WE ARE BACK! EYE MISSION SUCCESSFUL , TREK AMAZING

We flew into South Horr, just south of Lake Turkana by midday and met up with Dee Belliere, founder of MEAK, and Helen Douglas Dufresne, our walking guide, founder of MILGIS  TRUST and MEAK’s partner on the ground for this mission.

The eye mission was well on its way and despite some very serious hurdles it was turning out to be quite successful. The location had been moved from the original plan. Due to tribal conflicts in the area the mission had to be moved from Waso Rongai to the Horr valley. The Samburu sports center in the town of South Horr had been made available and the community could not have been more welcoming.

The final count was gratifying: 214 eyes operations were done and 4 patients were referred and flown to Nairobi. The medical team (one surgeon, three nurses and one anesthetist) was smaller than usual – one less doctor – and did an amazing job.

However there was clearly a sense of frustration. This mission had been planned for months and one of the goals had been to treat the Samburu and the Turkana people, neighboring tribes. Traditionally these tribes are often warring each other over their livestock. A lot of effort had been put into promoting peace and it seemed like it was working. Many eye cases had been identified among the Turkana people. Sadly shortly before the beginning of the mission the Turkanas had raided the Samburus and stolen 400 head of cattle. As a result no Turkana would risk coming into Samburu land to have their eyes fixed despite the fact that many needed operations. But such is life in the distant lands of Northern Kenya and the MEAK team that worked in partnership with the Milgis Trust team did an amazing job despite the circumstances.  When I am in Africa I always remember a Clint Eastwood line: “Adapt and Improvise.”

There is still much more that needs to be done!
We arrived in time to see some cataract operations being done, and even more gratifying we witnessed the reaction of many of the patients when the eye patches were removed seeing for the first time in years.  The quiet chatter, gentle laughter, and beaming smiles were a sight to behold!

Cataract operations were the majority but a few patients with Trachoma were treated and other eye ailments were also attended to. Trachoma is prevalent in this area and a major cause of blindness. As a result of recurrent infections the eyelids turn into themselves and the eyelashes constantly rub against the eyeball creating constant excruciating pain.  To address this situation, a team has been scouring the region screening for eye ailments and teaching better hygiene.

We took a day and a half to get our bearings. The night before we took off, the Samburu men, many of them dressed in their warrior gear, treated us to an amazing dance and song performance.  It was a gesture of thank you and a very special gift. These dances and songs have existed for centuries and are profoundly moving. We felt very honored.

Most of the Samburu men would be coming along with us on the trek, leading the camels and setting up camps.

We started our trek south towards the Milgis Lugga through the Ndoto mountains. We trekked through a landscape that was breathtaking. We started at the Horr Valley walking across the south end of Ol Donyo Mara into the Seren valley.

We traveled through open plains, and valleys with the bush in full bloom. See the lovely Cadia (Purpurea) flower!

We climbed rocky hills, traversed the Ndikir Laurie mountain pass, reaching heights that allowed us magnificent views of the Ndotos peaks and valleys. We camped near dry river beds or luggas – one, the Lomolok Lugga, turned into a flowing and bubbling stream in 10 minutes – or on mountain tops in Urra that made you want to cry or laugh or just simply sit quietly in awe at the beauty of our planet.

Once the need to talk waned our senses awakened to the bush life surrounding us.  As I walked I would stop to pick the leaves and seeds of the sage bush delighting in its perfume, or loose all sense of time as I followed the movements of the rosy patch bush shrike whose song had caught our attention, or yet again admire the candelabra like sculptural form of the many euphorbia trees in full bloom.

I stood mesmerized by the vibrant yellow blooms along its cactus like limbs creating a halo around the tree.

We encountered young children who are given responsibility at an early age herding the family goats. We were an oddity in this part of Northern Kenya and a great source of amusement and curiosity to these youngsters. We passed by Samburu manyattas or huts clustered together and protected from predators by an enclosure made of twigs and branches.

