Humanitarian organisations inspired by us

This is one of our patients: a 85 year old woman who suddenly had several health problems. Only last week she still was carrying 20 liter water containers from our hospital to her home. She was happy to be outside the building for a short time and was assisted by our doctor and one of our nurses.

Today started sunny and already at 8:30 am we had a first meeting at the office of the UN World Food Program, where we got the latest informations. The major humanitarian organisations had a meeting and discussed the situation at the Rhein-Valley Hospital in Nakuru, based on extensive informations from Mr. Meina Muhia and Mr. Harald Nordby. Both recently could witness themselves how active Mama Matata and our crew is.

Cooking for our crew

Arriving at the hospital we called the President of the Rhein-Valley association to ask him for permission to give a little salary to 22 refugees who currently help us with our works at the camp site and to keep the order. The roof for the central fire place of the camp could also be finished today and we were looking for some amount of gravel for this site. So we drove to Naivasha, where we had a meeting with Mr. Lutzky, project manager of the H. Young & Co. and he kindly agreed to sponsor a truck load of gravel including the transport costs. Many thanks to him for his generous help!

On the way back to Nakuru we had a heavy thunderstorm and flooding. Many cars were blocked by the water masses.

Working hard for our camp installatations

sh. Today we had a busy day with all the works for the finish of the central fire places, the building of a roof for it and the last earth digging for the sanitary installations. In addition we are planning some laundry strings. As it will rain more often in this season, all these works are more than necessary. Currently about 40 workers are involved, 25 from our own crew, the rest recruited from the refugees. All workers have now the same T-Shirt so it is visible who is part of the group. We still have to control a lot because we have a lot of equipment around and especially in the night our protection personnel is needed. Tomorrow Mr. Muhuia from the UN will visit us again to help us with the final decisions and installations. On our way home, we met some women and girls carrying heavy wood sticks for their fires at home. It is not rare that they have to complete distances of 15-20 k with loads of 30-40 kg!

Last minute news: The political situation here in Kenya is not getting better for the time being. Today 18 people were killed in Nairobi and many cars burnt. The fight of the Mungiki's seem to continue and the military together with the police are present. In the Cabinet again an incident occured: when Odinga wanted to take his seat, he was pushed away and had to sit where his other group members are. Only next Tuesday the final seating order will be announced.

Swiss TV reports on the Rhein-Valley Hospital

The French speaking Swiss TV station tsr included a report on the Rhein-Valley Hospital in yesterday's programme "Le Journal". They recently visited the facilities (see our earlier posts) and interviewed the founder, Swiss Stephan Holderegger (picture).

Food distribution despite gunshots in Nakuru

This morning we were wakened by gunshots near our home in Nakuru. Military people went into town. One news followed the next, we got telephone calls and it seemed that the Muliki militia got ready for riots and cars were burnt. The streets were closed and all cars who wanted to enter the town, were stopped. Mama Matata stayed calm because she experienced similar situations before, but I was quite shocked and frightened. Now we had to decide what to do because we had to go to the hospital to feed thousands of people. We were lucky that we were driving in the other direction and could reach the hospital without trouble, although police and military were present all over. Arriving there we heard that our doctor and one of the nurses still were blocked in town. Mama Matata advised them to stay there until the situation would become better.

The refugees were already waiting in masses. First we registred them, then we started with the food distribution, directed by Mama Matata herself. We also had a visit to the hospital: Mr. Harald Nordby from Sweden (see picture below), who is responsable for the UNICEF logistics in Nakuru. He could witness all our activities in and around our facilities. He was amazed to see Mama Matata and our hospital crew and told us that he is planning to invite people from other humanitarian organisations to watch and learn how to handle the masses of refugees. Finally we gave out food for 3,200 refugees and also activitated the works at our central fire places at the camp site (see picture right). We got the help of two additional workers for the coming 2-3 days to finish everything as soon as possible. Later in the after- noon a heavy thuderstorm urged us to quickly return home. -Stephan Holderegger

Grand Coalition Government: New hope?

sh. Today at 5 pm the Kenyan TV station KTN broadcasted a live report on a new Cabinet with President Kibaki, Prime Minister Odinga and Vice President Kolonzo. Now they have to proove that they will bring back the standard of the country to its previous level. Sudden results cannot be expected over night, but the first steps in the right direction are done. Let's hope that God will protect them and guide our country.

