After the road levels out there is a flat are where the Leguruki Clinic sits and off the road to the right, and downhill, is the Leguruki Secondary School.
The Leguruki Clinic is administered by DME. It is often the case that because there has been a need the churches fund clinics and secondary schools in the villages, and indeed some of the largest hospitals are run by the churches. The churches are filling a need, and not necessarily with profit being the prime motive. It is all to do with pastoral care - well that is from what I have seen and sure there is money to be made in both health and education.
We visited the Leguruki Clinic many times, usually because we were dropping off a patient but sometimes it was a meeting place for us. One of the teachers at Leguruki Primary School was the wife of the doctor in charge and she sometimes took us down there or we gave her a lift there because a house was provided there.
I do not know the qualifications of this particular man, but I understand that clinics do not have a qualified doctor, but people who have diplomas and may be called 'medical technicians'. This in no way takes away their value! They are often called upon to carry out treatment that is far from what may be expected of them, and generally the carry out those treatments very well indeed.
It was plain to me that the clinic was under resourced and in generally poor shape, but I understood that DME remained with financial issues and it leadership was well aware of the situation. These people were doing the very best with what they had available to them and while an outsider may look at such an establishment in judgmental way, the clinic provided good primary care. Remembering of course that transport was difficult and the next hospital was at Usa River, almost an hour away by Landrover.
One evening Mch Majola came to see me. He lived down by the main road and had travelled up on his Honda 110 pikipiki. We two were on very good terms and I liked him, treating him as a friend. He asked me if there was a possibility of raising funds to rehabilitate the Leguruki Clinic. He had seen the building work we had done (that is extra projects at Manyata and Valeska primary schools) and he agreed with me that Tom Mpilipili was not the man to carry the work out.
I had to be very busy with what I committed myself to because I was extremely busy and covering a large territory.
Mch Majola was aware of my situation and said that he would administer the funds, reporting to the Bishop first, as was his duty, but also with regular reports to me. I agreed to investigate what could be done.
I wrote a letter to NZHC being careful to make the project feasible to the eyes of the reader and with the thorough budget that Mch Majola had provided for me. I did not put it across the desk of Mama Mbembe, the Agency field rep because she was not supportive of DME projects and while I knew that she would expect me to remove my hat and explain to her, my reasoning was that I was helping DME as an individual. Well, words are just words.
NZHC agreed to finance the project, but I had to hold the finances and only pay out on installments after I had received receipts from the previous installment. I guess this was policy, but they knew about the hassles with Tom Pepper.
Mch Majola was delighted with the news and quickly arranged the fundi and materials and once the money arrived - oh dear through the field office - the work was under way. Work went well and I heard of no complains or concerns - sometime the receipts came a little late and some money was required without them, but we kept a weather eye on progress and in the end the job was completed well and the books balanced. The outcome was a testament to his abilities and his genuine desire to help his fellow man.
There was a small official opening and I presented (as you would expect) some trees to plant around the complex.
My brother, who's life's work has been in health paid a visit, was impressed, but noted that even with the renovations, those who criticize NZ's health system are unaware of the problems faced by the poorer nations on the planet.
Work under way at the clinic during one of our visits.
Making wall vents. It was cheaper to make these that buy them in Arusha because they had a mold.
Work complete we look around the building before the opening.
Testing the new scales for weighing infants.
New and rather flash shower unit - good water supply too.
Speech time at the opening Mch Majola with tie, Loti next to him.
Presenting trees to the clinic.
Gorby in the laboratory part of the clinic with the new OiC.
The Leguruki Clinic is administered by DME. It is often the case that because there has been a need the churches fund clinics and secondary schools in the villages, and indeed some of the largest hospitals are run by the churches. The churches are filling a need, and not necessarily with profit being the prime motive. It is all to do with pastoral care - well that is from what I have seen and sure there is money to be made in both health and education.
We visited the Leguruki Clinic many times, usually because we were dropping off a patient but sometimes it was a meeting place for us. One of the teachers at Leguruki Primary School was the wife of the doctor in charge and she sometimes took us down there or we gave her a lift there because a house was provided there.
I do not know the qualifications of this particular man, but I understand that clinics do not have a qualified doctor, but people who have diplomas and may be called 'medical technicians'. This in no way takes away their value! They are often called upon to carry out treatment that is far from what may be expected of them, and generally the carry out those treatments very well indeed.
It was plain to me that the clinic was under resourced and in generally poor shape, but I understood that DME remained with financial issues and it leadership was well aware of the situation. These people were doing the very best with what they had available to them and while an outsider may look at such an establishment in judgmental way, the clinic provided good primary care. Remembering of course that transport was difficult and the next hospital was at Usa River, almost an hour away by Landrover.
One evening Mch Majola came to see me. He lived down by the main road and had travelled up on his Honda 110 pikipiki. We two were on very good terms and I liked him, treating him as a friend. He asked me if there was a possibility of raising funds to rehabilitate the Leguruki Clinic. He had seen the building work we had done (that is extra projects at Manyata and Valeska primary schools) and he agreed with me that Tom Mpilipili was not the man to carry the work out.
I had to be very busy with what I committed myself to because I was extremely busy and covering a large territory.
Mch Majola was aware of my situation and said that he would administer the funds, reporting to the Bishop first, as was his duty, but also with regular reports to me. I agreed to investigate what could be done.
I wrote a letter to NZHC being careful to make the project feasible to the eyes of the reader and with the thorough budget that Mch Majola had provided for me. I did not put it across the desk of Mama Mbembe, the Agency field rep because she was not supportive of DME projects and while I knew that she would expect me to remove my hat and explain to her, my reasoning was that I was helping DME as an individual. Well, words are just words.
NZHC agreed to finance the project, but I had to hold the finances and only pay out on installments after I had received receipts from the previous installment. I guess this was policy, but they knew about the hassles with Tom Pepper.
Mch Majola was delighted with the news and quickly arranged the fundi and materials and once the money arrived - oh dear through the field office - the work was under way. Work went well and I heard of no complains or concerns - sometime the receipts came a little late and some money was required without them, but we kept a weather eye on progress and in the end the job was completed well and the books balanced. The outcome was a testament to his abilities and his genuine desire to help his fellow man.
There was a small official opening and I presented (as you would expect) some trees to plant around the complex.
My brother, who's life's work has been in health paid a visit, was impressed, but noted that even with the renovations, those who criticize NZ's health system are unaware of the problems faced by the poorer nations on the planet.
Work under way at the clinic during one of our visits.
Making wall vents. It was cheaper to make these that buy them in Arusha because they had a mold.
Work complete we look around the building before the opening.
Testing the new scales for weighing infants.
New and rather flash shower unit - good water supply too.
Speech time at the opening Mch Majola with tie, Loti next to him.
Presenting trees to the clinic.
Gorby in the laboratory part of the clinic with the new OiC.
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