Kirsten's Updates about the H.C.C. in Kenya

Thank you to all of you who have helped the HCC orphans in recent weeks by buying Holiday cards!! Your generosity is making a very big difference in the lives of these children, but there is still a lot they need and I have plenty of cards left for those of you who would like to purchase some. The money I raise from the sale of these cards is directly impacting the orphans' health.

I am pleased to be able to report that I was able to send Dr. Jeremy the money for Emmanuel's and Rose's surgeries and I sent some additional funds for Milka to visit an audiologist to determine the best course of action to help her regain her hearing. Jim gave Dr. Jeremy funds for Madame Antonia's daughter's surgery and Jim is now back in the States after being a month in Kenya. I'm hoping he and I will have a chance to talk soon so I can learn more about his experience.

I am waiting to learn when Emmanuel and Rose will be scheduled for their surgeries, and for Rose it might be awhile as she has severe anemia and malaria. She went with Dr. Jeremy to Kilifi, which is about 50 km south of Malindi, for further testing last week. Dr. Jeremy is concerned that she also has sickle cell anemia, but definitive tests are not back yet. This may complicate her surgery although her herniated bowel is a pretty serious situation, too. I will keep you posted as I learn more. The cost for her surgery may also be more than we expected because of these additional medical expenses and complexities.

Dr. Jeremy also took Milka to Mombasa last week (about 2-3 hours south of Malindi) to visit an audiologist. Milka has had chronic and very severe ear infections for most of her life and she is quite deaf. Dr. Jeremy treated her with antibiotics for her chronic infection, but we hope to help her hear again. It turns out that her eardrums are torn and she is not a candidate for a hearing aid at this time. There is a Norwegian organization that comes to Kenya to do ear surgery in Nairobi at certain times of the year, and they are in Kenya now. Dr. Jeremy is trying to determine if Milka is a candidate for this surgery. If she is a candidate, the cost for the surgery, transportation (including a relative to stay with her) and about 5-7 days in the hospital will run about $900-$1,000. I sent Dr. Jeremy all the funds I have raised and so to do this for Milka would mean generating additional donations. Please let me know right away if you might be able to help Milka. She is an orphan I interviewed last year and she has struggled at school because of her hearing, but she is a very upbeat and gregarious girl of thirteen.

Since I left HCC in early July, Dr. Jeremy has worked closely with Zablon, the teachers and the HCC board to care for the orphans' various ongoing medical needs. Today Dr. Jeremy sent me a list of everyone he has seen and all of the treatments he has given. It was a bit staggering!! He has examined 100 of the HCC orphans, and of those, almost all had some sort of medical need, the most common of which was intestinal worms. Worms are very common in Kenya and come from both the food and the soil. He has also treated the children for eplilepsy,malaria, anemia, diarrhea, upper respiratory illnesses, ear infections, fungal infections, tonsillitis, chicken pox, accidents and more. Of the 100 kids he saw, only about 20 were without some sort of ailment! Dr. Jeremy has been using funds I left him for the antibiotics and other medications he has needed the past two months, but that is all used up now. He goes up to HCC to check on the children and has been very communicative with Jim and me. Needless to say he has given a great deal of his time without charge and we are extremely lucky that he has been so generous and caring of the kids. Thank you, too, to the generous donors whose gifts made it possible for me to engage Dr. Jeremy's help in the first place!!

Health is something we take for granted in this country, especially the health of our children. It is such a daunting experience growing up in a developing country where clean water and healthy food are not guarenteed or taken for granted. To be an orphan in a place like Kenya means that you will most likely suffer some sort of health problem, despite your caretakers best efforts. Once I started down the path of helping the HCC orphans with their medical needs, it has become clear that this is going to require more funds and a plan from the HCC board for their ongoing care. But at least we have started the process and chronic problems that have been festering for years have begun to be addressed. We are very grateful for all of you who have generously made it possible to make a difference, one young life at a time!