It was also a day of preparation for us at the Rhein-Valley Hospital. Tomorrow we will have to feed 3500 refugees with corn, beans, milk powder, porridge and some baby food. At the same time we will have to do more regsitration work for the UN and the Red Cross. Each family living in of our tents will be listed. Our Swiss guest Alex Paur helped to load our Landrover. Then he insisted to visit a Governent Hospital but after 5 minutes they have seen enough. The circumstances were not so inspiring. Alex will probably stay for another 2 days to witness our big food distrubution.

Swiss student visits our water stations

Today's report comes from Alex Paur (left), a young student from Switzerland who is currently visiting the Rhein-Valley Hospital and their water stations to study the water situation for a personal study.

Yesterday I arrived in Nairobi and today I met the responsable people at the hospital, Ruth Schäfer and Stephan Holderegger. As the dark clouds showed a wet weather prospective, we soon climbed the mountain to visit the water station on 2700 m, which really fascinated me a lot. With the help of a simple system the residents of the area get their frish drinking water. Before we started our way back, Mama Matata ensured that somebody would bring charcoal to the fire places of the refugees in the hospital camp. So they couldn't came to the point to start deforesting. On our journey home we quickly stopped at the Show-Ground refugee camp in Nakuru. It was frightening to see in which circumstances the people have to live. Each one, who gets a place within the hospital ground, can be more than happy.


I liked the hills of Kasambara and the intensive green of the trees. I was also enriching to meet all the locals, especially the children who are all in their hearts. At the same time I was a little shocked when I heard how many difficulties daily have to be surmounted. I admire Mama Matata for her constant dedication and hope that she will meet less hurdles in the future.

270 water containers and 300 blankets arrived

sh. Today was a multifaceted day - regarding our work as well as the weather, which presented itself from the very hot to a fairly cold side. Early in the morning we got a call from Mr Meina Muhia (UN World Food Program) that he wanted to discuss the latest details about the sanitary installations and that 270 water containers for the refugees waited for us to be transported to the hospital. Then we controlled the last works to dig the necessary wholes for the toilets and showers. And finally the 300 blankets donated by the Swiss Red Cross arrived! Many thanks.

Mama Mata just got the promised 300 blanket from the Red Cross Switzerland through the intiative of Heinz Heer of "kidstokids".

The different tribes could live together peacefully

sh. This was a day of organization. We had to plan the last things so that the 30 toilets for men women in our camp can be installed tomorrow. The sanitary situation has to be under control, otherways it is not possible for us to handle the refugees in the camp. We have to be strict that all regulations are observed. Together with our medical care and the disposal of fresh drinking water the minimum requirements are given. Thanks to Mama Matata we also should get the 300 blankets donated by the Swiss Red Cross by tomorrow. We still had to pay 18,000 KsH but luckily the Swissport Kenya abstained from collecting the storage fees of 90,000 KsH.

These young men in our camp demonstrate that it is absolutely possible that people from different tribes can peacefully live together. All the hatred is only a dark vision
in some people's minds!

30 toilets and showers to be installed soon

This morning Mama Matata had to get up at 4 am to be able top reach the border to Tanzania to get a new Carnet. Normally this takes about 24 hours, but she got it in only one hour. So she had time to get the blankets that the Red Cross Switzerland donated through the initiative of kidstokids. But then she was amazed that the custom authorities wanted to charge her a big amount of money, probably more than the value of the blankets. Unbelievable! She is now trying to get them out for free. Let's hope for the best. As she won't be back before midnight, we will inform you tomorrow about the outcome.

