During the month of November, we treated 16 patients from our village community and our local fellowships. Some were routine care and others were special cases for which we raised additional funding through Kingdom Driven Ministries.

One woman, Naomi Wanjala , went to our local clinic at the end of last month (October) with what we thought would be a routine labor and delivery. She did deliver a beautiful baby girl, but suddenly experienced hemorrhaging afterwards and was subsequently referred to the district hospital. When the bleeding ceased, she was discharged. However, her condition did not improve. Her post-partum bleeding abruptly stopped completely and her milk never came in for the baby. We immediately requested special funding from our donors and received enough to send her to a local private hospital where she could receive a better quality of care. Based on our understanding of her symptoms and some good old Google searching, we suspected thyroid problems due to the post-partum hemorrhage, what is known as Sheehan’s Syndrome. She received several blood transfusions at the hospital and also some injections to address the thyroid issues. After an initial visit and follow-up at the hospital, we are happy to report that Naomi is now feeling much improved, and is producing a small amount of mother’s milk for the little one! We had also received some funding earmarked for baby formula, which was received as a great blessing by the family in the initial weeks of stress, and is now still being used to supplement Naomi’s nursing efforts.

Another special case was 4 year-old Alvin, grandson of one our fellowship’s wazee (elder men). He had a bump in his nose which was making breathing difficult and he often cried from discomfort. The family did not have means to even take him in for a diagnosis, much less treatment, so this condition lingered for quite some time until we were able to secure some funding to send him to the District hospital for a consultation. It was diagnosed as a nasal polyp or cyst, and he had a special scan to assess and measure the growth in anticipation of surgical removal. It was so large that it was found to have fractured the bone in his nose, thus the pain he was having, poor little guy! Several families cooperatively gave enough money to fund the surgery, which will take place soon. Praise the Lord! Please pray with us for complete removal of the cyst and healing for Alvin, as in a small percentage of cases the polyp can re-grow.

Our regular medical assistance for the community and for our fellowships goes out as the needs present themselves. This month, several patients were treated for pneumonia and other respiratory infections (including 2 month-old Jeremiah), as well as septic wounds, trauma from assault, malaria, and even a breast ulcer. We also treated a couple of ear infections. Mary Stella, an older Mama in our local fellowship who has had club feet from birth but is remarkably self-sufficient and joyful in the Lord, suffered an unfortunate accident on a motorbike during routine travel and was sent to the District hospital for a cast. Please pray for her complete recovery!

Our expenses for routine medical care this month (including purchase of OTC malaria medicine and ibuprofen, but excluding special cases, which received their own funding) came to approximately $300. We are thankful for all those who have so generously given to care for these needs. We see their faces, experience their pain, and know their joy in having brothers and sisters around the world care for them!

We have many faithful partners who regularly give so that the medical needs of the brethren and impoverished in our community can be met. You might not think it much if you can only give $10 or $25 to meet an “urgent need,” but you probably don’t know just how far that can go here in our rural village! Someone suffering from malaria with a high fever and severe body aches can experience relief with a couple ibuprofen that cost about 5 cents per dose; the malaria medicine itself is about $1.00. If there are complications or if there is uncertainty about symptoms and we send folks to the local clinic instead of treating them with over-the-counter medication, the bill might run up to about $8 or $10 for a consultation, injections, and follow-up medication to take at home. When you consider that a decent income here is about $50 per month, an unexpected bill for even $10 can be a hardship, so your assistance with these needs is more of a blessing than you realize–especially if the recipient is a widow, elderly grandparents caring for grandchildren who have been abandoned to them, or others who are struggling to get by on irregular day labor because there are few salaried jobs in the village.

With that being said, look at what approximately $250 did this month!…

We purchased over-the-counter medicines so that our community members in need would have access to both malaria medicine and ibuprofen, at a total cost of about $40 for 30 boxes of malaria meds and a large container of ibuprofen.

There were several cases of malaria that were referred to our local clinic for further treatment, either because of age or unusual symptoms which we did not feel comfortable treating with the OTC meds. One was a 9 month-old baby who was abandoned by his parents and is now being cared for by his grandmother; Kingdom Driven Ministries has been supporting her with infant formula since Primus was just a couple of months old. He was treated for GI issues and malaria.

One member of our fellowship, a young man named Ben (father of three little girls) came for OTC malaria medicine and, by his own report, took only one dose when his little girl began to show symptoms of malaria as well. Rather than come for more medicine, he gave her the remainder of his and continued to struggle with body aches and fever for another week before coming to us for further assistance. Because he had stopped the course of medication, we had to take him to the clinic, where he received quinine injections and more medicine to take at home. He is now doing well and, hopefully, has learned a lesson about the necessity of taking the full course of medication for complete healing!