We did run into the occasional warrior, armed to the teeth and yet very stylish. I was very lucky to get a picture of one of them.

The level of excitement in the group peeked when we ran across very fresh elephant dung! Our chances of running into a big bush animal were seriously improving. Birds, dik diks, herds of goats were great but we wanted the big stuff!  Total silence was requested which I welcomed with great relief and perseverance paid off. Twice we spotted those majestic creatures on the hills feasting on the trees. Some of us who had amazing eyesight could just see them with the naked eye. I, on the other hand, needed my binoculars!

Every morning we woke up at 5:30am to the song of the Samburu man coming to fill our washbasin with hot water. After a cup of tea or coffee, we departed under the rising sun for our day’s journey. Four camels carrying our breakfast, which the Samburu men would set up mid-morning when we needed those extra calories to help us along, accompanied us. Pete and Helen, our guides, made sure we had a full breakfast!  Fruit, eggs , yellow like you have never seen, homemade muesli  we figured that if we marketed it ,we would make a killing it was so good.

Some of us at the end of the day wanted a final challenge before turning in and climbed some pretty steep hills and encountered baboons along the way.

Intermittent rain was mostly refreshing though at times it was unexpected and created quite a stir.  One night we went to sleep under starry skies and rain startled us awake in the middle of the night.  Jumping out of our bedrolls, we rushed out of our tents to undo the flaps of our rain cover with the help of the Samburu team. But by the time we got back into our tents, bedrolls and clothes were wet except for some clever ones who had had the prescience to keep their bags packed and had thought of covering their mattress. I was not one of them!  We did not let that happen again!

Under Helen Douglas Dufresne’s instruction we learned to identify Orion’s Belt at night and Venus and Mercury at sunrise. We fell in love with the dogs that accompanied us. More then once I found myself woken up from my mid-afternoon nap on a mattress laid down on the grass by an over eager dog’s paws on my chest.

The real stars of this walk were our Samburu porters who worked tirelessly to make us comfortable and who on an impulse would break into a song and a dance for their own enjoyment and to our utter delight.

Some of us, unfortunately, fell sick but were amazingly brave. We had to adjust the pace of our walk and did not get to see the Latakwen clinic that is my special project. We all made it to our destination though, which was Helen’s base camp, Lkanto, set at the top of a hill situated at the confluence of the Milgis and Sarya Luggas.

We took in for the last time the awe inspiring, view savoring our accomplishment yet a bit sad because of the upcoming good byes. I confess that there is no place I would rather be then on top of that hill with its 360 degree view of the two large riverbeds with to the south, the mountains of the Matthews and Mt Kenya in the far distance, and to the north the Ndotos hills.

After a quick shower we departed for the airstrip where a final treat was awaiting us. The children from the local school dressed in their Samburu outfits performed a dance celebrating a world where man and nature coexist in harmony.

Still under their spell we climbed into our charter plane after effusive thanks to Helen and Pete Insley who had led us very competently and brought us back safe.

Thank you for an amazing journey.

Dear Friends:

As some of you know, on November 7th, I will be embarking on a 5 day trek in Northern Kenya, raising much needed funds for MEAK’s (Medical and Educational Aid to Kenya) medical missions. MEAK organizes and funds medical and surgical missions in the fields of ophthalmology, orthopedics and pediatric cardiac surgery. A dollar goes a long way with MEAK and 98% of all donations go directly to providing free medical care to the needy. They have carried out over 70 medical missions, providing over 7,000 surgical procedures and hope to do many more in the future. However, it is getting ever more difficult to raise the funds. Therefore, I am posting this notice to ask you to consider giving a donation to help support MEAK’s work in Kenya and in spirit to accompany me on my journey.