While Mama Matata is on her misson in Nairobi, I was with the delegation of the UN World Food Program. Together we prepared for the 30 toilets and showers to be installed on Friday. We also built the central fire places (see picture) for the refugee camp here on the Rhein-Valley Hospital ground. A good organisation within these camps is of paramount importance as the number of refugees increases even more after the explosive political situation here in Kenya. Unfortunately there are still no signs of settlements within the Government and peace for the people in sight. The population asks for an immediate decision and a new election. As we heard all humanitarian organizations are at their limits and we do not know how all will continue. - Stephan Holderegger

Vaccination day for 380 babies

sh. Today was vaccination day. 380 mothers came with their children and many of them had to wait for a long time in burning heat. We started at 9 am and finished at 3 pm. Then we had to handle the cooking facilities within our refugee camp. As it is too dangerous for each individual to make a fire we organized a central fire place, controlled by our Securitas personnel. Later we also met Mr. Meina Muhia, responsable for the UN World Food Program. We exchanged our views and experiences in regard to the refugees. He then sent two of his employees to help us arrange things. Besides these good news also bad news from Nairobi. President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga couldn't agree how to arrange the parliament. As Kenyan TV broadcasted today, there are again riots in Kisumu and Kinera between the police, the military and demonstrators. Houses and tires have been burnt. The TV commentators also showed concern about the serious situation.

Crowds of people came for the food distribution

sh. The internet connection came back to live, so here is the latest. Yesterday morning masses of people gathered in front of the gate because they heard from the big food delivery brought by the WFP (World Food Program) and the Kenyan Red Cross in Nakuru. Mama Matata had the situation in full control using a new system to handle the large amount of refugees. Only groups of 20 persons were allowed to come in. It took us 7 hours to give out the food portions. After the main work of the day the hospital crew took a moment to discuss further improvements in the camp.

Stephan Holderegger gives out food at the Rhein-Valley Hosipital

Situation unclear - Internet interrupted

The political situation here in Kenya sems to be again very tense and at the same the internet connections have been interrupted. We hope this is only temporary and will bring you more news as soon as possible. Without interruption will be our daily photo contributions from Kenya on the Kenya Photos Blog.

Red Cross will help with the sanitary installations

rs. At midnight Stephan arrived in Nakuru. He again will help our crew for a couple of weeks. And he also brought some gifts from Switzerland. The Rohner company sponsored 1200 pairs of socks. In the morning, our first activity was the meeting with a representative of the local Red Cross in Nakuru. After discussing the sanitary situation they agreed to help build the toilets and showers so that minimal hygienic conditions are guaranteed. We also talked about the rules for the refugees established at our camp and how they can be implemented. Later in the afternoon we had to go home because our electrician was expected to repair our electric system. After 1 1/2 hours everything was back in order. Now we can make our last preparations for tomorrow. On Monday we have a big food distributions action because this time the people will get the portions for the whole week.

After an intense day we were rewarded with a nice sunset!

Tonight Stephan comes back to Nakuru

rs. Today it's again busy in the hospital. Aska recovered a bit from her injury but her face is still swollen. I could stay in the hospital only for a short time because a lot of office work is waited for me at home. There was again a power brake down and only thanks to my generator I could write today's report. Kamau who wanted to repair the broken water tube, couldn't come but sent someone else: his fried Paul who did the reparation in a twinkling of an eye. Then I had to prepare to drive to Nairobi because tonight my partner and co-founder of the hospital Stephan Holderegger cames again from Switzerland to assist us here - what we badly need!

Today's picture shows a young women of our neighborhood
carrying dried grass for her animals (Photo: Ruth Schäfer)

WFP Containers arrived this morning!

rs. After a half-ruined night (I had a broken water tube in my house), things became better in the morning. I got a call that the containers of the UN/WFP (World Food Program) were on their way to the Rhein-Valley Hospital. I just rushed together my things for the day and drove to the hospital - just in time. The truck was arriving the same minute at our grounds and I could help him find the correct place to unload the goods. People from our crew and from the refugee camp helped to unload the 50 k bags and even an elderly man wanted to help. He said that he regularly gets food here and that he also wanted to help a little bit. We counted the bags and there was only one bag of corn missing. They even promised to bring the last one on Monday when they will have a chance to witness our food distribution to the needy.

"Little" Ruth Schäfer amongst piles of food bags

Returning home in the evening I had another call, this time bad news: The mother of the little girl that we are currently treating because of her heavy burns, wanted to go back to her burnt home, perhaps to find something left there. Arriving in Eldoret people started to throw stones on her and she had to be hospitalized. This episode again reminded me that the situation is still very tense between the different tribes, but we will continue our help for the displaced persons.

