The site of our new clinic project, Agaro Bushi, is a small village, hidden away in the highlands of Kaffa. It is truly an impressive piece of countryside, the birth place of coffee, green and temperate all year-round. We serve a rural population, many of whom grow encet and coffee in the forests around us or work bucolic farmland with plows pulled by oxen. In some ways, the source of this beauty, Agaro Bushi’s isolation in the mountains, is also the source of many of the challenges we face.

It’s paradoxical, that such a verdant area is home to such poverty, but isolation and a lack of basic infrastructure have conspired against the population.

In the last few months we’ve made tremendous progress, increasing our patient flow by almost ten times what it had been in the fall. This reflects the presence of more medications in the clinic and the work we’ve done to increase the level of our service. We are building a program now that seeks to empower our local staff and work with the community to find sustainable solutions to the public health challenges that face Agaro Bushi.

Jared Lollar is from Spokane, Washington. Prior to volunteering with Lalmba, Jared spent 3 years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia. He has a special relationship with the people of Ethiopia and is passionate about building sustainable programs that bring about empowerment. He is the perfect person to help Lalmba build a program from the ground up, and we are grateful to work with him.

Of course, when you are building a new project, it doesn’t mean your ongoing projects can be neglected. We continue to use revenue to run the life-saving programs we always have. We are hopeful that with your charity this quarter, we can close the gap in our operational budget before the end of our fiscal year on March 31.

As John Bunyan said, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”  We know how well you, our supporters, understand that philosophy, and we thank you!

My first day in Kenya was like walking into a National Geographic Documentary.  A driver was waiting for me outside the airport with a handwritten sign with my name incorrectly spelled, so I found that funny. The adventure had just begun!

I couldn’t stop marveling at the brightly dressed women, the lean graceful men, the purple-blossomed jacaranda trees and the buses belching black smoke. By the end of a couple days I knew how to eat the staple food, a maize flour called ugali, cooked with water until it is thick enough to be eaten with the fingers.  I knew to accept it from even the poorest of women, because they need to feel they have something to offer in exchange for the health services that I bring for them.

I also knew that buying food for a starving woman may save her life that day, but it does not solve her problems in the long run.  I knew that, despite the disease and theft and uncertainty, despite the absurdity of leaving my comfortable life in Bogota behind, my place was here.  I knew I was going to help to heal wounds, to treat malaria, to treat patients with HIV/AIDS, to treat malnourished children … but most importantly, I knew I was going to heal and relieve disconsolate souls, and because of that, I knew I was going to stay.

Once in Matoso Village, my job started with learning, not teaching. I learned about the area, the Luo people, and most importantly, about the staff who work at our clinic.  I learned from them so I can in turn teach and give training.  Since I have surgery training, I started to perform some minor surgeries, from draining abscesses and debriding wounds to removing cysts and lipomas.

Lalmba’s satellite clinic, the Ochuna Dispensary, is situated very near to the Kenya-Tanzania border.  An estimated 80-90% of patients come from Tanzania.   Most of the patients at Ochuna Dispensary are children, and these clients tend to be much poorer than those surrounding our main clinic in Matoso.

Every day in my new Kenyan life there is a new challenge to achieve, and a dream to follow.

Lalmba has 3 other new heroes to welcome to our family, professionals from 3 different continents, who are giving a year of their lives to expand our programs in East Africa.

Dr. Eliezer Rodriquezfrom Venezuela is working in Kenyaas medical director of the Matoso Clinic and the Ochuna Dispensary.

In Ethiopia, we are blessed to have Jukka Lehtinen, from Finland, to serve as construction director, building the new Agaro Bushi Medium Clinic. We’ll keep you posted on his progress over the next year.

We are also very lucky to have Jared Lollarfrom Spokane, WA.  Jared just completed a 3-year stint with the Peace Corps in southwestern Ethiopia, the same region where we run our programs. He will serve as managing director in Agaro Bushi, bringing a firm understanding of the language and culture, and an immense love for the country.

