Masai Mara Region: Lolgorian Health Centre

On 5 March 2008, UIC Project Global Village donated 300 LifeStraws to the Lolgorian Health Centre in the Masai Mara region for distribution by medical staff to people who are diagnosed with waterborne illnesses. 90% of the children who are treated at the Lolgorian Health Centre suffer from diseases they have contracted by drinking contaminated water. Including LifeStraws as part of the treatment for such illnesses will help to prevent recurrence.
The Lologorian Health Centre serves a population of 60,000 people, most of whom must walk for miles to receive medical care. The health center offers both in-patient and out-patient services, and has twenty-two beds in the medical wing and eight beds in the maternity wing. The center's dedicated staff consists of five nurses and two clinical officers.

The nearest medical doctor is over 30 miles away, and Lologorian Health Centre does not have an ambulance for transferring patients. In cases of emergencies, Lolgorian staff members often pay for taxis themselves to help people in need.






Two of the clinical officers welcome Kipas ole Manie, Enkereri Village chief, and George Gituku of Custom Safaris.






While touring the medical facility, we discovered that the health center's only source of electricity is a diesel-powered generator. Because the generator is so expensive to run (over $12 per hour), it is reserved for only the most extreme emergencies. (And delivering a baby in the middle of the night is not considered an emergency, unless the woman ends up needing a Casearean-section. Routine deliveries and other medical procedures are regularly performed at night with only kerosene lanterns to provide lighting.)

During the rainy season, this dirt road that leads to the Lolgorian Health Centre is virtually impassable. People in the Masai Mara region typically walk miles to seek health care. Despite the great needs and challenges that the community faces, we were impressed by the dedication of the staff who strive to offer the best health care care possible. The medical facility in Lolgorian has great potential to adequately serve the community if upgrades in transport and power could be provided.

The Masai Mara region: Enkereri Village

The famed Masai Mara area is well known internationally for stunning landscapes and spectacular wildlife. The region is also home to a number of small, impoverished communities who face numerous challenges, including a lack of clean water and adequate health care. In partnership with Custom Safaris, a tour operator who has been working to improve the lives of people in the Mara region, Project Global Village recently distributed 100 LifeStraws to children in Enkereri Village and 300 LifeStraws to the region's only health centre.

Enkereri, a Maa word that means view point, is a village about 20 kilometers outside of the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Enkereri has a population of about 200 people who live in traditional Maasai homes known collectively as a manyatta. Enkereri does not have electricity or running water. Villagers rely on rain water catchments and the Mara River for their drinking water.













Kipas ole Manie, the headman of Enkereri, welcomes us to his village. The manyatta is surrounded by a fence made of thorny acacia tree branches to keep wild animals away from the people and livestock who live there.













Three years ago, Custom Safaris built a nursery school for children ages 2-6 years old living in Enkereri and other villages nearby. Prior to the establishment of this school, young children had to walk several kilometers through bush terrain to attend nursery school. Custom Safaris has also been actively involved in educating Enkereri villagers about the need to clean water before drinking it, and the tour operator leads "humanitarian safaris" through which tourists donate LifeStraws to the community.

On March 4, 2008, UIC brought 100 LifeStraws to Enkereri Nursery School to give to the children and their parents. Village Headman, Kipas ole Manie, explained to the children that they need to use the straws every time they drink water that has not been boiled.
Kristina Dziedzic Wright of UIC and Kipas ole Manie handing out LifeStraws.















A child from Enkereri demonstrates using a LifeStraw.

Enkereri Nursery Schoolers welcome their guests from UIC in this video clip: