News from Aror and Mukuru

​On Monday 22 July the Westport Aror Partnership Group at St. Mary’s Westport in Co. Mayo was delighted to welcome Sister (Sr.) Angela Lyappa from the order of Medical Missionaries of Mary.  Sr. Angela, who is based in Nairobi in Kenya, had been visiting the order’s convent in Drogheda but fortunately was able to travel across Ireland to meet our Group personally.
 
This visit by Sr. Angela gave the Westport Group a wonderful opportunity to hear at first hand a report on her recent visit to Aror in north-west Kenya and to understand how the funds provided by the Group were being used.
 
Aror
In Aror Sr. Angela met with Carol, the administrator of the Aror Health Centre which is support by the Group. There are 16 staff who are very hard-working and the facility is well maintained.  Bishop Dominic Kimengich of Eldoret has been working hard to reduce tension and friction between local tribes. He has held several meetings with the local tribes to try and reduce tribal violence and to re-establish peace in the Aror area.  This initiative has been very successful and Sr. Angela was able to report that the security situation is much improved.
 
Sr. Angela was also able to provide the Westport Group with a very detailed report on the activities at the Health Centre in the first half of 2024:
 
  ·       Under 5s attendance       647
  ·       Over 5s attendance      2,554
  ·       Malaria cases                  671
  ·       Typhoid cases                 267
  ·       Maternity                         86
  ·       Antenatal                       332
  ·       Laboratory Tests          2,600
 
Clearly the workload is high, especially on admissions.  The most serious disease is malaria which affects all age groups including children and babies.  Maternity care is very good with mothers coming in for their check-ups, examinations and antenatal care.
 
The Centre is very grateful for the financial support they have received in the past from the Westport Group. During a discussion with Group members about future plans, the priorities for the future development of the Health Centre were identified:
 
  ·    A paediatric ward to facilitate the segregation of children and adults which would offer some                protection to children from malaria  cross-infection
 
  ·     A major upgrade to the Centre’s laboratory facility

  ·     The installation of solar panels to reduce electricity costs
 
One of the challenges faced by the Aror Health Centre is that payments by the Kenyan government for private patients are often much delayed.  Due to the delay in these compensatory payments, the Westport Group funding has frequently had to be used as a temporary measure, which can often leave the Centre struggling financially.  
 
During a Question and Answer session, Sr. Angela advised that relations with the local parish were excellent and that there were plans for the convent buildings in Aror to be adapted for use as overnight accommodation for distance patients.
It was also reported that the borehole which was built with funds donated by the Westport Group continues to provide a regular and sufficient supply of water both for the Health Centre and for the local community.
 
 
Mukuru
Sr. Angela also reported on the community work in Mukuru which is a very poor inner city in Nairobi also supported by the Westport Group.
 
Everyone working in the Mukuru team was extremely grateful for the financial support that the Westport Group has provided to their health clinic.  The Mukuru team is planning to use recent funding to hold a free medical camp for those living in the township.  The township is expanding rapidly because it is a cheap place to live and now has over 700,000 residents.  
However, there is abject poverty, overcrowding and deplorable living conditions.  
 
The Mukuru clinical team runs various health programmes for the local community and provides several outreach schemes.  In recent days however, it has become a very unsafe area with the horrific discovery of several mutilated female bodies nearby.  In addition, attempts by the Government to impose increased taxes on basic foodstuffs has led to widespread and persistent protest, rioting and shootings.  
 
A recent report by Misean Cara has praised the services delivered by the clinic in Mukuru.  As well as outreach programmes, these services include primary health care, a pharmacy and a supporting laboratory facility.  These services and facilities continue to be provided and maintained by the Medical Missionaries of Mary despite severe financial pressures.  It was also reported that the state has now begun work on the proposed new road which will cut through the Mukuru site and which had necessitated a demolition of some of the clinic’s main buildings.
 
This meeting concluded with the Group expressing its thanks to Sr. Angela for her excellent and highly informative Report.  Those present greatly welcomed the opportunity to learn directly about the challenges of life in Aror and Mukuru and about how funding provided by the Westport Group was being used so effectively to make a practical difference to the lives of so many in Aror and Mukuru.