Giant football to promote our hospital

This giant football made out of metal with a diameter of 3.3 m and a weight of 270 kg was created and sponsored by the Swiss company B. Lüchinger from Oberriet. Mario Lüchinger, director of the company presented it to Stephan Holderegger, who had the idea of the Rhein-Valley Hospital in Kenya. The football is meant to be signed by various football teams and aucioned off to bring some financial support for the hospital. It also shows that our hospital is still very popular among the people of the "Rheintal" in Switerland. Let's hope for a giant auction result!

Turtle Visit announces Rain

rs. When turtles appear it is a sign of rain. Indeed it rains since yesterday and the temperatures came down from 35 °C to 20° C. Again many patients came to our place for medical help. Today we also discussed the working plan for the coming weeks. As we discussed outside, suddenly we heard children screaming and we found a turtle on our ground. Some Kenyans even fear this animal...

In spite of holiday a busy day

rs. In spite of the holiday in honour of Obama's victory, there were many patients today in our hospital. The waiting room was full of people and we also had our babies' day (control and vaccination). Many patients suffered of stomach upsets and fever. Because of the many weather changes, we have more malaria cases. Our lab assistant Caroline made the necessary tests and even helped in other departments. Fortunately we have a good team work and everybody helps each other.

Celebrating President-Elect Obama!

rs. Today it was a great day for Kenyans. Already yesterday the Luo assembled in Kisumu and awaited the result of the American election. Some people placed some boxes with the names of the canditates and did some kind of fun voting. Feast tents were established and as the result was announced the Kenyans celebrated Obama as if he was their president. All over the country everybody was delighted and even President Kibaki announced that Thursday will be a nationaal holiday to celebrate President-elect Obama. Some Kenyans even said that slavery is now past and they started to feel as normal people. Also in and around our hospital there was a little celebration.

Vegetables and fruits are essential

rs. Our gardeners brought the vegetables for lunch. It is very important that the Kenyans understand that they cannot only live on Ugali, they need the vitamins in vegetables and fruits. Otherways our doctors have to give them vitamin pills when they grow older. Only the hotels and some reach people regularly eat vegetables and fruits. So it is one of our duties to inform, educate and inspire our refugees and patients how to eat healthy.

Change of weather brings more patients

rs. With the change of weather we have an increasing number of patients, especially children and elderly people. After the quiet weekend doctor Wanjara and his crew had a busy day. Even our assistants had to help and look after the children, while their mothers were being medically checked inside.

Positive Pregnancy Test

Early Saturday morning it was already very warm; the temperature went up to 35 °C! On the hospital meadow a young couple was waiting for their pregnancy test and as doctor Wanjara told them it was positive, they were delighted. - Mama Matata

Cleanness is of paramount importance

After we purchased some rice for our camp we checked if everything is ok in the hospital. Today I was not completely satisfied with the cleanness of the medical staff, so we discussed the matter in front of the house. In general the crew works fine but from time to time you have to remember them what are the standards to be followed. - Mama Matata

RVH: Unveiling Plans of Expansion

ak. After four years in operation, the Rhein-Valley Hospital Foundation (and its board of directors) has decided it would like to do more for the people of Kasambara and Thugunui. Next year, they will commence construction of the new Dental and Optical Clinic to be able to provide more specialized medical services. Both dental and optical services are very much needed in rural Kenya, where cataracts or rotting teeth are often the only barrier preventing a person from leading a normal life. The new building will include a dental wing, an optical wing, a post-surgery in-patient room, staff residences, volunteer residences, a large kitchen and a staff eating area. Most of the medical equipment has already been generously donated by the Swiss military (much of it brand new), but the foundation is still seeking additional funds to help with building's construction.

Quiet Day to Catch Up

ak. Since it was a quieter day at the hospital, the staff took advantage of the free time to catch up on cleaning and doing administrative work. Although there is a daily protocol to keep things in order, since there are relatively few staff members, an extra day is sometimes required, especially after a series of hectic days. In the afternoon, Irene, one of the girls from the IDP camp came in because she had cut her thumb. It was also discovered that she was suffering from a severe case of conjunctivitis, or pink eye. She seemed unperturbed by the fact that she couldn't see out of one eye and was instead delighted to hear she didn't have to go to school tomorrow!

Kenyan Hot-Rod

ak. It was another busy day at the hospital. After a weekend of rain and colder temperatures, patients flooded in with flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. Luckily, all medical staff were on hand, so everything ran smoothly. At the end of the day, a funny incident occurred. Since Ruth was consumed with work at home, I had taken a taxi to the hospital in the morning. In the afternon, I was late meeting the taxi at the bottom of the hill (the 3km road is too rough for small sedans to traverse), so I ran the 3km to make up time. When I reached the bottom, heaving due to the thin 2200m air, I spotted this car. It looked so outrageous, I had to stop to take a picture. I then continued on to the main road since the taxi had not yet arrived. After 45 minutes of waiting and growing concern that it was getting dark, the taxi driver called me wondering where I was. He was parked at the bottom of the hill waiting for me. It turns out he had borrowed the outrageous car from his friend as his was in the shop for repairs. When I walked by and took the photo, he was peacefully sleeping in the back seat. We had a good laugh about the situation...and then ran out of gas 2km from the house!

Beautiful Baby Girl Born at the RVH

ak. It was an exceptionally busy Monday at the hospital today. Since Dr. Wanjara and Nurse Kennedy were on holiday, it was up to Nurse Victor, Nurse Mathew and the young Canadian intern to keep the show going! There were several interesting cases including a young boy who had been stabbed in the eye by a twig. When the boy arrived at the hospital, part of the twig was lodged in his cornea. After careful consideration whether or not the eye would have to be removed, Victor decided to remove the remaining shards of wood, which, it was later discovered, ended up saving the boy's eye. The busy day was concluded successfully when a beautiful baby girl was born at exactly 4:08pm.

