New plaster will help the burn patients

Yesterday a boy with some heavy burn visited again our hospital for checking his condition. Last week we could successfully reduce the infections he had and a new skin is regrowing. We are now waiting for a new plaster that we should soon get from a company in Kerzers, Switzerland. With this plaster we can treat all such burns in the future.

Today we gave out more baby food, corn and cabbage, which had first to be cleaned before we could use it. The temperature again was high with 30° C (see also our regularly updated weather chart in the right column) and there is a strong wind blowing in our region. Asthmatics are suffering from the occuring dust. Tonight my partner Stephan Holderegger again is coming to visit me and the hospital. I will pick him up at the Nairobi Airport and then we have another 3-4 hours until we reach Nakuru.

I would also like to thank all people who kindly donated money for our hospital in the last few days.

Ruth Schäfer

Increasing hunger and fear

rs. Today I had a very stressful day. The refugees had a bad mood because they are at the end of their tether. They do not know where they can go. I had to use all my skills to keep them calm. I can understand them very well and can imagine what goes on in their minds. You can see their fear in their eyes. They start to doubt themselves. They nearly crushed me when they pushed forward in the food line. They are so hungry and always fear that there will not be enough at the end, although we have enough reserves, because we know that the number of refugees is increasing daily. - The picture below shows a young student who is sponsered by a German family.

TV interview with Stephan Holderegger

km. This evening the popular Swiss local TV station TeleZüri invited the founder of the Rhein-Valley Hospital Stephan Holderegger for a 30-minute live interview. They also broad- casted recent video footage that Stephan took in Nakuru. Ruth Schäfer, the director of the Rhein-Valley Hospital and partner of Stephan, joined them on the phone from Nakuru. It's great to see that Tele-Züri fully sympathizes with the project and asked the viewers to participate with a donation. At the end of the interview Stephan also mentioned that all the donated money is used 1:1 for the help in Kenya. The full interview can be seen as podcast here.

Spontanous help on the street

rs. This morning, on my way to the hospital I saw a woman at the border of the street. She seemed to suffer. I rushed to her and pulled her into my car (see picture), where I realized that she had a low blood sugar level. Immediately I gave her some sweet drink and her condition improved. We then checked her condition in the hospital. Today we also worked on the organization of the priorities in regard to the refugees who will get one of the 50 tents that should arrive from the Swiss Red Cross in Berne end of this week.

Despite bad news we still have hope!

rs. Today I had a stressful day. I transported all the baby food we got on Friday to the hospital, from where it will be distributed to the refugees. At the hospital we were also busy. A patient with third-degree burns came for after-treatment. Unfortunatey we again got bad news about the still active unrests: 13 people were killed, among them a pregnant women with her unborn baby. The locals, especially the Kikuju have big fear in regard to more violence here in the North-West region. Without daily prayers to God our team and myself couldn't continue our tasks. We will fight for the poor and try to relieve the destress, whatever is happening.

Swiss Red Cross promises 50 Tents

rs. Today 2800 people came to get their food portions at our Rhein-Valley Hospital in Nakuru. Especially the women were fighting to be first in line. I had to calm them down several times, explaining that there is enough for everybody. It is only now that I realize how much help I had in the last 10 days when Stephan and Hennie helped me with my work. I also have good news from the Red Cross in Switzerland: Mr. Thomas Kumpera promised to give us 50 tents by the end of the week. We urgently need them for our refugees.

Weekend: Time for Office Work & Preparations

The weekend gives me time for office work and my own household. I also quickly called the hospital, if everything is ok. Welda, our nurse on duty told me that everything is fine and that she is preparing the medication order for tomorrow. We have still temperatures of 35° C, but I also have to do my duties: preparing the food order for the coming week. And in the evening I use my free time to be with my companion: my cat "Ruggel". - Ruth Schäfer

Baby Food Delivery in Nakuru

rs. Stephan and Hennie left Kenya and went back to their countries. So here I am back alone with all the burdens at the Rhein-Valley Hospital. Fortunately the air cargo delivery with baby food arrived today and we were busy unloading the truck. We had to wait 4 weeks to get it through customs in Nairobi! Next week we will transport the food boxes to the hospital and distribute them to the mothers.

Waiting for the Red Cross delegation ...

sh. The Red Cross in Nairobi promised to visit the Rhein-Valley Hospital this morning at 10 am, to discuss the arising problems with the increasing number of refugees in our region. Many of the refugees came to our facilities in order to manifest their cause. We waited until 2 pm but nobody from the Red Cross arrived. We will try to intervene in Switzerland and Holland after we return home tonight. We have enough video and photo material to convince the organization on the urgency of the situation. Thousands of people are on the move and fear to go back to their homes. We promised them that we will do our best to improve the sad situation. Ruth Schäfer, the director of the Rhein-Valley Hospital will stay here and still hopes for more cooperation and support for the coming days and weeks. The picture below was also taken today and shows patients waiting to get their vaccinations; in the middle Ruth Schäfer.

Hoping for some help from the Red Cross

sh. There were again a lot of activities at the Rhein - Valley Hospital today. The situation is not improving and again thousands of refugees came for their food portions. Thanks to Soyana and Hero we could offer them soya protein, milk rice, bananas and cookies. The people were all very patient although we suffered from the heat at 50° C in the glazing sun. The faces we met were still sad but they are all happy to get something to eat. The work volume is increasing every day and we hope to get some help for Ruth Schäfer in the near future. Tomorrow the head of Red Cross Nairobi will visit us thanks to the assistance of Heinz Heer from the KidstoKids organisation in Switzerland. Kennie from Holland and myself (Stephan) will have our last mission before we return to our countries in Europe.