Massai and Kikuju girls do our laundry

rs. This morning I went to the office of the Health Ministery in Nakuru. I learned that our hospital now belongs to the Naivasha district, that means from now on we have to get our vaccines from Naivasha which is two times as far as Nakuru. I was not happy but couldn't change his mind. So this meeting was not very fruitful and constructive for me. In the hospital there is a lot to do: Many patients came with stomach upsets, fever and open wounds. Some even come without any illness; they just need someone to tell their sorrow. Many only realize with the time what they had lost. Our cleaning ladies (see picture) show us that different tribes easily can live and work together: on the left side is Serea, a Massai; on the right side Ann, a Kikuju. They took the opportunity of a dry day to do our laundry. One young patient was in observation because of a possible malaria infection. Her blood is now being checked by our medical crew. At 5 pm I wanted to go to Nakuru to buy some food but it was so chaotic on the streets that I quickly returned - I will have to accept what I have at home...

Editorial note: One of today's pictures was too nice to be published in small size, you fill find it on our special photo blog on Kenya. It shows a mother and her child in our waiting room.

Building our own toilets

While driving to the hospital this morning, I came accross many security posts and people still are on the road with all they have. In the hospital I met a new patient: a young student was there with a burnt foot. Our doctor John and nurse Wilder treated him. He needed an infusion with antibiotics, because the wound was already inflamed. Outside on our ground works progressed to build a simple toilet. As the church's public toilets have been closed we have to make something on our own. Here on the countryside no machines are used, everything is done with hard manpower. The day's activities lasted until 7 pm and suddenly I realized that I have forgetten to take a proper meal, so I was preparing my combined dinner/lunch. Today Spagetthi are on the menu plan...

2-hour interview with Citizen newspaper

Some glimpses of today's activities: Our doctor John had a lot to do because his nurse Aska hasn't come for work yet; she is still recovering from her injuries due to the attacks some days ago. Our crew did some sports in the break time and Ann was responsible for our Lunch. She prepared Ugali, some white sort of corn. In the afternoon I went to Nakuru to visit Aska and I met James Mwembi of the Citizen newspaper. They already published an article on our work at the hospital but he wanted more informations. So we spent almost two hours together. The situation in the town is still tense, military trucks are present and security posts have been established. The citizens are still inpatient and long for returning to their home towns. Often you see trucks full of household articles and furniture, leading to Nakuru, or further down to Kikuyu land. People already speak of Cholera, Typhus and Yellow Fever cases and it is our daily duty to emphasize on proper hygiene.

The church closed the toilets - unbelievable!

rs. When I arrived at the hospital ground, people were already waiting in line to get their daily food ration. After I parked my car a woman came to me and asked where she can use a toilet, because two days ago the church closed the public toilets! This is "love your next like yourself" practiced by the Catholic Church... Then I went to the hospital and Niaga from our crew came and said they fear further aggression by some groups of people and he questioned if we should give out food today. So we carefully served group by group, first those who are registered, then the Kasambara group, those from Thugunui and then the rest. The distribution was finally more or less quiet. Only 3 men wanted to push forward in line but our guard brought back the order. And some people even thanked us for our help and were happy to be taken care of. After work, we discussed plans how we could build new simple toilets as son as possible.

Then later in the afternoon the rain blessed us again ...

Power interruption and heavy rain

rs. This Sunday morning I got a call from John, that the power supply was interrupted in the hospital. I found out that it has been announced in the paper but who reads the paper every day... I then called Aska who was attacked yesterday. She doesn't feel well and still has a lot of pain and she barely can see with the swollen eye. She asked to stay home for another two days. Sure, no problem. Today I also made my control visit to the hospital. I visited a pregnant woman and saw a young girl, that have been beaten up by her mother and luckily the eye had not been damaged. When I returned home, I had to prepare everything for tomorrow, we will have our food distribution day. In the meantime we had heavy thunderstorms, temperatures are now around 19°C.

Husband visits his wife in the Rhein-Valley Hospital this morning