A young girl in our community was treated for a wound which had become complicated by an abscess, and several elderly were treated for respiratory complications, including pleurisy and pneumonia. One of those was the most senior member of our fellowship, Theophilus.

One night near dark, one of the young boys in our community (about age 12) decided to take part in something that all the kids do for “fun”—jumping on the back of a loaded lorry to get a free ride. Unfortunately, he promptly fell off and received some serious injuries to his face and limbs. The fortunate thing is that it happened near the home/shop of one of our deacons, Silas, who is quick to help those in need. He brought the boy to the clinic and the bill was taken care of by the lorry driver and the boy’s family. However, the next day we ran into the boy and his mother at the clinic, where they did not have enough money to purchase the recommended follow-up medications. Thankfully, KDM was able to assist them with this need.

One of our more serious cases was that of Rose Nasambu, who was experiencing many symptoms, including digestive issues and severe headaches. We sent her first to our local clinic, where they tested her for malaria (usually the first course of action). Since the test was negative and the symptoms not definitive, they referred her to our local district hospital. As it turns out, she had been treated for typhoid a couple of weeks earlier and, unbeknownst to her, the medication she was given had wreaked havoc on her stomach, likely because she was not eating food while taking it as recommended. So she ended up compounding her sickness with stomach ulcers and debilitating headaches. Her treatment for the ulcers at the hospital ended up costing $65—more than the usual medical bill for our mission, but I’m sure Rose would say it was well worth the expense.

As of the end of September, we have been able to purchase our OTC medicines and brought 15 people to our local clinic or hospital for care, at a cost of approximately $250. Many thanks to all those who have made this work possible, and may God be given all the glory!

Through the clinic and medical missions work of the Kingdom Driven Ministries team here in Kenya, many instances of malnourished children have been identified and we have done our best to provide consistent care for these special cases. In almost every case, the children and a family caregiver have spent an initial period of time in a local clinic or hospital getting their medical and dietary needs met, receiving nutritional counseling, and preparing for continued care when returned to the home environment.

The continued care for these patients has been a challenge, as of course there are underlying causes for the malnourishment; in most cases, the family simply lives in poverty and cannot provide the quality and quantity of food necessary for proper child development. Many of these children and their mothers have been abandoned by the husband and father. Even when food assistance is provided, the food intended for the malnourished child is sometimes consumed by equally hungry family members (other children or even parents). This is frustrating, yet understandable. One grandfather (who was caring for his two malnourished grandchildren) basically said, “Of course I need to eat, too. If I can’t work, how can I provide any better for the children?” This is a common quandary: how to provide for the needy children while also helping families and empowering them for continued care of these little ones.

Currently, we have seven children for whom we have been providing regular assistance; not only food but, in some cases, financial help (such as for mothers who have been left on their own by fathers who were the sole support for the family). Some of these children are siblings, and in all cases they remain with family members for their care. We have had regular supporters who have taken on the burden for this financial assistance, but our program is currently undergoing revision and there does not seem to be enough commitment from our donors to continue to help these children.

Our program has been highly individualized and, as stated, has included some supplemental financial assistance. KDM staff has been doing home visits, coordinating appointments with a nutritionist, shopping for special needs, and so on. However, the team feels it best to streamline this process and develop a standardized strategy that can be put in place for all program participants and maximize financial resources. As a result, our desire is to provide weekly food packages with common items that are needed by the malnourished children, as well as a small amount of maize that is intended for use by the rest of the family.

Ideally, we will continue to care for the children on a temporary basis and gradually release them from dependence on the program provisions. We propose 125ml oil, 1kg sugar, 1kg rice, 1kg porridge, 2kg beans, 2litres milk and 10 oranges per “package.” Households will get one or two packages depending on the number of malnourished children. We will add 4kg maize per household to hold up the rest of the family and hopefully prevent them from using resources meant for needy children. A package costs about $12.00. We believe a “package” program will provide sufficient nutritional supplementation to sustain the needy children, without creating a dependence on the part of the caregivers.

Our current population of patients (7), each receiving one package weekly, would total $4368 on an annual basis, which averages $364 per month. Additionally, we hope to offer a monthly stipend of $35 to one of the children’s caregivers, as it is a special situation (see information about Isaac, below), which brings the program total to $399 per month.