Thank you for your hearts for the poor.  Godspeed, gentlemen!

In the summer of 1999, I (Jeff) was managing a safari camp in the Rift Valley of Kenya. That summer I got sick and spent three days lying in bed drenched in my own sweat, barely able to walk the distance from my bed to the bathroom. Like Elijah under the broom tree, I prayed for a quick death to end the agony. But instead of an angel appearing and giving bread and water for nourishment, God sent Mrs. Roberts, my employer. I remember vividly her stunned expression when she opened the door and saw my emaciated and sickly form shivering in the equatorial heat. But unlike Elijah, I did not have to get up and walk for 40 days and nights. Instead, an 80-year-old Mrs. Roberts helped me to my feet, shouldered me to her pickup truck and drove me to the nearest clinic, an hour and a half away. There, the nurses hooked me up to IV fluids and treated the malaria that had nearly stolen my will to live. Miraculously, a few hours later, I was feeling much better!  But had it not been for Mrs. Roberts, I could have died of dehydration. Hundreds of people from the same community where I was living suffer from malaria and other illnesses on a daily basis. They don’t have a Mrs. Roberts or anyone with a vehicle to carry them. They have their feet and a long and dusty road to reach the same clinic that treated me.

To this day, I still can’t fathom how they do it. It’s impossible for me to comprehend the strength of will some people possess, and why, when I needed it most, I felt myself close to surrendering to a premature death. God had other plans for me, that is clear — which is why today I walk vigorously and believe passionately in Lalmba’s mission. In walking societies — or should I say where the poorest live — there are few other choices but to get up and walk when sickness, injury, or childbirth beckon. Many don’t make it to health facilities in time.  It is for this reason that Lalmba’s mission is to bring health care to the end of the road. This year, in honor of Lalmba’s 55^thanniversary, our team of walkers will walk from the bustling town of Chiri, where Lalmba has run the Chiri Health Center for 20 years, to the site of our soon-to-be new clinic in Agaro Bushi, an even more end-of-the-road community.

These six leaders are dedicated professionals who have devoted their lives to serving the poor and the sick of their community. We love them and know that without them, our mission would be impossible to achieve.  Please show your love for their service and sponsor one or all of them as they walk the 12 miles from the Chiri Health Center to the end of the road at the Agaro Bushi Medium Clinic, Lalmba’s newest clinic, on September 21, 2018, Lalmba’s 55^th anniversary of serving the poor in Africa. When they arrive they will spend time seeing patients, training staff on best practices, and evaluating public health issues in this very rural community.

This year we begin construction on a new clinic building, a pharmacy, laboratory, housing for Lalmba volunteers, purchasing a new ambulance, adding a photovoltaic power system, and a clean water system.  If you want to be part of this exciting new chapter for Lalmba, and join as early investors in this project, please contact us directly, or simply sponsor these walkers as encouragement for our growing mission and presence in Africa.

This past summer, Lalmba was fortunate to have two short-term volunteers visit our program in Matoso.   My friend, Dennis Debobes, called last spring expressing interest for his son, Austin, a high school sophomore, to have a meaningful experience serving the poor.   Our project director in Kenya let us know that the orphanage was desperately in need of a paint job!   So Dennis and Austin spent a few weeks working diligently to improve the children’s home, having one of those experiences that hopefully continues to resonate, shedding unexpected insights as life progresses. See below Austin’s reflections on his time in Kenya.

(All donors who have not already received one, and who donate $100 or more this month will get a copy of our 2019 Calendar!)

You probably get promotional calendars at the end of each year, but how many do you get in the summertime?   As you know, we like to be unconventional!

Lalmba would like to share with you a year in the life of Africa.  Our 2019 calendar includes evocative full color photographs from our projects (Jeff has some talent behind the lens!), and it notes the year’s holidays and events in Ethiopia and Kenya.  This will help connect you with the rural communities that you help support.   Did you know, for example, that Kenyan schoolchildren begin their school year on January 2?  You will!

