In August we completed our 7th month of operation at Adama Martha Memorial Community Health Center (AMMCHC). There is a dedicated medical team working very hard to provide medical care for the Kono district community in Sierra Leone. Word continues to spread about the quality of care provided at the health center and so more and more people are traveling from all over Kono to receive medical help. This says a lot about the compassionate and competent staff that is working to provide this type of care.
The month of August was very busy as 1,480 patient's were seen for various general illnesses ranging from chronic to acute conditions. A total of 34 patient's received a hernia repair operation at the local Koidu Government Hospital and underwent post-operative care at AMMCHC. There are 23 people on the hernia repair waiting list. There were five successful deliveries in the maternity ward at AMMCHC. Two were healthy baby boys and 3 were healthy baby girls. We are grateful.
There is a team of six people going over from Jericho Road in October to help see patients, train staff, network, and provide encouragement to the local medical team. The collaboration continues to deepen and thrive as we work together to be the hands and feet of Jesus to that community. If you would like to support us financially in order to help offset some of the cost, please go to our website and give towards: Sierra Leone Oct Trip (other box). All donations will receive a tax receipt.
Please join us in praying for a medical doctor to join AMMCHC, the protection and success of the team going in October, strength for the local medical team as they work, and for the country of Sierra Leone especially the Kono district to be healthy and whole.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Vaccine Fridge and Other News
We were able to secure funding for a much needed vaccination refrigerator for Adama Martha Memorial Community Health Center. Thank you to all who gave in this way! Having this refrigerator will literally help us save lives in Kono.
The Sierra Leone Ministry of Health does distribute and administer vaccinations to children however keeping the vaccines cold so they don't expire or go bad is a constant challenge. Getting out to the rural areas of Sierra Leone like the Kono district is also a challenge and a barrier to health. Now that we have a way to keep the vaccines cold, we will be able to keep a stock at our medical center and administer them to our pediatric patients. Diseases like measles and polio take lives (often young ones) all to often in a place like Sierra Leone due to poor sanitation and a lack of health services. Vaccines do keep children and communities healthy so we are very grateful to have this opportunity at our medical center.
In other news, we've purchased our second vehicle with a recent grant that we received. This vehicle will help us restart our village outreach to five surrounding villages. This outreach had been put on hold due to the Ebola crisis and we've been eager to restart this for the past two months. The village outreach is essentially going into each village and holding a day long medical clinic once a month. In addition, we meet with village leaders in order to help gain a better understanding about the health and non-health needs of each village. We are also looking to train a few community health workers in each village so that they can attend to the medical needs of their fellow villagers in our absence as well as be the medical liaisons for their village and our medical center in Kono.
The Sierra Leone Ministry of Health does distribute and administer vaccinations to children however keeping the vaccines cold so they don't expire or go bad is a constant challenge. Getting out to the rural areas of Sierra Leone like the Kono district is also a challenge and a barrier to health. Now that we have a way to keep the vaccines cold, we will be able to keep a stock at our medical center and administer them to our pediatric patients. Diseases like measles and polio take lives (often young ones) all to often in a place like Sierra Leone due to poor sanitation and a lack of health services. Vaccines do keep children and communities healthy so we are very grateful to have this opportunity at our medical center.
In other news, we've purchased our second vehicle with a recent grant that we received. This vehicle will help us restart our village outreach to five surrounding villages. This outreach had been put on hold due to the Ebola crisis and we've been eager to restart this for the past two months. The village outreach is essentially going into each village and holding a day long medical clinic once a month. In addition, we meet with village leaders in order to help gain a better understanding about the health and non-health needs of each village. We are also looking to train a few community health workers in each village so that they can attend to the medical needs of their fellow villagers in our absence as well as be the medical liaisons for their village and our medical center in Kono.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
AMMCHC Solar Powered Vaccine Fridge
Dear supporters,
We are looking to purchase a solar powered vaccine fridge so that we can start vaccinating at our medical clinic. We are in need of $5000 to purchase this type of fridge. Please go to this link to help us raise the funds needed to purchase this much needed piece of equipment.
Thank you and God Bless,
The Global Health Outreach Committee
We are looking to purchase a solar powered vaccine fridge so that we can start vaccinating at our medical clinic. We are in need of $5000 to purchase this type of fridge. Please go to this link to help us raise the funds needed to purchase this much needed piece of equipment.
Thank you and God Bless,
The Global Health Outreach Committee
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Ebola Orphan Program
The Sierra Leone Alliance Ebola Orphan Program has helped a total of 644 children across Sierra Leone get back into school!
