households and the health facility.

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The MWCT Health Team gather once a month for a meeting, lunch, and an educational session facilitated by one of the staff. For November, Sam and Wanyama gave a PowerPoint presentation on what they had learned from a 2-week training they attended on Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Nakuru, organized by the ministry of Health. 

Sam presenting an education session of PMTCT at CCRC

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As we mentioned in a previous update, the income-generating project partnered with Campi ya Kanzi  to provide guests with traditional Maasai jewlery, has been off to a good start. Thus far, 3 women groups around Kuku Group Ranch have made over 180 beaded bracelets and earrings. The women have named the initiative "Project Osiligi", which means Project Hope.

Colourful bracelets designed by the women

Health Program Update - New Solar Lights and a New Bicycle

Solar lights have been installed at Olorika and Oltiasika dispensaries as a result of Lena's (MWCT Health Program Development Director) fundraising efforts and the Ian Hicks Foundation. We have made a short video capturing the thoughts of the health works on the installation of the lights. The community then slaughtered a goat to celebrate the exciting occasion.

You can find the video by clicking here.

Health workers at Olorika Dispensary with the new solar ights

Daniel at Olorika showing off the new lights!

Letter of appreciation from health workers at Olorika dispensary

We are also happy to announce that a new bicycle has been given to a community health worker from Langata. Shadrack walks for 8 kilometres to Langata dispensary every day to assist the other health workers. 

Shadrack very happy with his new bicycle!

Now, with his new bicycle, he is able to get to the hospital much faster. He repeatedly told the MWCT health staff that he will never be late again! We hope that it will further motivate Shadrack to continue to effectively assist the community through his efforts within our health program. 

Shadrack receiving his bicycle from Wanyama, MWCT's clinical officer in Lanagata

Health Program Update - Trachoma Campaign and Bead Project

Greetings from Kuku Group Ranch! Our Health Program continued its' busy efforts for the month of October. More specifically with a focus on the Trachoma Campaign.

Children que while distribution of Trachoma prevention drugs takes place

The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust was integral in making the Ministry of Health's Trachoma Campaign a success. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease that can cause blindness if it is not treated in its' early stages.

From October 28 - November 2, MWCT health staff organized outreaches with our ambulance to villages of Samai and Enkusero, Moilo, Singila, and Campi ya Kanzi/Chyulu Hills Conservation and Research Centre (CCRC) to ensure the communities received appropriate drugs to prevent trachoma. 

A very successful campaign!

As a result, we exceeded the target set by the Ministry of Health and provided trachoma drugs to 3300 people in the Iltilal catchment area. What a success!

Another exciting update for MWCT, is the initiation of a new Bead Project. This income generating project has been initiated in collaboration with Campi ya Kanzi to benefit local Maasai women.

Women involved in the beads project

 Every guest from Campi ya Kanzi will receive a beaded bracelet made by women from throughout Kuku Group Ranch.  This project will also aim to improve access to an uptake of reproductive health services, and reinforce public health messages during women group meetings

A bracelet made by a local Maasai woman

Health Program Update - Medical and Education Outreaches

We have some great updates to share with you from our Health Program for the month of October. Medical outreaches continue throughout this month to various villages throughout Kuku Group Ranch.

On October 14, a medical outreach took place in Kuku - 64 patients were seen at this very busy community outreach. A Community Health Worker delivered a talk to those in attendance on family planning. This talk resulted in five clients requesting for contraceptives.

Kuku community health workers dispensing medications

Mothers and babies waiting for immunizations

Also on October 15, Lairumbe presented a talk on female genital cutting to 50 MWCT Rangers. The presentation was well received, with many inquisitive questions and comments from the Rangers.