These gentlemen in the photo above are government officials in the rural Ethiopian village called Agaro Bushi, where Lalmba is planning to build a new clinic. You can see that Agaro Bushi is in the pre-technology era, where paper files and handwritten posters still reign supreme.  Perhaps our Lalmba calendar will help keep them organized!   We are very excited about starting a new project in an area without any reliable modern health care, where bare feet are the norm and Land Rovers struggle to reach, and we look forward to telling you more about it very soon.

We would like to thank our dear and dedicated monthly donors by gifting you a Lalmba calendar.  You are the backbone of our work!   Look for yours in the mail soon.  If you would like to become a monthly donor and receive your “Year in the Life” calendar, you can set it up here:

In addition, to each of you who send us your generous support this month, we will send you our breathtaking calendar to connect you more closely with Africa for all of 2019!

Speaking of 2019, do you know what is happening exactly one year from now??  10Lalmba supporters will be walking with Jeff 160 miles across Kenya to raise awareness for our work.  The walkers and 20 camels will start outside Nairobi, walk 15-18 miles a day across wildlife preserves, camp among the stars in Kenya’s wilds, and end with a celebration and welcome in Matoso, Lalmba’s project along the shores of Lake Victoria.  The Lalmba staff will meet you along the dusty road on the last day, and accompany you with song and dance your last few blistered steps. Sound intriguing?  You have 365 days to get fit, gather your gear and your nerve, tell your friends about what you are doing and lace up your walking boots!  It will not disappoint.

To sign up, just click the button below to go to the application page. And then start by getting your calendar to whet your appetite for the sights and emotions of Lalmba’s Africa that await you!

The Ant Bite

By Dr. Stephanie Ball, Lalmba Kenya Medical Director 2017-2018

(www.oneyearinkenya.blog)

Ouch. An ant bite. That is what it takes to get me indoors to the keyboard to write about this week. The ant probably climbed into my pants to get out of the sun. Some would say she was smarter than me. After all, I was outside in the hot sun, in equatorial Africa, in the middle of the afternoon, doing rather than thinking.

So, what am I avoiding? The reality of Africa that I witnessed this week, I think.

The man leading the Public Heath Team asked me to accompany him on 2 home visits, to the families with a malnourished infant or young child. The idea is to visit where people live, and ask about such topics as breastfeeding, cleanliness, illness, sources of water and income, and how these affect the family.  Both families welcomed us in to their homes and made sure we all had a place to sit, even if they had to borrow chairs.  We asked questions like “Do you teach the children to wash face and hands before eating? Do you use soap? Do you boil or treat your water? Is there a latrine? Where does money come from? How many meals did the child eat yesterday? Did you feed the child breast milk or cow’s milk and/or other food?”  The houses are built with local resources: Sticks or poles in a network to make a cylinder, filled and covered with clay, and roofed with grass thatch. The first family has both a mother and father, with their 6 children. Their only source of support is farming their plot of land. The father looks very thin and ill, and he says he has tuberculosis. The mother looks healthy, and she tells us she is HIV positive, but her youngest, 6 months old, has been born negative and stayed negative while she has been breastfeeding.  We all sit on the wooden couch and chairs. The floor is dirt, packed and smooth. We can see a pair of men’s shoes, some clothing, and a tin watering can tucked up where the ceiling meets the wall. Two young boys are hiding among the maize stalks when we arrive, and they stay there during our visit. A small girl, maybe three years old, plays quietly in the shade right outside the house. They obtain water from a nearby river, and “take it like it comes.”