Schools were closed for the better part of a year as the country of Sierra Leone fought to end the Ebola crisis. The reason for this closure was to prevent the spread of Ebola since children travel to school on foot and are often in over crowded classrooms. In May of 2015, schools reopened as the Ebola crisis simmered down and each week there was a decrease in the number of new cases.
Children orphaned due to Ebola are in a difficult spot because not only do they have the distinction as being orphaned due to Ebola but they are taken in by extended family members who often are barely getting by. These children are especially vulnerable because they would be the first to be denied the opportunity for schooling or would be forced to work instead of attending school or worse.
Jericho Road has helped 116 children in the Kono district spanning across five Chiefdom's. The beneficiaries of this program were 90 primary aged children, 17 junior secondary students, 3 senior secondary students, and six high grade students. The program assisted with school uniforms including socks and shoes, exercise books, pens, pencils, mathematical sets, school bags, dried vegetable food, used clothing, and financial support to high grade students.
Please keep the people of Sierra Leone in your prayers as the country still needs them. There is a lot of post-Ebola work to be done and in three districts new cases of Ebola are still popping up. Jericho Road is still raising money for our work in Sierra Leone. If you feel led to give, please click here to give via our website. Thank you.
Schools were closed for the better part of a year as the country of Sierra Leone fought to end the Ebola crisis. The reason for this closure was to prevent the spread of Ebola since children travel to school on foot and are often in over crowded classrooms. In May of 2015, schools reopened as the Ebola crisis simmered down and each week there was a decrease in the number of new cases.
Children orphaned due to Ebola are in a difficult spot because not only do they have the distinction as being orphaned due to Ebola but they are taken in by extended family members who often are barely getting by. These children are especially vulnerable because they would be the first to be denied the opportunity for schooling or would be forced to work instead of attending school or worse.
Jericho Road has helped 116 children in the Kono district spanning across five Chiefdom's. The beneficiaries of this program were 90 primary aged children, 17 junior secondary students, 3 senior secondary students, and six high grade students. The program assisted with school uniforms including socks and shoes, exercise books, pens, pencils, mathematical sets, school bags, dried vegetable food, used clothing, and financial support to high grade students.
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| Two young children in their school uniforms |
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| Program Beneficiaries raising their hands proudly |
Please keep the people of Sierra Leone in your prayers as the country still needs them. There is a lot of post-Ebola work to be done and in three districts new cases of Ebola are still popping up. Jericho Road is still raising money for our work in Sierra Leone. If you feel led to give, please click here to give via our website. Thank you.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
The Food Program Transition
In June, the Sierra Leone Alliance Food Program transitioned into an Ebola Orphan Program that is now helping Ebola Orphans get back into school. With the Ebola outbreak nearing an end and with schools reopening for children, this transition seemed appropriate. Often times children are not able to attend school because they can not afford to pay the school fees or buy a school uniform. This problem is worse with orphans especially those whose parent's died during the Ebola outbreak. Below is a written picture of what this program is doing in Kono and the impact it is making. It is written by one of our staff RN's leading Clinical Operations at Adama Martha Memorial Health Center.
Today I had the privilege of going out with our field workers as they distributed school packages, and food items to children who were orphaned as a results of the current Ebola outbreak. Initially I couldn't help but smile as I played with and joked with the kids in front of me. My sobering moment came a few minutes later as it suddenly hit me that each of these children had been orphaned only within the last 6-9 months.
Many of us worry about the future of these kids. The realities of poverty are such that these children are prime candidates for exploitation. Most are currently being cared for by extended family members, but the reality is these kids are the most likely to be pulled from school and be forced to work for their host families or worse. Over the coming months our field workers are tasked with the job of continued follow up of these children ensuring that they stay in school and ensuring that they have the supplies they need to succeed.
Sierra Leoneans enjoy speeches, formality, and celebrations. Our field workers worked hard to make sure that this happened today. A large sound system was rented, dignitaries were invited, a program was outlined, and speeches were planned. Right before the program started I was approached and asked to give the keynote address. Thankfully, I had five minutes to prepare.
In my speech, I attempted to encouraged those present that there were people that they had never met who were praying for them on the other side of the world. That these people loved them and considered them to be their brothers and sisters. I shared that these people were motivated by the love of Jesus and that the school supplies and food items were merely a token of that love.
As we were packing up to leave a small commotion occurred and a few tears were shed as a few Ebola orphans came forward hoping for a package, but whose names hadn't been included on the list. Our field workers had spent a lot of time prior to the event tracing names and identifying the gift recipients. Thankfully we had extra packages that can be distributed on the next trip. Unfortunately such incidents of discovering previously undocumented orphans clearly illustrate that the true scope of the problem is very difficult to gauge.