A busy immunization clinic in Kuku

In light of the recent increase in teenage pregnancies which is a direct result of girls dropping out of school, MWCT has initiated a weekly school education program in Iltilal, as well as a monthly education program in Langata. On October 17, MWCT Health staff visited Iltilal Primary School and spoke to 70 girls in Class 6 and 7 about setting life goals. The next day, staff travelled to Langata Primary School to speak to 150 girls in Class 5, 6, 7, and 8.

School girls at Langata Primary write down their life goals

Health Update - Tetanus Campaign

We would love to share a brief, but exciting new update for the MWCT Health Program which occurred in September of 2013. On September 13-19, the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust supported the Ministry of Health Tetanus Campaign by arranging a series of outreaches.

This campaign aimed to support women that are at a reproductive age - and are therefor more susceptible to the tetanus disease. Because this is a very fatal disease, the importance of immunization was emphasized through these outreaches as it is preventable with provided immunizations. MWCT Health Staff complied with the campaign by ensuring the message of the importance of this immunization was communicated.  

A local woman receives a tetanus immunization

This Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Campaign was launched by the Kenya Ministry of Health to ensure a commitment to the global goal of controlling, eliminating, and eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases in Kenya.   

School girls queue to receive immunizations

MWCT organized three health outreaches to the villages of Kuku, Samai, and Enkusero to ensure that the communities living far away from the campaign would still receive the benefits that the campaign provided. As a result of this, Iltilal Health Centre exceeded it's target by 18%, which was 175 women above the targeted number.

Health Update - Outreaches and Education Day

We would like to sincerely apologize for our delay in sharing the efforts of the trust for the past few weeks on this blog! However, there has still be plenty of activity within our programs, and the MWCT Health Program has been very busy this past month. The MWCT Health Staff accomplished four village outreach programs in the month of September to different communities within Kuku Group Ranch. These community outreaches are accompanied by MWCT Heath Staff, government health staff, as well as the community health workers.

Village members wait patiently for services provided in our outreaches

These community health outreaches continually aim to mobilize information to Maasai community members to create an understanding of the programs of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, and the services provided within.

As an added outreach, MWCT Health staff took the wonderful opportunity to deworm 333 school children as they were all gathered in Olorika for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust Education Day. The MWCT Education Day is a day celebration that is hosted for the primary school located within Kuku Group Ranch that receives the highest top marks on the KCPE exams (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education).

Deworming pills are handed out to school children in Olorika

In other very exciting news for the MWCT Health Program, the Iltilal Health Centre received the most amount of child deliveries under skilled care at the health facility in the month of September. This is very exciting for our program, as it is the highest monthly total for this year! Furthermore, the proposed renovations in the Langata dispensary have now been completed. As a result of these renovations, a new room has been constructed that will now act as a post-delivery room, as well as serving double-purpose as a room for Dr. Gabriel to stay on his 3-day outreaches to this village.

Continued efforts in health outreaches to villages of Kuku, Olorika, and Oltiasika

Furthermore, we would like to share the following link that has displayed the MWCT Health Program efforts to utilize Medical Aid Films in the communities with the Kuku Group Ranch. Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust is featured on their website here: http://medicalaidfilms.org/working-in-the-maasai/

Health Update - New Village Outreach Program!

Sam giving a talk on cervical cancer during an Oltiasika outreach.

MWCT's Health Program has stayed busy since we last posted -- lots of exciting work going on all over Kuku Group Ranch!  In the months after the rainy season we've made great progress with our village outreaches, having successful ones each month and starting a new 3-day outreach program in which our nurse Sam and lab technician Felix spend 3 days each month at our 2 primary clinics around Kuku Group Ranch that don't have regular MWCT staffing.

Sam explains a self-breast exam to women in Oltiasika while government nurse Peter demonstrates.

During their 3 days at each clinic they provide cancer screenings for women in the area, family planning sessions, immunizations for children, lab work and testing, and shorter outreaches to smaller surrounding villages with no health facilities at all.  They also give talks to the community on the importance of testing, hygiene, deworming for children, and many other topics.  Finally, they work with the local Community Health Workers to ensure the care provided during the rest of the month is as good as possible.

