Projects

Timeline of Projects:

2012

1. 66 students, physicians (Dr. Lisa Baker, Dr. Bob Dimksi & Dr. Ted Dyer) and other professionals traveled to Kenya on May 13th and returned May 31st, 2012.
2. The temporary clinic and lab allowed for over 800 patients to be seen by the doctors and receive medication.
3. 8 more milk goats were purchased and found new homes with the orphans and elders.
4. Our school, Bethlehem Kouko Academy, has now built one permanent building that houses 3 classrooms.  The first books ever used in the school were purchased.
5. A computer was purchased for the school, and another for Bethlehem Home administration. 
6. 2 business professors joined us for the trip. One is an expert in micro-finance, and the other business professor also happens to have expertise in raising goats. She began to train the orphans and elders who care for these fine animals.
7. Many students collected data for various clinical research projects that will further refine and focus our work on the plateau.
8. Students worked with the orphans to plow and plant a school garden and began teaching the school children how to cultivate it, care for it and raise food.
9. 35 additional water purification systems were installed, along with more rain-harvesting systems.
10. 6 students remained in Kenya for 7 weeks, conducting various research studies pertaining to malaria and sustainable farming on the plateau.
11. We continued to invest in the Village Mothers program and researched barriers to prenatal care access for women on the Nyakach Plateau.
12. Several of us attended the Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale in April. Dr. Lisa Baker, Shannon Wood, Danny Nassar, Jake Abell & Andy Waller presented papers, posters and proposals on their work in Kenya!

2011

1. Two doctors (Dr. Lisa Baker & Dr. Bob Dimski) saw over 800 patients in our temporary clinic.
2. 2 business professors joined us for 3 days and hosted business seminars on the plateau.
3. Many more water tanks and gutter systems were installed, and Biff Patton skillfully instructed 3 locals on water tank and gutter installation and managment.  Water purification systems were added for 25 homes, thanks to Biff and Texas Baptist Men.
4. Clinical research was conducted in asthmatic patients, patients with high blood-lead levels, anemic patients and hypertensive patients.
5. Students trained 9 local women, one from each village, as “Village Mothers”. These women received training in reproductive health issues and now lead village discussion groups twice per month.

1. Installed 25 rain gutter systems and tanks at homes of the orphans and elders to harvest rainwater for drinking.
2. Planted >1000 fruit trees at the homes of the orphans and elders.
3. Purchased goats (1 male, 5 females) to provide milk for drinking and for sale and to provide nutrient-rich fertilizer for the fruit and vegetable gardens.
4. Constructed a swing-set for the orphans. The swing-set was quite popular. Indeed, the local gatherings gave birth to our new school (grades 1-5), which began October of 2010.
5. We were the first in Kenya to pilot the use of adjustable glasses for people with poor vision through Global Vision 2020.
6. Treated approximately 700 people including the orphans and elders of Bethlehem Home. Cases similar to 2009 were reported; however, word of our free clinic spread and we encountered more serious ailments.
7. Conducted a medical laboratory to test blood samples for malaria, anemia, and diabetes. Our lab utilized advanced, hand-held technology to establish severity of sickness, including C-reactive protein readings and iStat blood chemistry panels.  In our building with no electricity and no water, our instruments were powered by AA batteries!

2009

1. Built a 20,000-liter cistern to collect clean drinking water.
2. Replaced thatched roofs with sheet metal.
3. Constructed 14 wooden bed frames for the Bethlehem Home elders and orphans who had been sleeping on dirt floors at home.
4. Provided healthcare for 800 people living on the Nyakach Plateau (including the orphans and elders of Bethlehem Home) in the 2-week period.