Emily came in to the MED25 clinic in Mbita District, Keny today for antenatal care and education about prevention of illness during her pregnancy. She understands the importance of treated water as other members of her family have been affected by cholera, a disease transmitted through a water parasite. Emily currently boils her water to reduce the impacts but knows that is not the best way to prevent disease as sediment and bacteria still remain. Vincent, our MED25 nurse, instructed her on the use of Waterguard and how to add this to her practice of boiling water in her home. This will also further protect the drinking water for her newborn and her whole family.

Emily, with a big smile on her face, says “Ero Kamano!” which means ‘thank you’ in Luo, her tribal language, for the generous gift of a malaria net and Waterguard for her family! Thank you volunteers, Thomas, and Kandace for your generosity.

Vincent is the newest edition to the MED25 Clinic Staff and his impact has already been incredible. Vincent is a trained nurse who came to MED25 in February because he believed in providing care for those most in need at an affordable rate. Our patients love his dedication, attentiveness, and compassion for his work.

As the MED25 nurse, Vincent interacts with each patient before they see one of our diagnosticians (Clinical Officers) — an average of 65-70 patients per day. He oversees all maternal and child healthcare, such as ensuring pregnant women receive appropriate and timely antenatal care. He also helps create birth plans that hopefully include a qualified medical provider. Finally, he provides postnatal care for mothers and infant care, which includes all immunizations.

By supporting Vincent, you are making a significant impact in Mbita, Kenya through the work of MED25, which provides direct patient care to over 1,600 patients each month. Thank you for allowing Vincent to continue to make an impact in the lives of those we serve!

Soti has been working for MED25 since we first started working in the Kenyan Mbita District in 2010. He is crucial to our success, and through his dedication he is able to truly make a difference in the lives of the patients he serves.

At the MED25 Clinic, an average of 65-70 patients are treated each day. Soti, a clinical officer (which is the equivalent of a physician’s assistant in the US), works alongside another clinical officer to provide high quality care, which is not typical for most of the patients. He treats many health ailments including HIV, malaria, waterborne illnesses, respiratory infections, and skin trauma or infections. He is passionate about the work he does and knows that he is making an impact in the Mbita community every day.

By supporting Soti, you are directly impacting the lives of over 1,600 patients each month that are treated at the clinic! Thank you Emily and volunteers for helping MED25 continue to provide quality, culturally appropriate, and affordable health care to the Mbita, Kenya community!

Emelda came in to the MED25 Clinic with her one month old son to receive his first check-up and immunization visit. He is weighing in at a healthy weight and his mom, Emelda, is already doing the right steps to care for her young baby….getting him immunized!

She shared with us her concern about other issues, specifically malaria, and how she needed help in keeping her children safe from those concerns. Their home has only one malaria net that is old and tattered. The adults have to share it with their small child, who sits on Emelda’s lap. She expressed her concern that she could not protect her young children. You could sense the worry in her voice.

She was very appreciative of being given a free net thanks to your generosity and the work of MED25. This net would have been cost prohibitive for her to purchase. Nets sell at the store for at least 500 ksh (~$6 US) each. Most of the people in these villages survive on less than 80 ksh (95 US cents) for day for all expenses — food, shelter, clothing, school fees, water — so although nets are extremely important, there are unfortunate trade-offs you need to make when there is limited to no money available. This net allows her to be more confident that her newborn and his older sibling will be protected from malaria, a disease that kills over 660,000 individuals each year.

Thank you volunteers, Subash, and Kandace for protecting Emelda and her children!

Mercy is 18 years old and lives in Kombe Village of Mbita, Kenya. She is married and expecting her first child. Mercy is excited to be a mother and looks forward to a healthy pregnancy for her first child. Currently, Mercy walks more than two miles to fetch water from Lake Victoria. In order to avoid preventable illnesses during the pregnancy, Mercy needs to sanitize her water and take preventative measures.

Each maternal health kit that Med25 provides for women like Mercy includes a mosquito net to sleep under, water treatment drops to provide clean water during her entire pregnancy, a laboratory test for ongoing evaluations of maternal health, and medications including malaria prophylaxis, de-worming, ferrous sulfate, and folic acid. In addition, mothers visit the Med25 clinic each month during their pregnancy to receive maternal education and checkups from clinic professionals. With your support, Sumair, Med25 was able to provide Mercy with one of these kits.

Mercy’s main concern as she prepares to take care of her baby is Malaria and Cholera. These are common, preventable diseases in her area. Mercy believes that she now has a chance to live a healthier life with the mosquito net and water tablets Med25 gave her. Thank you, Sumair, for supporting Mercy and giving her child a better chance of a healthy childhood.