My journey begins in Nairobi where I will fly to Waso Ronga, which is on the southern slope of Mount Nyiru in the North of Kenya , just south of Lake Turkana. There I and seven other trekkers will observe an eye mission performed by MEAK’s medical team.  Under Helen Douglas-Dufresne’s lead we will then walk for 5 days through elephant and zebra country meeting both the Samburu and Rendille people and giving aid to those in need. Our trek ends in Ngurnit with a flight back to Nairobi.  We try to avoid the blistering heat so we wake at 5:30 AM and start our walk at 6 AM.  We walk 7 hours a day with an hour break for breakfast covering on average 18 miles at least a day. That will be a total of 90 miles.

If you are interested, you can give one of two ways. If you want a tax deduction write a check to March to The Top and remember to write on the check “FOR MEAK”.  The organization March to The Top, which is a 501©3, has included MEAK on their project platform.  If you are giving anything less than $100 and don’t require a tax deduction then go to www.justgiving.com/Meak and make your donation online. It is quick and easy.

I thank you for your support. I can assure you that your money is going for a worthy cause and will help change people’s lives. I have made a $10,000 donation to MEAK this year and look forward to raising half more at least – $5000- on this walk.

Send checks to March to The Top: 22631 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 990, Malibu, CA, 90265

Very truly yours,

Isabel Stainow Wilcox

Nargis Kasmani moves mountains: she saves and changes lives in Kenya. No challenge seems ever too big for her since she decided to make a difference in her community. Several years ago, traumatic events in her life led her to reexamine her life goals and she closed down her business and joined Lions International where she has devoted her time and effort at improving the lives of Kenyans.

A petite, rather quiet woman, Nargis will rarely volunteer to speak about her or advertise her accomplishments and yet there are many.

In addition to her work at Lions, Nargis runs an orphanage where many children are HIV positive or have lost parents to AIDS. This has led her in 2007/2008 to want to explore ways to improve the odds of these HIV positive babies of becoming healthy and free of the virus. Research and consultations with HIV specialists indicated that the babies should not be breastfed and that a nutritional substitute needed to be provided. Discouraging the women from breastfeeding presented a lot of problems and finding an appropriate and effective formula took time and research. Nargis teamed up with a couple of nutritionists, a health food company,  Azuri, and researched the use of amaranth in India. They found some shortcomings, mainly that the approach was not holistic. After much experimentation, they came up with a mixture that not only contained amaranth but also other fruits and vegetables that were dried and ground up into a powder.

In the following video Nargis describes the pilot program that was put together and its success.

Each time I join one of MEAK medical missions, I get to witness Nargis’ special magic.  Whether it is on an eye mission (Lions International provides the medical team that she oversees) or a heart mission (she helps with finding funds and sponsors) Nargis is there, working on the front line and behind the scene at once. In addition to her responsibilities at Lions she continuously comes to the rescue. Whenever we encounter children who have special urgent medical needs beyond the ones we can deliver on the spot, it is Nargis who facilitates things in Nairobi. Dee Belliere from MEAK initiates the process, arranges for the transport and Nargis lines up the doctors, finds housing for the patient and parent, and clothes if necessary and reaches out to Lions for funding. Through her work at Lions she has developed a broad network of local contacts in the medical field, in the business community, and in the government that she can reach out to if need be. Nargis and Dee work wonderfully together. Dee is ready to venture out far into the bush to reach nomadic communities, provide funding, and part of the logistics and Nargis comes along with the medical team.

Nargis’ relentless perseverance, and deep love of children are making a difference in the lives of Kenyans and others in Africa because this pilot program, which she spearheaded, is being replicated in other parts of Africa.

I got a good measure of her character when I went with her and a few others on a seven days walk in the Ndoto mountains in Northern Kenya, walking seven hours a day. Despite the difficulties she had with her back due to a gang attack a few years ago, which led her to have a broken back,  diabetes, and a hilly terrain, Nargis had decided to complete this walk and she did. No hanging out late around the campfire though, she was in bed early every night! No mountain is too great to climb, nor challenge too big to take on for Nargis. She is now on to her next venture with Lions: Sight for Kids. A medical team goes out to schools through out the country, screening the children for eye problems, and doing preventive work.