The next house is smaller and even poorer. It has one room, with a sheet (or what looks like a very old dust-ruffle) hung across a string as a room-divider. We are allowed to peek at the bedroom, where there is a single full-size mattress on the floor for the parents and four children. The one chair, a folding wooden one with a broken back, is given to me, and is clearly meant as the best seat in the house. The other health worker sits on a square plastic container that looks like a gas can, and the mom disappears for a minute and comes back with two plastic chairs from a neighbor. We meet just with the mother, and the malnourished child stands by her side. The baby is almost two years old, and is quite thin and quiet.  The father is away working, which he does whenever he can get a contract. She is preparing some maize from their fields, which she tends while the dad is away. Sometimes, when he comes home, they are able to go shopping to buy soap and other things they cannot grow. Both parents are HIV+ and under care. I am sitting right next to the place for the cooking fire. There is a support for a pot above the small wood fire, well protected from the wind. When asked the question about water preparation, the mother explains that she filters the pond water with a tea strainer to remove impurities.

Neither family has an outhouse or latrine, soap, or clean water. I see one small solar lantern at the first house, but no other electric device of any kind. They do not have phones or any mode of transportation other than by foot. They do have iron age tools like a heavy hoe, and a machete. We brought them only questions. Vaccinations and vitamins are given at Lalmba’s facility in Ochuna, as are once weekly cooking and nutrition lessons with a meal for each mother and child, shared around the demonstration kitchen. Sometimes, a week’s supply of supplemental food can be sent home for each child.

I am face-to-face with my inability to transform these families’ situations, and the many others all around me. My Lalmba teachers tell me that being here with people, spending my time and compassion, is my job right now. Pema Chondren advises that we must begin where we are, and that we cannot have compassion for others until we can discover that compassion for ourselves. So, I am praying for the strength to do this hard work, which at times feels like doing nothing. At other times it is an enormous burden and I run away into outdoor work and ant bites! Another wise man, Jimmy K, wrote, “Understanding comes slowly, over a period of time…” Patience and compassion—may you have all you need of both this week.

TEMBEA NA MIMI 2019

(Walk With Me)

Perhaps you’re looking for a different experience of Africa?  Consider joining my team as we walk across the great Rift Valley all the way to Lalmba’s project on Lake Victoria, Kenya.  This is no ordinary adventure; you’ll walk with me to experience the people’s plight and to help us tell the story.  You’ll walk with me to help raise money and awareness for our work. I’m looking for 10 strong walkers who want to help, traversing 160 miles, one step at a time.  Contact Jeff at lalmba@lalmba.org or 303-485-1810, if you’re interested. Or, just fill out the online application and Jeff will contact you.

Lalmba supporter and former peace corps volunteer in Ethiopia, Gloria Curtis, has fashioned 25 more exquisite Ethiopian cross necklaces for us to offer to you.  The Ethiopian cross is a unique and ancient design very different from the Latin cross, and worn by the rich and poor alike throughout Ethiopia.

Gloria learned how to make Ethiopian jewelry while living there in the 1960’s, and has graced Lalmba with her artwork.

Each necklace is unique with varied color schemes and matching earrings.

Be one of the first 25 to donate $100 or more to Lalmba, tell us you want a necklace, and we’ll send you one of Gloria’s masterpieces.  (The first 13 online donors and 12 earliest mail-in postmarks)

Donate online www.lalmba.org/donate/  or via check in the mail.

Be sure to note ’necklace’ on your donation.

Thank you again, Gloria, for these beautiful gifts to support Lalmba’s work in your beloved Ethiopia!

