Every year Kenya Relief sends around 20 short-term mission teams to work in various areas of expertise. Our teams include medical/surgical, educational, evangelical, construction and others. I was fortunate enough to be selected to travel with the medical mission’s team this past January 2019.
The team successfully completed over 73 surgeries and administered care for over 220 patients in 4 days. To accomplish this amazing feat there where 4 surgeons, 4 Nurses, 4 Certified Nurse Anesthetist, and operating room techs and administrating staff.
People traveled from hundreds of miles to receive medical attention and have life changing surgeries. Some of the patients had not seen a doctor in years and we wanted to make sure we saw as many people as possible.
The team had one mission in mind and that was to give every person the best medical treatment, love, and kindness we possibly could. We wanted the Kenyan community to know we were there to serve.
In return we got more than we could have ever asked for. The smile and thank you we received brought tears to each volunteer every day. We cried until there were no more tears left only smile of joy to know we brought happiness to the lives of some many people.
Kenya’s incredible natural environment and cultural heritage is almost unmatched in Africa. Revered by anthropologists as the “cradle of humanity”, Kenya is wild and a little dangerous. If you’re adventurous – and sensible – it promises the globe’s most magnificent wildlife parks, unsullied beaches, thriving coral reefs, memorable mountain scales and ancient Swahili settlements.
Kenya’s beauty is compromised by a cluster of familiar problems. HIV remains a major problem along with cholera and malaria epidemics. Kenya has also experienced major floods and drought which lead to food shortages in mid-2004 that were deemed a national crisis. While Kenya’s ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture, it is also a source of conflict that has led to ethnic fighting. Other pressing challenges include high unemployment, crime and poverty. Millions of Kenyans live below the poverty level of $1 a day.