We loaded our sound system back into the truck, and as we were pulling out a young boy approached the sound man begging him to return and play music as soon as Ebola is declared over. Part ways home as we passed through a small village, a young girl who couldn't have been more than 3 years of age came running towards the truck screaming with excitement. My friends in the truck quickly explained that the sight of the sound system had set her off. For the past year, or in reality a third of this young girls life, gatherings and loud music have essentially been illegal.
I pray that Ebola ends soon. There are far too many people with the dance still stuck inside. One day soon I hope and pray that the entire country can truly celebrate, and that the tears can somehow turn to dancing. In the meantime though we're thankful for our alliance partners and the smaller celebrations made possible by their support for those most tragically affected by this horrible disease.
Karlin.
Today I had the privilege of going out with our field workers as they distributed school packages, and food items to children who were orphaned as a results of the current Ebola outbreak. Initially I couldn't help but smile as I played with and joked with the kids in front of me. My sobering moment came a few minutes later as it suddenly hit me that each of these children had been orphaned only within the last 6-9 months.
Many of us worry about the future of these kids. The realities of poverty are such that these children are prime candidates for exploitation. Most are currently being cared for by extended family members, but the reality is these kids are the most likely to be pulled from school and be forced to work for their host families or worse. Over the coming months our field workers are tasked with the job of continued follow up of these children ensuring that they stay in school and ensuring that they have the supplies they need to succeed.
Sierra Leoneans enjoy speeches, formality, and celebrations. Our field workers worked hard to make sure that this happened today. A large sound system was rented, dignitaries were invited, a program was outlined, and speeches were planned. Right before the program started I was approached and asked to give the keynote address. Thankfully, I had five minutes to prepare.
In my speech, I attempted to encouraged those present that there were people that they had never met who were praying for them on the other side of the world. That these people loved them and considered them to be their brothers and sisters. I shared that these people were motivated by the love of Jesus and that the school supplies and food items were merely a token of that love.
As we were packing up to leave a small commotion occurred and a few tears were shed as a few Ebola orphans came forward hoping for a package, but whose names hadn't been included on the list. Our field workers had spent a lot of time prior to the event tracing names and identifying the gift recipients. Thankfully we had extra packages that can be distributed on the next trip. Unfortunately such incidents of discovering previously undocumented orphans clearly illustrate that the true scope of the problem is very difficult to gauge.
We loaded our sound system back into the truck, and as we were pulling out a young boy approached the sound man begging him to return and play music as soon as Ebola is declared over. Part ways home as we passed through a small village, a young girl who couldn't have been more than 3 years of age came running towards the truck screaming with excitement. My friends in the truck quickly explained that the sight of the sound system had set her off. For the past year, or in reality a third of this young girls life, gatherings and loud music have essentially been illegal.
I pray that Ebola ends soon. There are far too many people with the dance still stuck inside. One day soon I hope and pray that the entire country can truly celebrate, and that the tears can somehow turn to dancing. In the meantime though we're thankful for our alliance partners and the smaller celebrations made possible by their support for those most tragically affected by this horrible disease.
Karlin.
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| Preparing to load the truck with backpacks filled with school supplies |
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| EBV Orphans and recipients of the backpacks |
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Hernia Patients and Ultrasound
Currently, we have two medical providers from Jericho Road Community Health Center in Sierra Leone helping to provide medical care at our newly opened health center. The Adama Martha Memorial Community Health Center has been open for over four months providing much needed primary and urgent health care to the Kono District of Sierra Leone. It's been a busy four months as our Sierra Leone based team has been seeing over 100 patients per day, including delivering a few babies and restarting the hernia repair program.
Our two medical providers on the ground there now are in awe of the work being done and have jumped right in to help. Rebecca Beardsley, a Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife, has been helping primarily with prenatal / OB care and sonogram training. She's leaving behind a 'step-by-step OB Ultrasound Manual' for dating and fetal heart rate that she developed. Paul Violanti, a Family and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, has been helping the CHO's see patients with all sorts of medical conditions. He observes that our health clinic has already become a 'fixture in the health delivery system in the Kono District.' What we have been able to accomplish there is truly remarkable.
Below is one of Rebecca's emails that she wrote on June 6, 2015.
The day began at the clinic with starting IV's on patients going for hernia surgeries at the government hospital later today. I started 2 IV's this morning on patients about to go for hernia surgery. Both were young men who had hernias most likely from due to hard manual labor and heavy lifting constantly. One of the 5 patients was a small child. All 5 patients go for hernia repair surgery today and then return for post op care at our clinic.
