Health care in remote regions of Africa can be very sparse and
this is also true of Bungoma Diocese
with its population of 1,000,000. However there is a hospital in
Bungoma town and there are some private clinics but these are not
generally affordable for the poorest communities who can neither
pay for treatment nor the travelling costs to reach the
clinics.
For this reason the Bungoma Diocese
has developed its own interest in providing clinics. There are 5
active church clinics at Butonge, Nzoia, Soysmbu/Makutano,
Kamukuywa and Khulwanda being supported and promoted by the Bungoma Diocese
as well 4 further clinics being planned or under construction at
Maeni, Kiminini, Webuye and Kabula. The diocese also has it own
Health Secretary and its own Coordinator for HIV/AIDS.
Bungoma Diocese
also promotes and encourages their nurses to train and practice in
Parish Nursing. Parish Nursing emphasizes health and healing within
a faith community. This was set up by a nurse from UK who
frequently visited Bungoma to train the nurses.
Our charity's long term interest in health is to source funding to
alleviate poverty in the public interest by offering support for
developing church clinics and to help in health care under guidance
and advice from the health care professionals.
In 2016 we installed a piped clean water supply to Butonge
Clinic fed from the deep borehole in Butonge High School across the
road. The installation included a 2000 litre header tank as a
back up.
The single picture below taken in 2007 of a question box fixed to
the walls of a primary school speaks volumes.