OUR INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT US

Chad Hoffman from Christian Mission Aid

Today we had an unexpected, very welcome visitor, Chad Hoffman, regional director from Christian Mission Aid. Bram has been in contact with him for some months now, having recognised that we share the same commitment to improve the lives of our poorest and most vulnerable communities. http://www.cmaid.org/

Christian Mission Aid achieves its mission by training community leaders and by supporting them to work within their own local communities. So Chad was particularly interested to hear about our Community Outreach Team which has huge potential to develop its services if given the necessary training and resources. Chad was keen to find out about the work we already do, raising awareness about our hospital based services and organising medical camps on a variety of health issues.

Bram showed Chad round Arrow Web Hospital while they discussed how we could work together in the future. Chad has invited us to submit a workplan outlining how we could develop our outreach programs, particularly counselling and youth programs, with his organisation's support.

This is of course a tremendous opportunity for us, as our work in the community, unlike some our hospital based services, receives no support from the government.

Chad pauses to speak to a mother with her child who is receiving treatment

Chad was very interested to hear about our laboratory

Only a few days to go for Sebastian

We are really grateful to volunteer medical student Sebastian Kadex who has been working with us for six weeks now. He has been a great help to our medical staff and we do hope he has enjoyed his stay with us. He returns home to Germany on Friday and we will certainly miss him.

Sebastian working with Dr Ishmael at one of our busy baby clinics

Next month we look forward to welcoming Rosie Jeffries, from France (originally from the UK) and Kelly Potter from the US.

Improving the volunteer's experience

We have recently introduced a volunteer feedback questionnaire so that we can continually try to improve the volunteers' experience with us. James and his medical student friends who worked with us in July, suggested to us that it would be helpful if we were able to provide volunteers with information about the likely medical conditions, and the treatments available, before they arrived to work with us. So one of our great friends Dr John Gilbert from the UK is preparing a handbook for future medical student and nursing volunteers. We are very grateful to John, who you may remember volunteered with us about two years ago for six weeks, while still a medical student.

A BUSY WEEK

THREE SPECIAL VISITORS TO ARROW WEB HOSPITAL

What a day! On Friday Bram welcomed three international visitors from different organisations to Arrow Web Hospital.

Paul from Tour d'Afrique, Toronto Canada

As you know, Paul McManus from Tour d'Afrique had hoped to be able to visit us this week, after he and his colleagues had given us the very generous gift of twenty five bikes, at a local ceremony in Nairobi on Sunday.

Paul was very keen to see for himself the difference these bikes make to the work of our Community Outreach Team members, who rely on them to reach even further into the slums. One of the main roles of our Community Outreach Team is to let people know about the services we offer at the hospital, particularly to encourage expectant mothers to come to the antenatal clinics regularly, have their babies delivered here and then bring their babies to our immunisation clinics. http://www.tourdafrique.com/

John from COCO, Newcastle UK

John, a new member of COCO's team based in Newcastle in the UK visited us too, for the first time. You may remember that Lucy now a director at COCO, and her colleague Kat came to see us last May. As a result, COCO decided to support some of our work with children. COCO has also already pledged over £3000 or 400,000 Ksh to help transport the container of essential medical equipment and suppplies from the UK to Mombasa.

John was particularly interested to hear about our Comprehensive Care Project, targeted at some of our poorest children and orphans. This project ensures there is enough annual funding for the treatment of these children at Arrow Web Hospital, and for the childhood immunisations they need. This year we aim to double the number of children we help in this way to two hundred. These children are the most vulnerable in our community to diseases and illness, many of which are life threatening.

We also discussed with John our plans to set up a system of solar panels, which would give us a continuous electricity supply. At the moment we have great problems when the supply breaks down and equipment fails us. http://www.coco.org.uk/

Jacq from Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership, Moray UK

Friday was Jacq's first opportunity to see Arrow Web Hospital for herself, having arrived from the UK on Thursday night. Of course she had heard all about us from her colleagues Jamie and Liz from NHS Grampian, who visited us last September. She brought with her a laptop, camera and video camera which had been donated by some of our friends in the UK. She also brought a huge bag of essential medical supplies which Dr Ishmael Onyango, our senior doctor was really pleased with.

