Stephan and Dutch friend visit the Hospital

sh. Stephan Hoderegger, the founder of the Rhein-Valley Hospital and his Dutch friend Hennie arrived in Kenya yesterday. Only 10 people left the plane in Nairobi. At the airport as well as on our route to Nakuru, not many people were on the streets. The population still lives in fear and from 7 pm to 7 in the morning there is a curfew. Stephan and Hennie visited the poor today and realised how severe the situation is. The world only saw the brutal pictures of the fights but does not see the calamity behind the scenes. So many people - women, children and men - are on the run. Die big organisations are completely overstrained. Ruth Schäfer of the Rhein-Valley Hospital gave food to 3000 people in one day alone and took 100 childern in her shelter. She also plays with the children, teaches them in mathematics and still tries to remain happy! The pictures were all taken today.

That's all what they have ...

Problems with the Custom Authorities

rs. Today the telephone rang and the authority in Nairobi were on the other end. They still didn't want to accept the food offerings that were at the customs: Two palettes with baby food that we got by Air waited for approval and they wanted 47,000 Kenia Shilings for it. We could reduce it to 7000. After a moment of relief a second call: the Ministry of Health asked for 3000 KSh to test the baby food in the laboratory in case the food was poisoned! I was very angry and asked the lady if she also had children at home, who were starving. Hope we have more luck tomorrow.

Interview with Stephan Holderegger online

km. Through my connection with Kids To Kids (a Humanitarian Aid Programme inspired by Sri Chinmoy) I met 60-year old Stephan Holderegger from Switzerland. Since his childhood he has been handicapped by a severe immune deficiency disease that destroys the lungs. Two weeks before his predicted death, he got a phone call, inviting him to the main hospital in Zurich for a lung transplant. He grabbed his prepared suitcase and jumped into the ambulance. He called all his friends and told them if he survived the operation he would open a hospital in Kenya for the poor. Stephan got a second life and started his ambitious project right away. Not only did the hospital open in 2004 under the guidance of his partner Ruth Schäfer, but Stephan started various ventures promoting the hospital and donating organs. First he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, then he ran the New York City marathon. If you want to know more about the founder of the Rhein-Valley Hospital, watch this interview of LIFE Voices, a monthly podcast presenting fascinating people from around the world. Just click on the image and the video will start! The HD broadcast version can be seen on srichinmoy.tv and soon also on vimeo.