Medical Mission International is reaching needy families in the Turkana drought region in northern Kenya. In addition to funding the region’s only hospital in Lodwar, MMI also funds a permanent clinic and mobile outreaches that travel on a regular basis to nearly twenty remote villages in the region. 

Treatment is free for this rural population that suffers from limited options for medical treatment and traditionally depends on herbs and witch doctors for medical services. The program has safeguarded many community members from herbal poisoning and the dubious, expensive, often life threatening alternatives of witch doctors. During a typical quarter, more than ten thousand patients are now being treated through mobile outreach clinics and at the Lodwar Clinic. 

These traveling teams rotate through the villages, attending to nearly 250,000 people, providing general medical care, emergency referrals and transportation, home visitations for severely ill and elderly patients, hospice services, nutritional support and supplements to malnourished children and lactating mothers, vaccinations, and health education. Malaria, respiratory diseases, diarrheal diseases, skin and eye conditions, and infections are among the most common ailments affecting patients.

The Lodwar Clinic is trusted and held in high regard by the local people. “We know that the Lodwar Health Clinic treats everyone, even poor people without money,” said a young man who intervened and assisted another boy with a head injury get to the clinic. Daudi, a fifteen-year old, sustained head injuries because his mother threw stones at him. According to the injured boy, his mother has a mental disorder, can be violent, and walks aimlessly along the streets of Lodwar collecting litter. He said his father is dead. He told staff that he does not attend school, washes cars to buy food, and has been sleeping in the alleyways between the shops in Lodwar. Medical staff sutured his scalp injuries and the young man also received trauma counseling. In addition to addressing to his injuries, staff is seeking alternative living support for Daudi through a children’s home in the area.

“This program is making a positive impact in the lives of so many people in the Turkana region,” says Ruth Kendrick, MMI’s Program Director. “It is saving lives through medical intervention and education. But the clinic’s influence is reaching deep and serving a wide range of needs within the community.”