If you are not totally impressed, here is the clincher. She is a fabulous cook! After a days work on one of these medical missions in the bush, she will go into the “kitchen” if you can call it that , take over and cook a delicious meal with chapattis. That is how she relaxes. Bravo Nargis! You are a star in my book!

There are some faces you never forget, that stop you in your tracks and remind you of the miracles in this life.  The alert and happy face of Mbura Mwakia with his beaming smile is just one of those.  Mbura is 14 years old but his body really looks more like the one of an eight-year old boy with brittle limbs and no muscle tone. Yet, despite obvious severe hardship Mbura is open, engaging, and playful.  I met him in the children’s ward at the Mombasa Hospital on the eastern coast of Kenya. He had had open-heart surgery just a few days earlier.

As it was, I had planned to meet up with Dee and Mike Belliere who were overseeing a MEAK pediatric heart mission in Mombasa. I wanted to interview their local Kenyan partners, some of them unsung heroes who work behind the scene.

The heart mission was coming to an end and had been very successful. Twenty- three patients had been operated and all were recovering well at this point. Shortly after my arrival I joined two of the cardiologists from MEAK’s volunteer UK medical team who were on their way to the hospital. We arrived at the Mombasa Hospital, which looked like a spacious country club set on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. The mood was up, the cardiologists, Dr. Aaron Bell and Dr. Kiberan Pushparajah from the Evalina Children’s hospital at Guys and St Thomas in the UK were eager to show me around and to share their experience of the last ten days and in particular Mbura’s story.

The first stop was the medical laboratory where we met up with some of MEAK’s local partners. Putting together these heart missions is no small affair. Indeed it demands a complex network of partnerships, a lot of coordination and negotiation, and more than anything the absolute dedication and perseverance of extraordinary individuals. MEAK with founders Mike and Dee Belliere bring the medical team and equipment from the UK. Tanuja Walli with her organization, the Paediatric Support Group, is the main coordinator in Mombasa.  She screens the patients, negotiates rates with the hospital, and finds local sponsors.  Nargis Kasmani, another extraordinary partner from Lions Club International, is an essential source of local funding and logistical support.  Lastly, the operations done by the UK medical team could not have gone smoothly without Dr. Moda who runs very effectively the hospital laboratory. He proudly shows us the lab and I stop in front of this blood bank.  I have never seen one! It looks just like a fridge! Albeit, it is absolutely essential to any heart operation, and even more so in Kenya where AIDS is prevalent.

On our way to see Mbura, we stop at the women’s ward, which is flanked by a long terrace with views of the ocean. That view could do wonders for any sick person!   No need for air conditioning, the ocean breeze takes care of cooling the rooms.

We get to the children’s ward and we find Mbura in his little room or cubicle with his dad.  Mbura is recovering magnificently. This certainly explains the big smile on his face whose expression is strikingly wise for a teenage boy.  He arrived in a terrible state, with a heart so large that it filled his chest cavity. He came from a village north of Mombasa near Kilifi.  Due to an undetected infection in his very young years that attacks the lining of the heart and the heart valves otherwise called endocarditis, he had developed a very serious heart condition – severe right heart failure and tricuspid regurgitation – that made his heart swell hugely. Besides stunting his growth, this condition severely impaired his quality of life leaving him most of the time breathless with no energy and plagued with fevers and sweats.  His parents had sought out help but with many other children to care for they could not afford the operation until the Mombasa based Paediatric Support Group with the help of MEAK and its medical team and star surgeon Professor Anderson and other local sponsors had made it possible. For the first time in years he was able to breathe almost normally now that his lungs could begin to spread out in his chest. His vitality was increasing markedly and while he was not bouncing around quite yet he was able to playfully kick a soccer ball that Dr. Bell had brought over for him.

A moment like this is one of the reasons for my going all the way to Kenya for my “vacations.”