KMO Service Trip Nineteen of us maxed out our limit of two duffle

							KMO Service Trip
By Dr. Bill Williams



Nineteen of us maxed out our limit of two duffle bags. 50 lbs. each plus our carry
on knapsacks full of medical and dental supplies, food and clothes. The Rift
Valley of Kenya, our destination, is 5000 feet above sea level. We were just south
of the equator and the weather is cool in the evenings and mornings, perfect in
the daytime, much like Atlanta in the spring. This land of the Maasai and Kipsigi
tribes is neither jungle nor desert. It is the forested foothills and grasslands of the
Maasai Mara and Serengeti Plains of East Africa.


My brother, Brad Williams, a minister, and his wife, Christina, a physician, built
a hospital in Olmekenyu, Kenya in 2000. My wife and I took our first dental
mission trip there in June 2001. We returned a year later with a team of 30,
including two dentists, a physician, four nurses and three dental assistants. Last
Saturday night we returned from our eighth trip to Kenya. This was the first year
my entire family joined us…Sheila my wife, Justin and Tyler, my sons who are 27
and 25.


Our team flies through Amsterdam into Nairobi. Picked up in Toyota Land
Cruisers and four-wheel drive minivans. We immediately head out into the bush
to Olmekenyu, where the medical/dental clinic has been built. The drive begins
over good roads, then fair roads, then dirt roads, then muddy roads. You never
know if you will be stuck in the mud or not. This is especially true in rainy season.


We stop off in Narok, the district capital, to pick up Dr. Daniel Chepkeygon, a
local dentist. He has been an invaluable part of the KMO team since 2001.


During our visit to Olmekenyu in 2001, we saw 46 patients the first day, working
until 8 p.m. with flashlights as the rain clouds darkened the sky by 6 p.m. The
next day, we worked two shifts, morning and afternoon, and saw 112 patients, all
for extractions. All in all, we saw 252 patients and removed 600 teeth. Daniel
diagnosed and anesthetized 90% of them and I extracted 90% of the teeth. Since
that year, we have returned annually and found that the community is much
healthier and more prosperous. Our doctors, nurses and dentists are making a
difference there.


From Olmekenyu we usually go to Morijo near the border of Tanzania. This is the
isolated land of the Maasai still much like it was 100 years ago. There had never
been a dentist visit this area. Our first patient in Morijo, Tabula, had a 10 year-
developing osteoma of the maxilla, in simple terms, a tumor. She had walked
over 20 kilometers to see us that day. Her tumor was the size of a small grapefruit
on the left side of her face. Not being equipped to do advanced surgery there, we
took up a collection among our team and sent her to a mission hospital seven
hours away by Land Cruiser. It was a blessing to see her the next year with the
first of her two surgeries completed. Half of the tumor had been removed. Many
trips to the hospitals in Nairobi and many years passed before she was able to
navigate through the Kenyan medical system and get her second surgery to
complete the removal of the tumor and get her denture made.


The trip in 2009 was quite similar to our first trip. We took 22 KMO team
members in four vehicles. One difference this year is that we are working in
Sakituek, an area of an orphanage, seeing as many as 1000 children for care in
three days. At the end of our trip we ventured much farther north than in
previous years to work at Ol Maran and the Kuki Gallmann Nature Conservancy.
You may remember that she wrote the book, I Dreamed of Africa.


Here are the results of what we accomplished on our trips in 2008 and 2009:


Medical Mission: 2008 - A team of one physician, one nurse practitioner, three
nurses and four support personnel triaged, evaluated, and examined 1200
patients. In Olmekenyu, 512 patients were treated and in Morijo, 400. The total
number of conditions and diseases diagnosed was 84 with 111 cases of worms, 93
wounds, 78 of otitis media, 52 of bronchitis, 29 of typhoid and 20 cases of scabies
topping the list. Interestingly, there were only a few diagnosed cases of HIV and
malnutrition did not seem to be a significant problem in the areas we visited.
2009 – One nurse practitioner and two nurses plus one local physician evaluated
and treated 1500 patients in three villages.


Dental Mission: 2008 - A team of one American dentist, Dr. Daniel and one
dental student from Nairobi worked for 7 clinic days with our team and examined
485 patients with 699 teeth extracted, 20 teeth filled. This year we had a portable
generator to run our halogen headlight for dental loops and a portable dental unit
with high and low speed, air-water syringe and oral evacuator. Ah, the advances
of modern dentistry on wheels! 2009 – we added two additional dental students
this year for half our trip and treated 560 patients completing 860 extractions, 50
fillings, 20 full mouth ultrasonic scalings, 3 lingual frenectomies and 1 root canal.


50% of the teeth were extracted due to caries, 40% due to periodontal disease and
10% due to orthodontic wishes of the patients. It was interesting that the Kipsigi
to some degree and the Maasai to a larger degree do not consider a crowded look
and especially a “fangy” look to be attractive. They always want the most
misaligned tooth removed.


A smile that the Maasai find attractive is that of an open space in the lower
front teeth. It is common for two teeth to be removed for cosmetic reasons in
their culture. The locals told me that the reason has to do with a common practice
from many years ago. When someone would get “lockjaw” they would knock out
the two lower central incisors to allow a straw to feed them. It became a status
symbol to have those teeth removed. Later, it became a fashion statement.


The ongoing development of Mercy Hospital in Olmekenyu was the highlight of
the entire mission. In 2002, the tile was laid on the floor and the pharmacy
interior was constructed. Upon our return in June 2004, the cistern was
completed; the refrigerator installed to keep medications and vaccines cool, the
solar panel/battery system was in operation to keep the refrigerator running.
Since our last visit cellular telephone service has come to the town and the
hospital. Also this year we have funded two full-time nurse’s positions at the
clinic.

As you can tell, it was a very busy time. We did a children's outreach - feeding
300 children in one village and did a Bible study with them: 125 were saved! The
Tembea Na Yesu (walk with Christ - a 3 day spiritual retreat) had 56 people in
attendance. There were local pastors and community leaders in attendance. It
was a wonderful event for them and for those of us who participated by teaching:
Brad, Lisa, Hayden, Sheila, myself and leaders from Sotik in Kenya where
previous Tembea Na Yesu's have been held. We are partnering with local
churches and pastors in one of the villages to help take care of 12 orphans. The
pastors are finding homes and overseeing their care and we will provide funds for
their school fees, uniform and monthly food allowance for the family who takes
them in.


As we work, we find more needs than can be met. But what we realize is that we
made a difference each year for hundreds of people. Individuals are healthier;
they are alive; they are learning from us as we learn from them. We are making
friends that impact our lives as equally as we do theirs.