Jacq is a self funding volunteer who will be working with us for two weeks. She will be looking at ways of recording all our activity electronically and helping Bram set up electronic systems to make managing our finances easier and more efficient. She hopes to go out into the community with Rachel our Community Outreach Team leader, to find out more about the team's work. This will help with fundraising and in planning for the future. MHSCP link: http://tinyurl.com/4nfnotm

We look forward to hearing more about Jacq's visit and hopefully there will be plenty photos Bram!

Paul, John and Jacq outside Arrow Web Hospital

We are always so pleased to welcome visitors to Arrow Web Hospital and to know that friends all over the world support us. If you would like to hear more about the work we do or would like to arrange a visit, please contact us at http://www.arrowkenya.org/

GENEROSITY FROM INTERNATIONAL DONORS

A BIG THANK YOU TO TOUR D'AFRIQUE

Another year has passed and again we must thank Tour d'Afrique for their great generosity in donating twenty five new bikes for our Community Outreach Team. At a well attended celebration yesterday, the bikes were handed over to us as the riders make their way on the four month long cycle ride from Cairo to Cape Town.

These bikes are so essential to the services we provide in the community, allowing our community support workers to reach a much wider area and of course much more quickly.

The Tour d'Afrique tents

Organising the seating for the speeches

Job our assistant board secretary says thank you

Bram looks at the bikes with the guys from Tour d'Afrique

"What great bikes"

A final thank you and "safe journey" to South Africa from Bram

Many thanks to Mrs Rono for organising the event

More about Tour d'Afrique and the Tour d'Afrique Foundation

Tour d'Afrique is a company based in Toronto which organises cycle tours and races, all over the world. ( http://www.tourdafrique.com/ ) It is famous for its annual tour from Cairo to Cape Town and it is on this long journey that its cyclists stop to hand over bikes to Arrow Kenya. You can read about all their amazing adventures on the blog on their website.

The Tour d'Afrique Foundation is a key part of the company vision and was set up at the same time as the company. The Foundation's mission is :

"To give something back to the people and communities that we pass through on our cycling tours" and

"To raise consciousness about bicycles as an alternative, and in many ways better and more beneficial means of transport"

One of the ways the Foundation achieves its objectives is by donating bikes to individuals and organisations in Africa.

Children from the local orphanage say "Thank you Tour d'Afrique for our bikes too - we hope to see you next year and wish you a safe journey to Cape Town"

We are really pleased that Paul McManus from Tour d'Afrique is finding time to visit us at Arrow Web Hospital. Bram will be able to show him around and tell him more about how the bikes really make a difference to the work of our Community Outreach Team.

LOOKING BACK AT OUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2010

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE !

As we look back at 2010 at so many successes (as well as a few disappointments), we realise that we could not have achieved so much without the dedication and commitment of our Board and staff as well as the support, generosity and advice from all our many friends, volunteers and partners at home and abroad.

2010 has been a year for building foundations for the future, strengthening existing partnerships and developing new ones; to enable us to improve the quality and scope of the services we provide to more patients and communities in the Nairobi slums.

Arrow Kenya, with its Arrow Web Hospital and Community Outreach Team continues to go from strength to strength and this is most clearly demonstrated by the increasing numbers of babies, children and adults we have treated and cared for over the years. We increased our total annual numbers by over 25% this year and since 2005 we have provided health education, treatment and care to over 76,000.

Link to activity data and our achievements in 2010

One of our nurses caring for one of the babies born at the end of 2010

Healthy and contented

One of our doctors with a proud new mother

Another very busy immunisation clinic at Arrow Web Hospital

Women and children queuing outside the hospital

Volunteers from Australia

At the end of 2010 we were so pleased to welcome two volunteers from Australia - James, a medical student and Dominique a nurse. This was arranged through a contact of our great friend and supporter Alison Lowndes whose innovative UK charity AVIF (http://www.avif.org.uk/), which assists online and onsite volunteering, is now working with projects in Nepal, Tibet and the Amazon as well as Kenya.

James, a medical student from Australia one of the last volunteers of 2010

The container of medical equipment

Many of you have been eagerly awaiting news of the container of recycled medical equipment which has been accessed for us by Aid to Hospitals Worldwide (A2HW) - a UK charity. We had all hoped that once the necessary Tax Exemption Certificate was provided by the Kenyan Revenue Authority, the shipment would leave the UK in November, arriving at Arrow Web Hospital by the end of 2010. Unfortunately new regulations require approval by the Minister of Health who has to personally sign a Memorandum of Understanding with us. So Bram has been very busy getting this organised. The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry has been very helpful and having heard about all the work done at the hospital and in the community, has said she would like to visit us.