Seeing themselves on photos ...

Today I had the opportunity and time to give the photos that Barbara Wieland made, to the refugees. They were all delighted to see themselves. In Thugunui they are not used to cameras and they are even afraid of being photographed because here in the wilderness people often think that some magic and negative powers are within the cameras. But once they get the photos, they are happy. - Mama Matata

Rainy Weekend in Nakuru

ak. We've been, as some would say, blessed by heavy rains the past three days. As a result, there have been multiple power outages, some of which have lasted the better part of the day. Between rainfalls, we were able to make it to the hospital this afternoon to distribute some food to the IDPs. Maintaining medical and nutrition needs for the remaining 60 members of the hospital's IDP camp is yet another task Ruth Schaefer deals with on a daily basis. The tentative plan is that the remaining IDPs will continue to live on the hospital grounds until late November or early December, but since there remain ethnic strains throughout the country, it's still not easy for the IDPs to relocate to their original homes. In the meantime, many who live at the hospital have become temporary workers and are, subsequently, able to earn a small salary that will help them get back on their feet.

Patient Transferred from Nairobi

ak. Today we received a special patient transferred from Nairobi. Since the patient had been in hospital for over a week and could no longer afford the expenses, the RVH received a request yesterday whether the patient could be transferred. She arrived this morning with what was believed to be meningitis. However, within five minutes of initial consultation, Dr. Wanjara had concluded that the patient was not suffering from meningitis by conducting a simple physical test. He instead suspected the patient had developed a serious case of typhoid fever, which can sometimes cause similar symptoms to meningitis. The doctors in Nairobi had not administered the proper tests and, as a result, the patient had been treated for over a week with the wrong medication. Dr. Wanjara double-checked his clinical diagnosis with a blood test and admitted the patient when the test returned positive for typhoid fever. With medication and proper nutrition, the patient should be in good enough shape to go home in two days.

More presents for the IDP's

Today the last scenes were filmed for the feature planned by the Swiss TV team who is now in Nakuru. There were again heavy rainfalls and the conditions for the video crew were difficult. And the crew gave more T-Shirts and shoes to the IDP's.

Maina Muhia thanks Mama Matata

sh. Today Maina Muhia from the UN World Food Program visited again our hospital and thanked Mama Matata for her continuous work. We also had more activities and interviews of the TV team that covers the life in and around the hospital. Then we had Lunch together with the IDP's and all the children were happy. At 4:30 pm we were urged to go home because another of these sudden and strong rainfalls started to make everything wet and nearly insurmountable.

We just got a statement that Maina Muhia made:

Ruth Schäfer, popularly known Mama Matata in Kenya has been in Kenya for sometime, however I came to know her in January 2008 when the country was on fire due to desputed elections. As a UN WFP monitor, I was in charge of the plight of the displaced persons especially on food security. During this time, hungry mothers and their children were moving all over in search of save ground and reports indicated that a Hospital by the name Rhein Valley was a destination of many needy cases of IDP's. I decided to look for this hospital, to my surprise, I found 7500 IDP's, the second concern and encouragement was this white lady who was working with a lot of zeal and energy. I found communication between her and the old women difficult and mostly was by hands or by movement, but things were working. Her consoling heart was overwhelming particularly to the traumatized widows and widowers, children who had lost either parent or both. And despite all this wonderful job and commitment, food was the biggest challenge since the numbers of arrivals kept increasing by the day. I hurriedly took the issue to the government officials, UN and NGOs for necessary action since the burden was increasingly demanding for Ruth and the few staff in the hospital.

One fact is that the Rhein-Valley Institution was not designed to cater for tribal clashes, but the fact today it is a hospital and IDP camp all with diffrent demands and challenges. A few very encouraging facts about Mama Matata and the hospital are

-exellent hygine, no fear of outbreaks,
-high moral standard in all age groups
- high value of education
- high sense of responsibility and self control.
-Transparency and accountability.

Its quite difficult to have the actual words to describe Mama Matata but simply she has done what many have not to the desparate and at the right time. My thanks goes to Rhein-Valley management, the Donors and well wishers. I join you in prayer that we keep assisting the less disadvantaged in all societies.

Maina Muhia
Food Security consultant
UN World Food Programm
Nakuru / Kenya

Clothes bring happiness

sh. Today a busy day with a lot of work. The Swiss TV team currently filming in and around the hospital was again active and interviewed Mama Matata, Director of the hospital. Stephan Holderegger gave clothes to the children and they as well as their mothers thanked with gratitude and happiness.

The many faces of children in Nakuru

PHOTOS BY STEPHAN HOLDEREGGER

New banks for Thugunui Children

sh. Today we organized a big gathering of all school children up in the mountain village of Thugunui on 3000 m. Reason was the transportation of the chairs and tables that we got by container from the Swiss "kids-to-kids" organization. As it had rained last night, it was not easy to bring the two trucks up the mountain on the wet dirt streets. And once we had to push the truck by hand thanks to our hospital crew. As we approached the school, excitement among the young people was big. The children greeted us with palm branches and sang and danced for us. Also all the other inhabitants of the village joined the children and we had a real feast. Luckily the weather was also nice besides a small 5-minute rain. The children brought their old banks out of their classrooms and compared them with the new ones. The joy was visible in all their eyes and they were full of gratitude for all the gifts. The whole event started at 10 am and lasted until 5 in the afternoon. Watch our pictures!

Before...

... and afterwards