Baby Girls, Collard Greens and Teens

By Hillary James with photography by Michelle Anderson

I am writing from Lalmba Kenya on my annual visit to our projects.  I wish I could bring each of our supporters here to show them firsthand the beautiful simplicity of this community, and how Lalmba changes so many lives.   The night I arrived, there were 2 healthy baby girls born in our new delivery ward.  Each morning when the staff gathers in a circle to sing songs and pray, the nurse on-call reports on the events of last evening.  There seems to be a running competition between the male and female staff, for this morning when the nurse announced 2 girls were born, all the lady staff cheered!  The community is thrilled about the maternity ward.   They marvel at its cleanliness and comfort.    Though modest by US standards, the ward includes 2 private rooms with comfortable beds and mosquito nets for laboring mothers.  A few steps down the hall takes you to the well-stocked and clean delivery room. The most popular feature is the separate bathroom with modern toilet and shower for mothers to clean up after delivery.  Most women typically use a pit latrine, and don’t enjoy such a refreshing shower without taking a swim in the lake!  When I peeked in the ward the other day, I saw a new mother snuggling with her newborn in the bed under the mosquito net, helping the baby latch on for breastfeeding.  For so many Kenyan women, post-delivery usually means getting up off the delivery table and walking home.

Our volunteer Dr. Stephanie Ball noticed that many mothers who came to deliver did not even have a towel or receiving blanket in which to wrap their babies.   So she has begun sewing blankets with the help of local tailors to give women a nice cozy blanket to keep their babies warm.  We are so pleased to bring this life-saving and comforting service to the women of Matoso.

In recent years we have been talking with the Kenyan staff about the concept of sustainability.  Lalmba occupies quite a large compound here in Matoso, along the beach of Lake Victoria.  I was amazed when I arrived this week to see that the staff had taken its own initiative to plant crops in the large plot of land that was formerly open field.  The gardens are yielding an impressive bounty, providing all the vegetables needed by the 40 orphans in Lalmba’s orphan home this season.  A 10,000 square foot plot that was formerly grassland on our compound now teems with maize, cabbage, beans and other vegetables. Formerly Lalmba paid 2800 KS weekly (about $28 USD) to supply our orphans’ home with vegetables.  Now we are growing it ourselves!  The housemothers and groundsmen arrive most afternoons to pluck leaves for the orphans’ dinners, and on weekends the orphans come to harvest whatever crop has come in.  It’s our very own farm to table experience!

The evening meal being prepared at the Ongoro Children’s Home includes ugali (a maize paste) and sakuma wiki (collard greens), both grown in the Lalmba gardens.

Another focus of my trip has been to initiate a health program for adolescents.  The one demographic in Kenya for which the HIV transmission rate remains frustratingly high is among youth.  52% of all new HIV infections in Migori County in 2015 occurred among young people aged 15-24.  In an effort to impact those youth, Lalmba plans to create a gathering space in which they can socialize and learn more about HIV and adolescent health concerns in a safe, supportive environment.  A nurse will be available in a private space to meet with youth one-on-one if they wish to have a consultation, and peer volunteers will help model healthy attitudes and discussions.  Computers, books and games will offer opportunities for leisure and relaxation for youth who often feel aimless if they are out of school and jobless (jobs are scarce even for those with diplomas).   We hope this new meeting space will help influence youth to make healthy choices that preserve their generation from the crippling scourge that AIDS has been to the generations before them.

Lalmba staff in Matoso created a wish list of items they would love for the clinic.

Can you help us with funding for any of these?

As a shoestring organization, we greatly appreciate those supporters who help us meet our expenses month to month.  Would you consider making automatic monthly contributions to Lalmba? Here is a convenient way to set up automatic payments (www.coloradogives.org/lalmba/).  Thank you for considering a monthly commitment that would provide a more stable financial foundation on which Lalmba could depend.

Now, off to church!

There’s nothing like a boda-boda ride to work out those travel kinks.

Lalmba Vice President, Hillary James, and board member, Terry Robinette (seated middle position) share a boda-boda ride to church.

Our home for mothers waiting to deliver at our health center in Ethiopia is almost complete!  In an effort to reduce infant and maternal mortality, institutions in Ethiopia are constructing homes for mothers who live many hours’ walk from any health facility.  Mothers can come to stay just before their due date to ensure they will deliver safely at our health center instead of at home.  This laudable initiative is already saving the lives of mothers and babies throughout Ethiopia.