Less fortunate patients at Town Hospital

sh. This morning we prepared our meals for tomorrow. In the afternoon we visited the official town hospital in Nakuru. Unfortunately the patients there are by far not treated the same way we are doing it at our own Rhein - Valley Hospital. One patient was even laying in front of the hospital without getting any treatment or care. Although the situation there is quite frightening, we have no rights to intervene.

4000 get food and water from the hospital

sh. Today we had a hard job at the Rhein-Valley Hospital in Ksasambara. Around 4000 people got their food and water. The whole hospital staff was occupied all day. At 5:30 pm the last family was served. Some additional helpers took care of the registration of the refugees. If you are not here you cannot believe the current situation and feelings. Again a day has passed without a real hope at the horizon. We are all tired. Not because of the hard work but because of what we watch. We can only partially help the people in distress.

Visiting refugee camps in Naivasha

Today again the temperature was around 45 - 50° C and we visited two refugee camps in Naivasha, one with 3500 Kikuju's and another with about 1750 Kiranji, Luja and Luo people. Everywhere the sitution is the same: men, women and children are all traumatized and scared. According to the latest news people in Molo again lit fires and houses were burned to ashes. Still the people believe in God and hope for help.

We are preparing the food for tomorrow. 3500 to 4500 refugees are expected to come to the Rhein-Valley Hospital in Nakuru to get something to eat. We also have to register everybody in case the Red Cross can find another camp for them. Today's picture shows a boy that lost his leg seven weeks ago, when he was caught by a truck while flying.

Sadness in the streets of Molo

hh. Today Ruth Schäfer, Stephan Holderegger and their Dutch friend Hennie travelled to Molo (100 k north-west of Nakuru), over incredible bad, bumpy dirt roads. Molo was mostly inhabited by Kalanjin and Luo, with a minority of Kikuyu, who lived all peacefully together. The place made headlines when 19-year old runner Bernhard Koech from the Kalenjin was killed outside of Molo about six weeks ago. A former water station head, who has lost his job and doesn’t know where his family now is, showed Stephan and Hennie the place where the athlete was killed. The revenge of Kalanjin must have been terrible. Hennie was shocked to see how people who lived for years in peace now burned a whole village of about 20,000 down to ashes. Burned churches, burned schools... Stephan: “It looked like after a bomb attack. Everything is black, we found burned school-uniforms, burned school-books. Molo has become a ghost city. When you look into the children’s eyes there is no reaction, they are full of sadness."

The situation in Nakuru remains tense

Today a lot of police and military is present. The situation in Nakuru re- mains very tense. And in the Lake Nakuru National Park until down the hill to the lake a fire erup- ted. We have no further details what the reason is. Our daily pictures show the fire region and some local boys that usually help us guard our card and as recompense they get 1 liter of milk and a large loaf of bread!

Meeting with the Red Cross in Nakuru

sh. Today we me the head of the Red Cross in Nakuru and had a meeting for 1 1/2 hours discussing the situation around the Rhein Valley Hospital. They were surprised hearing all the figures of the hospital's aid programme and how much Ruth Schäfer already did for the people at this mountain region. They were full of gratitude for all the help and requested that we would speak with the refugees to convince them to be transfered to another camp in Naivasha. The people certainly will not be forced, but it would improve their situation. The Red Cross promised to support us, but should have some patience be- cause everybody seems to be over- burdened. The pho- to above shows an empty street in Nakuru where there is still a curfew from 7 pm to 7 am; the picture below is from today's meeting with the Red Cross offi- cials. All photos by Stephan Holderegger.

Fearful refugees, empty streets and no tourists

sh. The news in the media does barely reflect the situation here. We just discussed the situation today with Mr. Joseph Muya, a good friend of of the Rhein-Valley Hospital, here in Nakuru. In the last few days he donated corn, rice and cabbage for distribution to the refugees. Mr. Muya said, we want peace and we want the return of the tourists. Normally 300 hotel guests frequent the Lake Nakuru Lodge, today it's empty. We saw only one tourist bus in the whole park area, it's unbelievable. The people who find shelter in the football stadium, are traumatized. They want to escape because they fear the immediate future. Many don't know what tomorrow will bring. The few existing trucks are filled to the brim and the people are fighting to get their little belongings on board.

Uncertain future for many Kenyans

st. Today we had an emergency meeting discussing the situation with our bookkeeper Niaga. We established new lists with all the new refugees and planned the food rations to be given on Friday. A major road in Nakuru, where normally thousands of people and cars dominate, a dangerous silence is reigning and we all don't know what the future will bring. We saw refugees in various vehicles carrying their small portion of possessions. For all the same questions: where to go...

2700 refugees get food at 50° Celcius Heat

sh. The last night was scary. Peace is still a far cry. Today more than 2700 refugees got food from the Rhein-Valley Hospital in Nakuru. We measured a temperature of 50° C in the sun! It was an exhausting day. We could witness how hard Ruth Schäfer, the director of the hospital must have worked for the past 6 weeks and how perfect the organisation is. The pictures below show injured children - there is still a lot to do.

Nakuru: 15,000 refugees wait for better future

rsh. Today we visited the refugee camp in Nakuru with 15,000 people. Ruth brought her harmonica and gave a 2-hour concert for the children who were happy to see and hear something new. Many children and grown ups are traumatized because of the things that happend during the last few days. We learned more about their destinies. Who knows how long they have to stay here. The locals don't see a solution in the near future, because it's not only a political question but a lasting peace has to grow through an understanding between the diffe- rent tribes.