Jackie, our contact at A2HW has been really patient, having to cope with the delays which have been outside our control. As A2HW can only book one shipment per week, we will now have to wait until the beginning of May before our equipment can be sent to Mombasa and then on to us in Nairobi. If there are any cancellations A2HW will be able to ship the container sooner.

So, thank you once again to everyone who has supported us with this project which will bring urgently needed medical equipment and supplies worth over £58,000 or 6,000,000 Ksh to Arrow Web Hospital.

Developments for 2011

We are now finalising our plans for 2011, with a lot of hard work ahead of us and many exciting opportunities. We will post them on the website and look forward to hearing from anyone who feels they can help us meet our objectives. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like more information about the services we provide.

WORLD AIDS DAY - DECEMBER 1st 2010

Started on December 1st 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2010 is "Universal Access and Human Rights".

World AIDS Day is also an opportunity for us to remember people we have known who have died of AIDS.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.3 million people living with HIV including 2.5 million children. During 2009 2.6 million people became infected with the virus and an estimated 1.8 million died of AIDS.

In Kenya 1.5 million people out of a population of over 39 million are living with HIV/AIDS; around 1.2 million children have been orphaned by AIDS; and in 2009 around 80,000 people died of an AIDS related illness.

For more information about HIV/AIDS in Kenya : http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-kenya.htm

Arrow Web Hospital and HIV/AIDS

The staff at Arrow Web Hospital and the Community Outreach Team are making a real contribution to the prevention of the spread of HIV in the Embakasi District of Nairobi.

We offer confidential counselling to people of all ages before and after HIV testing at Arrow Web Hospital. If a patient tests HIV positive we then refer them for Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) from a local NGO.

Our Community Outreach Team raises awareness about HIV transmission and the importance of using condoms, with individuals and groups in the community, encouraging people to go to Arrow Web Hospital for testing if they have been at risk.

Patients who become ill with AIDS related illness are given "first aid" treatment at Arrow Web Hospital and then referred to Kenyatta National Hospital for specialist treatment. We help many patients by providing transport to take them there, as it is 34 kms away.

Our main contribution to the reduction of the spread of HIV is PMTCT or the prevention of mother to child transmission. An HIV infected mother can pass on HIV to her baby during pregnancy, labour and delivery or through breastfeeding. Without treatment up to 30% of babies born to HIV positive mothers will be infected during pregnancy and delivery and up to 20% will become infected through breastfeeding.

The rates of transmision from mother to baby can be greatly reduced if they are given the appropriate ART as soon as possible. It is therefore really important that we encourage pregnant women to find out their HIV status so that we can give them counselling, start their treatment and encourage then to come to Arrow Web Hospital for the delivery. Many women are reluctant to find out their HIV status and very afraid of their husband's reaction when they find out they are HIV positive. So we also offer HIV positive women support after their baby is born.

Last year we provided ante natal care for over 1400 women and over 1300 women came to Arrow Web Hospital to deliver their babies.

For information about how HIV is transmitted:http://www.avert.org/can-you-get-hiv-aids.htm

Here is a link to three posters in different languages: World AIDS Day Posters 2010

Avert World AIDS Day 2010 Video:

Open Clinic for Baby Immunisations

Every Saturday, mothers whose babies were delivered at Arrow Web Hospital are invited to bring their babies back to see us for their immunisations.

Arrow Web Hospital also provides extra open clinics for women who chose to have their babies at home. Our Community Outreach Team works with local communities to raise awareness about many health issues and they explain the importance of protecting babies against many illnesses which can be disabling or even fatal. In the first year of life we offer immunisation against illnesses such as diptheria, polio, tetanus, measles and tuberculosis. We also give the babies a much needed vitamin boost.

At last week's busy open clinic we immunised 187 babies. All immunisations are carefully recorded and numbers are submitted to the District Health Authority on a monthly basis.

"Next please"

"I've brought my baby's record card along"

" Watching carefully before it's our turn"

"Good, not long to wait now"