CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

We arrived in Nairobi the day after Barack Obama had been elected US president, and in view of his Kenyan roots, the government had declared it a national holiday.  As a consequence, our planned shopping trip to buy equipment and supplies for the clinic had to be curtailed as only a handful of shops were open.  We made time to visit a supermarket to buy enough food and water for the week ahead in order to ensure that, due to the poor food preparation facilities, we did not become ill and thus a burden to the people we were on our way to help.

Once our shopping spree was complete, we were collected by David, the driver from the clinic, and along with Paul, the clinic manager, we set off on the five hour journey to Gai.  The first challenge was to negotiate the rush-hour traffic in a city which seemingly has no road signs, lane markings or highway code.  The next 100 miles of our journey was along the main road from Nairobi heading East towards Garissa, which felt like one continuous pot-hole.  At Mwingi, the tarmac ended and the final 40 miles were on mud tracks and across riverbeds through the bush to our destination, Gai.

On arrival, we unpacked all the supplies we had brought with us, including the 850 pairs of spectacles, a similar number of toothbrushes and medical supplies including medication and diagnostic instruments.  There were also piles of children's clothes donated by the pupils of Chard School and over 60 football shirts given by Highbury Youth FC in Warminster.

After our first night under the mosquito nets, we set about our respective tasks with Jeremy assessing the work required on the rather tired Toyota Landcruiser that had brought us up from Nairobi.  James attended to patients arriving at the clinic with general medical problems and David got to work extracting people's painful teeth.  By the time I started work at 9am, I had a line of 20 people waiting to see me, something which seemed only to grow in size throughout the day.  I was assisted by Dorcas, a nurse at the clinic, who was both my translator, and somebody I was taking time to teach the fundaments of eye testing in order that she may continue the work in my absence.  I had begun to teach her last year and I was pleased to see that she had actively been putting her skills to work since I last saw her.

For me, this pattern was repeated every day we were at the clinic, however the other three members of the team had the opportunity to venture out and see some of the other projects in the area that are either currently funded or are hoping to be funded by the charity.  It was an opportunity to distribute clothing to the most needy of families in the area, and visit schools and nurseries who were given educational and sports equipment.  On our last day in the area, we took a three-hour journey to Ishiara, a remote town in a neighbouring tribal area, in order to offer our eye testing and medical services.

I did manage one day away from eye testing and that was spent driving to Nairobi again to visit Kikuyu hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the city, situated to the North in the Kikuyu tribal area.  The aim of the visit was to establish a link between Gai clinic and the eye department in order to streamline the process of referral of patients requiring eye operations.  Whilst at the hospital, it was an opportunity to see the eye clinic and wards and meet the surgeon who would be performing cataract and other operations.  In addition, I wanted to arrange for Dorcas to attend a formal course in ophthalmology in order to increase her skills well beyond what I am able to teach her.  The course she was booked to attend last year had to be cancelled as the hospital is in the centre of the area that was affected by fighting between the neighbouring Kikuyu and Luo tribes following the contested presidential elections last December.

By the end of the week, with some help from the rest of the team, more than 200 people had had their eyes tested with the majority leaving with spectacles of some description.  There was a significant number of cases of eye disease that required further treatment with more than 20 people with such poor vision that they were unable to see even the largest letter on the eye chart.  The most common cause of sight loss was cataract, which requires a simple operation, and following our visit to Kikuyu hospital, it was possible to refer many of these people for surgery the following week.  Another problem that seemed more prevalent on this occasion was Xerophthalmia, a chronic dryness of the eyes of young children suffering with malnourishment, which if found early, can be easily treated with vitamin supplements.  

The problem with malnourishment is likely to become a greater issue over the next year as the Akamba region has experienced its lowest amount of rainfall in many years.  The lack of mains water means that the local people rely on rivers and wells to collect their water, many of which are virtually dry, meaning people are having to travel further or use less-hygienic sources.  Whilst we were there, it was evident that crops were not growing, and the UN were already beginning to distribute grain in order to stave off what seems to be an inevitable famine next year.  The fact that people in the Akamba region have little or no work, and thus no income, means that they are unable to support themselves in such difficult times and become reliant on aid for survival.

Overall, I felt the trip had been successful and I was pleased to have been able to provide spectacles or offer referrals for eye operations where necessary.  It is of course sad to see cases of sight loss or trauma that were beyond help as treatment was not available any earlier.  To have the link with Kikuyu hospital has already proved extremely beneficial and as a result of our meeting, ten people underwent treatment for a number of eye diseases on 24^th November, which was made possible thanks to the financial support of people in Somerset. 

I am extremely grateful to everybody who offered support for my journey, whether by donating unwanted spectacles or giving money to pay for operations.  There are dozens children who benefitted from the clothes donated by Chard School and several schools in the region now have sports kit thanks to Highbury Youth FC in Warminster.  I received donations of reading glasses from Robin Bell at Readyspex, and Phil Wilson, a former dispensing optician in Street, gave up several hours of his time analysing the spectacles.

I look forward to my next trip, most probably in 2010 as my wife is expecting our second child next Spring, and I hope to be able to improve the eye testing equipment at the clinic in my coming visits.  Even if I do not go myself, it will still be possible to send spectacles out to Gai, therefore I am happy to receive any unwanted glasses in either of my practices, namely Robert Frith Optometrists in the Quedam Centre, Yeovil, or 36 Fore Street, Chard.  Monetary donations are also very gratefully received, and can be made to either of the above addresses, or via my online donation page using the LINK on the right. A cataract operation costs just £50 and has the potential to change someone's life by restoring their sight, and there will be a need for such treatment for many years to come.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this and there is plenty more information available about the work of the Akamba Aid Fund at www.akambaaidfund.org .

Simon Frackiewicz

Optometrist

0796 809 6484