$50 means the world to essential worker’s like Samuel, who works tirelessly every day in our medical clinic to ensure his community of 400 families stay healthy. Samuel, a nurse by profession, works at New Canaan clinic and leads a team that supports up to 25,000 patients a year. The clinic is located inside what was once an internally displaced persons camp.

 

 

Name: Samuel

Age: 41

Location: New Canaan Clinic. IDP Camp, Pipeline Nakuru. Kenya.

3 words his friends use to describe him: Hardworking, focused and caring

 

 

Samuel grew up in Kiambu County in central Kenya. He was the second born son in a family of 5 children. He grew up in a very low income family; both of his parents were peasant farmers and worked as many casual jobs as possible to support their family.

 

His humble upbringing didn’t stop him from dreaming big. “Growing up, I had a big dream to become a dentist, but due to the family financial constraints I did not reach that dream. However, I managed to find a career as a nursing officer which gives me the fulfilment that my dream would have. I love my work and have no regrets whatsoever.”

 

Before he started working with So They Can, he faced constant challenges while trying to run the community clinic, with very limited medicine and resources.

 

“It was stressful seeing the conditions of very needy patients deteriorating due to the lack of funds to purchase prescribed medication.”

 

“Working with So They Can has been very exciting. Seeing the health needs of the community met has been so encouraging. The health of the community has greatly improved; specifically the Internally displaced persons. Now, I’m excited to see very healthy children in the camp and happy stable families. Teenage pregnancies have drastically reduced and children are learning without interruption.”

 

Samuel also helps in ensuring our Miti Mingi children and caregivers remain healthy by attending to them at Miti Mingi Village every Saturday.

 

With the support of our donors, we work with Health Clinics like Samuel’s to provide much needed medical supplies, technicians and additional training to ensure that Samuel and his team can provide the best support to their communities.

 

“Working with So They Can has greatly impacted my life especially in better understanding the community and the potential they have to improve their health if given the necessary support.”

 

Since Covid-19 Samuel has been working tirelessly to protect his community. The reality is the Kenyan and Tanzanian Healthcare systems will be unable to cope if COVID spreads as it has internationally. As an example, Australia with a population of 24million, has 2,400 ICU beds of which 350 (15%) are in private hospitals. In stark comparison, Kenya, with double the population, 50million, has just 450 ICU beds of which 350 (78%) are private. What’s more, Kenya has less than 300 ventilators and the vast majority of those are in private hospitals, inaccessible by our communities.

 

“Before the COVID-19 Challenge as a community we had not embraced the individual role in disease prevention and control. The challenge came as a wake-up call to personalised disease prevention and control. It has unveiled the simple and cost-effective ways to improve health and prevent diseases, like hand washing, safe social interaction, and personal hygiene practices.

 

“I hope the community will embrace these lessons we have learnt and they will become our habits and lifestyle.”

 

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With your support, we can purchase more medical supplies, water hygiene stations and additional resources for our Health Clinics in vulnerable communities in East Africa. Find out more about our COVID-19 response here.