Sam and Felix with Olorika Community Health Worker Daniel.

We initiated this program in June by sending Sam and Felix to both Olorika and Oltiasika for 3 days each; it was very well received by the communities.  In addition to performing operations and testing, Sam made a point to teach the government nurses how to perform the tasks and they did very well.

Olorika CHW Daniel checking in on the chickens.

In Olorika we also helped with the Community Health Workers' income-generating project, raising chickens.  The money generated by selling the chickens will help purchase small supplies to allow the CHWs to be as useful as possible. Every day we're working to make MWCT more useful to the surrounding Maasai community!

Health Update - Expanded Outreaches and More

MWCT's Health Program has had a busy month on many fronts: strengthening our relationship with Kenya's Ministry of Health, showing health education videos on various topics, and expanding our community outreaches on Kuku Group Ranch to include new villages.  Throughout the year we plan to continue to strengthen our relationships with other organizations and maximize our ability to help the Maasai of Kuku.

Lena dispenses de-worming tablets to the children of Samai village.

To facilitate a better working relationship and keep an open channel of communication, Lena had a discussion with Dr. Kapkoni, from the District Ministry of Health, regarding some reflect community conflict with health professionals on the ranch.  Following the meeting we drafted a memorandum of understanding to be ratified by the area's community health committees, which will help to define the relationships and responsibilities of all groups in the complex system and ensure we can maximize our positive impact.

Sam assesses a patient during MWCT's Samai outreach.

We held two recent community outreaches to Kuku village, as well as our initial outreach to a small village nearby called Samai.  We noted during our first visit to Kuku last month that attendance had been steadily rising, and realized many patients here coming several kilometers from Samai to attend.  Therefore, during our next outreach day we spent the morning in Samai, then the afternoon in Kuku village -- and acheived a record turnout!

Lena records patient visits during our Kuku village outreach.

During the outreaches we immunized more than 50 infants, provided antenatal care to several pregnant women, distributed de-worming tablets to children at nearby schools in each village, showed videos on proper nutrition for children, mothers, and all community members, and assessed any other patient complaints.

Steve weighing a Maasai child at the Samai outreach.

Our Community Health Workers were instrumental in these outreaches, organizing and publicizing them as well as helping the day of, translating videos from Swahili to Maa (the Maasai language), and doing anything else that was asked of them.  Without their continued enthusiasm and support, we couldn't achieve nearly what we have thus far.

MWCT's Community Involvement

Often this blog details the dedicated work of MWCT's three main programs in Conservation, Health, and Education, but it is important to remember one of the pillars of everything MWCT does: our involvement with the local Maasai community.  The Maasai of Kuku Group Ranch are the reason we exist, and they make our daily work worth doing.  In the past few months we've been honored to be involved in several important community events, providing excellent opportunities to remember why we do the work we do.

Three members of the Langata women's group display their beaded jewelry.

We've already detailed our adventures at the First Annual Maasai Olympics here, here, and here, and written about a celebration of a young women's group here.  We've also been encouraging the work of a women's group in Langata Village that has been crafting beautiful beaded jewelry.  Formed in 2009 when severe drought killed crops and forced families to search for alternative revenue, the group consists mainly of older women.  Our eco-tourism partner Campi ya Kanzi has graciously offered to help sell this jewelry in their gift shop, supporting the efforts of these local Maasai artists.

Village elders bless young women taking part in an alternative right-of-passage ceremony.

MWCT also collaborated with AMREF to sponsor a three-day workshop in Iltilal Village exploring alternatives to the traditional right-of-passage ceremony for young women, which involves female circumcision.  Over 200 young girls attended the workshop, where the dangers of circumcision were outlined and an alternative ceremony proposed.  On the third day this ceremony was held, with the entire Maasai community participating and the village elders blessing the young women.