After the morning meeting with singing, prayer, and a message on how our thoughts/perspective affect our actions: the 2 CHO's performed 2 circumcisions (one on a newborn and one on a child about 4 years old). There was more assessing of how things are going and what is needed.
I rode on our ambulance with a hernia patient to the government hospital. When you get to the hospital, everyone has to get out of the ambulance and wash hands with chlorine solution and get temperature taken due to Ebola precautions. We dropped one patient off and picked up the other to go back to clinic for monitoring.
Upon returning to the clinic there were 2 pregnant patients waiting for Ultrasound. Phebian and Michael (CHO) went in with me to learn how to date a pregnancy. We had one 21 weeker and one 29 weeker. I am still learning as I am teaching so it is challenging for all of us but we are making progress.
Later in the day, Paul and I had some time with the 2 CHO's, Michael and Augustine, as well as the Nurse Fatmate, and the Pharmacist Pastor Samuel. We reviewed Helping Babies Breath/basic resusitation of a newborn baby. They did some hands on training with the ambu bag and bulb syringe and we talked through different scenarios. Then Paul taught on some different diseases and the use of different antibiotics. We also had some good discussion on how things are here in Sierra Leone versus the States.
The hernia patients will stay here tonight and for about 5 days for recovery/antibiotics and to ensure no complications before they can go home. No patients tomorrow, but I'm sure there will be much to do.
Much Love from Sierra Leone,
Rebecca.
Thank you for your prayers and support of our medical mission project!
Our two medical providers on the ground there now are in awe of the work being done and have jumped right in to help. Rebecca Beardsley, a Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife, has been helping primarily with prenatal / OB care and sonogram training. She's leaving behind a 'step-by-step OB Ultrasound Manual' for dating and fetal heart rate that she developed. Paul Violanti, a Family and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, has been helping the CHO's see patients with all sorts of medical conditions. He observes that our health clinic has already become a 'fixture in the health delivery system in the Kono District.' What we have been able to accomplish there is truly remarkable.
Below is one of Rebecca's emails that she wrote on June 6, 2015.
The day began at the clinic with starting IV's on patients going for hernia surgeries at the government hospital later today. I started 2 IV's this morning on patients about to go for hernia surgery. Both were young men who had hernias most likely from due to hard manual labor and heavy lifting constantly. One of the 5 patients was a small child. All 5 patients go for hernia repair surgery today and then return for post op care at our clinic.
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| Paul and Karlin starting an IV on the youngest hernia patient |
I rode on our ambulance with a hernia patient to the government hospital. When you get to the hospital, everyone has to get out of the ambulance and wash hands with chlorine solution and get temperature taken due to Ebola precautions. We dropped one patient off and picked up the other to go back to clinic for monitoring.
 |
| Using our ambulance to transport patients |
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| The Operating Room at Koidu Government Hospital |
Later in the day, Paul and I had some time with the 2 CHO's, Michael and Augustine, as well as the Nurse Fatmate, and the Pharmacist Pastor Samuel. We reviewed Helping Babies Breath/basic resusitation of a newborn baby. They did some hands on training with the ambu bag and bulb syringe and we talked through different scenarios. Then Paul taught on some different diseases and the use of different antibiotics. We also had some good discussion on how things are here in Sierra Leone versus the States.
The hernia patients will stay here tonight and for about 5 days for recovery/antibiotics and to ensure no complications before they can go home. No patients tomorrow, but I'm sure there will be much to do.
Much Love from Sierra Leone,
Rebecca.
Thank you for your prayers and support of our medical mission project!
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Exciting Week At AMMCHC!
This past week was an exciting week for AMMCHC in Sierra Leone. The health center has been in operation for 11 weeks now. Here are some of the highlights:
- There were 364 outpatients registered in 5 and a half days.
- There are 2,200 total people registered in the database.
- There were two deliveries by the Maternity Team and three elective circumcisions by the CHO's.
- The hernia repair project has restarted with it's first patients: 3 adults and 1 child.
- Our neighbors at the blind school enjoyed some rice donated from the SLA Food Program.
- Christopher was hired to help with administrative duties.
- There were 364 outpatients registered in 5 and a half days.
- There are 2,200 total people registered in the database.
- There were two deliveries by the Maternity Team and three elective circumcisions by the CHO's.
- The hernia repair project has restarted with it's first patients: 3 adults and 1 child.
- Our neighbors at the blind school enjoyed some rice donated from the SLA Food Program.
- Christopher was hired to help with administrative duties.
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| Blind School Children |
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| Karlin, RN with the new administrative assistant, Christopher |
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