Tumaini (Hope)

From time-to-time, Starfish Charities has the opportunity to be a part of something that is not related specifically to the Maasai. A group of doctors in Fort Worth, Texas donated some used medical equipment and supplies to my ministry. I immediately thought about this very special maternity clinic located in the Korogocho slum in Nairobi, founded and run by Dr. Joe Radkovich of Australia. I have known Dr. Joe and his family since the first year I was in Kenya. When I mentioned the equipment and supplies, he was happy to receive them.

The equipment arrived on my container in October, and on February 4, I went with two of my board members to his maternity clinic for the official handing over of the equipment. We were all blessed and amazed at this wonderful work he is doing. His clinic is well-designed to accommodate these precious women who otherwise may deliver in their homes in very unsanitary conditions. Please join me as we journey through his clinic and the surrounding area.

Martha was our official guide as we toured the hospital. She was extremely articulate in English so it made the tour so comfortable and enjoyable. She is a nurse, but as with all the nurses in the clinic, they rotate duties so they are aware of every aspect of the operations. Here she is explaining the procedure of processing the patients from entry to exit.

This is the scale on which they weigh the babies. Hanging down is a little pouch that you put the baby in to see how much it weighs. Its actually very effective and is widely used among clinics countrywide.

This is obviously the pharmacy. They have a system of record keeping that requires them to inventory at the beginning and ending of each day so they can account for all the drugs.

On to the lab. I'm not sure what all the equipment is in the lab, but I was impressed with its spaciousness and light airy feel. As in every aspect of this hospital, Dr. Joe had high standards which result in efficient patient care.

I could do a whole blog on the mural in the waiting area. It is a story of the gospel. Starting from left to right on the top row and proceeding down to the second row, you have a prefect plan of salvation laid out. The "crown" is God, the stick picture is mankind, and the circle is the world. In the first picture you have perfection with God over man and the world. In the second picture you have sin and the depiction of man removing himself from God's authority and now serving himself, which results in death (3rd picture). Because of Christ's death on the cross, you have an opportunity to make a choice whether to accept his gift of restoration and Lordship, or reject it and be your own master. Every patient who enters that waiting area gets to hear the gospel.

This was immunization day, so all these moms with their babies were waiting their turn for their babies to get their various immunizations.

This is an overflow waiting area. Dr. Joe's teen aged children painted this adorable mural on the wall.

Its wonderful he was thinking about his employees when he made this kitchen and break area. They have a refrigerator, microwave, and two burner hot plate for preparing their tea and meals.

This is the labor ward. It has four beds, but is roomy enough to add several more if needed. Joe says they deliver about 80 babies a month.

This is the sign-in area of the labor ward.

Pictured here is Dr. Joe with a very amused nurse posing for the camera. This is the piece of equipment that was donated by the doctors in Texas.

Any woman who has had a baby probably knows exactly what they are seeing here. But for those who may be uninformed, these are delivery beds.

We really should have had someone sit in this wheelchair! It looks a little forlorn in its half folded position, but the purpose of the picture was that it was also donated and came over on our container to be given to this clinic. They were very excited about it because their only other wheelchair had flat tires!

Here is Martha proudly presenting their washing machine! For most of you that may seem like a no-brainer to have a washing machine. But in many areas of the country they don't even have electricity, much less something like this. You usually see a washing area fill with buckets and basins and ladies bent over hand scrubbing all the dirty linens.

From the beauty of the inside to the disturbing poverty on the outside. What you see in this picture is the Dandora dumping site for all the city of Nairobi's trash collection. The buildings in the foreground are people's homes. Most are probably one room dwellings.

Another view of the dump. As the days grow hot and the garbage heats up and spontaneous combustion occurs setting off little smoky fires. You can't see it in this picture, but there are people sifting through the trash looking for anything usable -- whether it is empty plastic water bottles to be sold, or food that is still edible.

More dwellings.

We were standing on a balcony above this pathway. Mine and Joanna's white skin really shines in this area and we were spotted by these two little boys.

Life goes on. This is everyday for these people. Dr. Joe has built a beautiful refuge for the women of this area. They are able to come to his clinic and receive the care they need and give birth in beautiful surroundings. A very big thank you to the doctors in Texas for donating this much needed equipment. In the true sense of what Starfish Charities is all about you did "make a difference" in the lives of the women in the Korogocho slums.