Beatrice is 33 years old and lives in the village of Kirindo in the Mbita district of Kenya. She has seven children and another on the way. Beatrice and her children farm maize, beans, and cassava to sustain themselves and cannot afford many amenities. Beatrice is currently recovering from malaria and hopes to stay healthy through her pregnancy.

Med25 supports women like Beatrice by providing them with maternal health kits. This kit includes a mosquito net, water treatment drops for the length of a pregnancy, malaria medicine, and de-worming medication. Beatrice will also receive monthly visits from the Med25 clinic and will continually get tested for the child’s health as well as her own.

Thank you, Sumair, for supporting Med25 and Beatrice. She is grateful for this opportunity to bring a healthy child into this world. This kit will not only help her child, but will help Beatrice’s entire family by keeping her healthy. Beatrice plans to stop having children after her healthy baby is born. Thank you, again, Sumair, for caring about Beatrice and her child.

Seline lives near the Kirindo Market in Mbita, Kenya and is expecting her first baby. She is learning a lot and looking forward to being a mother. Seline is the only child in her family and her soon-to-be-born baby is creating a lot of excitement for her parents as well.

Seline has been healthy throughout her pregnancy and but wants to leave nothing to chance. That’s why she received a maternal health kit from MED25. She is looking forward to purifying her drinking water and protecting herself from mosquito bites.Thank you very much, Sumair, for ensuring that Seline stays healthy.

Each kit includes a mosquito net to sleep under, water treatment drops to provide clean water during her entire pregnancy, a laboratory test for ongoing evaluations of maternal health, and medications including malaria prophylaxis, de-worming, ferrous sulfate and folic acid. In addition, mothers visit the MED25 clinic each month during their pregnancy to receive maternal education and checkups from clinic professionals.

Maureen is married and enjoys helping her husband at his carpentry workshop in Mbita, Kenya. She does the cleaning around the work area and prepares the food for her large family. In the past year, everyone in Maureen’s family has been hospitalized due to malaria. She was very gracious when we handed her a new mosquito net at the MED25 clinic.

Each maternal health kit includes a mosquito net to sleep under, water treatment drops to provide clean water during her entire pregnancy, a laboratory test for ongoing evaluations of maternal health, and medications including malaria prophylaxis, de-worming, ferrous sulfate and folic acid. In addition, mothers visit the Med25 clinic each month during their pregnancy to receive maternal education and checkups from clinic professionals.

Maureen believes that her focus now has to change from worrying about how to protect her baby to ensuring that she sleeps under the mosquito net every night. Thank you for helping us change Maureen’s focus! Your contribution will ensure that Maureen’s family does not succumb to malaria.

Maureen is seated on the left hand side, Beatrice, MED25’s social worker is on the far right in a purple trouser.

Judith was the first Community Health Worker for MED25 and has always loved working with others. When she was given the opportunity to train as a Community Health Worker, she knew she found the right job. Judith is seen as a light to her community. Judith’s main goal is to help decrease the 37% HIV infection rate in her community through education programs at high schools and businesses in the area.

In Mbita, Kenya, many individuals struggle to eat two meals a day. Visiting a health care facility is often out of the question simply because people can’t afford it. Thanks to MED25 Community Health Workers, we are able to bring trained individuals to people’s homes at no cost to them.

Judith has a heart of gold, an outgoing personality, and the gift of connecting with her patients. She is determined to make a difference in this world, one individual at a time. By sponsoring Judith, you have helped serve 185 households, reaching over 1,100 individuals. Thank you all for your support!

In this photograph, Judith smiles in her newly built kitchen that also works as her children’s bedroom. She is quite content with the improvement in her housing as a result of the income from MED25, which supplements Judith’s resources from small scale farming and road-side business ventures.

Bilha is a 29 year old teacher in Kaugege, a village in the Mbita District of Kenya. She is married with two children and is currently pregnant. Her husband, Bob, is a teacher at a local school. As a result of your generous contribution, Sumair, Bilha received an antenatal kit from the MED25 clinic.

Each kit includes a mosquito net to sleep under, water treatment drops to provide clean water during her entire pregnancy, a laboratory test for ongoing evaluations of maternal health, and medications including malaria prophylaxis, de-worming, ferrous sulfate and folic acid. In addition, mothers like Bilha receive monthly visits from the Med25 clinic during their pregnancy to get up-to-date maternal education and checkups from clinical professionals.

Because of your donation, Bilha can finally breathe a sigh of relief despite the malaria epidemic in Mbita. She is a responsible mother — she will take her newborn baby to the clinic for vaccinations against tuberculosis, polio and other diseases. She already bought some clothes and towels for her baby! Your support of Bilha will allow her to focus on supporting her family and the children at the school where she teaches. Thank you so much!