Samson leading the community barazaa and explaining the new ambulance.

Finally, MWCT held a barazaa (community meeting) to announce the arrival of an important new part of the Health Program - an ambulance!  Nicknamed Anna (after its donor, Anna Kulidjian), this ambulance greatly expands the reach of our medical capabilities, and will allow for rapid transport of very sick patients, something that was previously impossible.  Samson presented the vehicale to the community and explained how it will be used; to cover costs and instill a sense of community ownership, there will be a small fee for emergency use.  It was well-received, and the Maasai are very happy with this new convenience.

A Community Health Worker examines our new ambulance.

Health Update - Community Outreaches and Health Workers

The past months have been exciting ones here at the MWCT Health Program, as we continue our outreaches to all the communities of Kuku Group Ranch.  Recently we've been able to visit Olorika, Kuku, Oltiasika, Dip, and Langata Villages.  Most villages we try to visit once per month, though in Kuku Village we aim for twice per month.

Lena meets with a group of CHWs in Langata Village.

During our outreaches we meet with community members and often provide limited medical services and examinations.  We set up an outpatient clinic and dispense deworming medicine to children, as well as offering antenatal care and immunization clinics.  In November we partnered with Kenya's Ministry of Public Health to immunize over 750 children against the measles, and our trachoma campaign in December reached more than 3,400 Maasai.

Oltiasika CHWs prepare for an outreach by organizing supplies.

Each region's Community Health Workers (CHWs) are an invaluable part of our outreaches, working with us before and during the day to ensure a successful event.  Before MWCT's staff arrives, they publicize the outreach throughout their communities, often going door-to-door to spread the news.  They also secure a meeting place, organize supplies, and alert us to any special needs.  At the event itself, they organize attendees, help with evaluations, and arrange for any necessary follow-up actions. 

Steve works with CHWs in Olorika to map bomas in their area using Google Earth.

We've also been using the outreaches to continue our mapping of bomas (household clusters) on Kuku, so that we have a better sense of where people live and how the CHWs can distribute their efforts to best reach  everyone.  The Community Health Workers really enjoy seeing their villages on Google Earth, and are able to quickly group and identify visible bomas.  By having one MWCT staff member work with the CHWs on this mapping while the others conduct the outreach, a single day's work can be extremely productive.  We plan to continue these successful community outreaches throughout the upcoming months, and continue to improve access to healthcare for all the Maasai of Kuku Group Ranch

Our nurse Sam administers immunizations to children in Dip Villlage.

Health Update - Community Outreaches and More

Over the past month MWCT's Health program has held some extremely successful community outreaches and presentations, reaching several hundred community members.  These talks have covered a wide range of topics, including the advantages of giving birth in health facilities, HIV/AIDS, women's and prostate cancer, and family planning, among others.  Although the Trust is based near Iltilal and the primary clinic is located there, these outreaches allow us to contact Maasai from all parts of Kuku Group Ranch and give them valuable information about their health and the services we offer.

Lena shows the women of Kuku village important health facts during a Community Outreach.

Our Community Health Workers have played extremely important roles in these outreaches.  A recent Kuku outreach saw more than 100 attendees, largely due to CHWs promoting and publicizing it and reaching out to individual households and bomas to boost attendance.  In early September we also held a forum for Traditional Birth Attendants in Kuku village.  Although the village is located 16 kilometres from the Iltilal Health Center, we stressed the benefits of a birth plan and encouraged the women to stay with friends or family close to Iltilal as they neared their delivery dates.

Eddie and our Community Health Workers also help with the outreaches across Kuku Group Ranch

And later in September, Lena traveled with district health nurse Mr. Wilson Chesum to the Kimana Health Centre, another facility in our district.  The visit enabled the Trust to observe the activities and methods there and learn best practices to bring back and make our health facilities even better to best serve the Maasai community.  It's been an exciting time recently, and we hope to keep reaching more patients, learning, and improving every day!