Connect to Drop Box for photos of our current patients, some photos “then” (when the children were originally brought to us), and some “now” (current photos showing their progress thus far): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fz5xvptemp5e7xw/AACrwZvUQSQ-03-clBx00E3ia?dl=0

The majority of children served are currently doing much better than they originally were, but given the circumstances of many of these families, we have seen quite a few of them backslide in health after their release from care at the local clinic and return to the home situation. This is why the provision of a supplemental weekly food package can mean so much in these situations. Here is a list of the children and a short description of their family situations:

Isaac, age 13: His malnourishment and development were in critical condition when we began assisting him. His mother has given an Aunt care of him, and she has an additional 4 of her own children in the home. Isaac is malnourished but also suffers from epilepsy and has undiagnosed neurological issues. As a result, it is difficult for his Aunt to both provide for his ongoing medical needs and work full-time outside the home. We have been assisting her with a small stipend to try to stretch her existing funds and would like to continue to do so, at least temporarily.

Carin (4) and her sister, Faith (2), are at home with their mother, who recently gave birth to another baby. She has another, older child who is being cared for by family members. They spent approximately two months at the local clinic, as their initial condition was acute.

Garrison (6) is at home with Mama and 4 siblings. Garrison’s younger siblings, due to being breastfed, are nutritionally and developmentally doing well for now but because Garrison’s Mother was abandoned and he is the oldest, he has suffered the most from malnourishment.

Abigail (6) and Eliya (3) spent a long time at the local clinic and were released with concerns about the mother’s mental and emotional ability to care for the children long-term. The children and the mother spent some time with an alternate care-giver in the community who was taking care of two of her own malnourished grandchildren. After some months in this situation, the woman confirmed that the mother continued to have difficulty with basic responsibilities regarding the children. With approval from our village Chief, a member of our local fellowship brought the children into his family, where their health improved and they began to achieve some developmental milestones (such as walking, which they had not done previously). The children are currently being cared for by their grandfather, who is now also a member of our fellowship. There are several other grandchildren in the home.

Murawa (4), is our most recent addition to the program. His mother has left him in the care of his grandparents since birth. His grandfather, Charles, is an Mzee (respected older man) in our fellowship. He is a hard worker but is an older man, and he recently underwent surgery to repair his femur, which was broken inside the socket. As a church, we began providing him with some food assistance during this time, especially as we began to notice his hair changing color due to pellagra (a nutritional deficiency). Though not acutely malnourished, Murawa is small for his age and would certainly benefit from supplemental food assistance, at least temporarily.

  If you are able to assist on a monthly basis with these needs, visit our donation page and scroll down to sign up for a “monthly subscription” for medical missions in the amount of your choice. To make a one-time gift, you may input any donation amount for either Medical Missions or special needs. You may earmark your donation with a note during the checkout process.
www.KingdomDriven.org/donate

Greetings Saints,

We recently had a malaria outbreak in Saboti. We treated fourteen children and adults; several were seriously ill. This home fellowship is in the center of a little village planted on the side of a hill. They are very poor people with no farmland (since they are on a rocky hill) or livestock. We were praying for assistance to purchase them mosquito nets to help prevent a repeat of this situation. We hope to get twenty nets at a cost of $6 each (total $120). Please consider helping these people keep their families safe from malaria. You can donate at www.kingdomdriven.org/donate and note “mosquito nets” at checkout.

Thank you and God bless you.

Greetings Saints:

Brother Victor is a terminally ill (yet active and otherwise healthy) cancer patient who recently had a large tumor on his chest removed and received radiation treatment. He serves as the gatekeeper for the medical clinic a couple days a week and is active in the church. He recently received his driver’s license and is still learning to drive (yeah, I know that sounds backward–welcome to Africa.)

His wound where his tumor was removed is still open and requires daily cleanings. Disciples have been volunteering to perform the cleanings for free. However, the supplies and medicine are needed. I am writing for assistance to purchase the necessary cleaning supplies, bandages, and pain medicine. The cost is approximately $50 per month. Please consider donating for these needed supplies to continue caring for our dear brother Victor. Please donate at www.kingdomdriven.org/donate and note “Victor” at checkout.

Thanks and God bless you.

Greetings Saints:

Our dear young disciple needs your help. She has been admitted in the hospital for over a week due to deterioration resulting from her HIV/AIDS. She is 18 years old and has had HIV from an unknown source since early childhood. We really thought we were going to lose her last week, but she miraculously pulled through. Her immune system had totally collapsed; yet after a blood transfusion and some prayer she has made an impressive recovery. Now she is nearing discharge pending payment of the outstanding and daily-increasing hospital bill. We also currently supplement her diet with healthy foods thanks to generous support from brethren. We estimate a need of approximately $120 to clear her medical bills. Please donate at www.kingdomdriven.org/donate.

Thank you and God bless you