Sue Pharney's trip to Kenya

Thank you to One Nurse At A Time, and Barcos' Nightingales,  for helping support me on my medical mission to Kenya. Below is a brief account of my trip, and a few photos.

The team from Project Helping Hands, twenty six of us, all met together and assembled in Nairobi Kenya. We than drove seven hours to Oyugis where we hold medical clinics for the next 8 days. Oyugis is one of the areas in Kenya that has been hit the hardest by HIV and thus has hundreds of orphaned children and thousands of people in need of medical assistance. Everyday the team would walk three miles through the country side to get to the medical clinic site and would be greeted by a couple hundred people waiting in line to be seen. In total the team saw over two thousand people on this medical mission.

The team was able to help patients get HIV and TB testing and treat several for malaria and dengue fever. My personal nursing knowledge was greatly enhanced on this trip. I was able to help treat and diagnosis diseases I had learned about in nursing school but never seen. We also tried to provide as much health education as possible and make sure the medical treatments we were prescribing were sustainable after we left Kenya. I personally was reminded of the importance of health education and preventive care. One of the saddest cases I saw was a seven month baby seen for severe malnutrition and acute diarrhea. The baby weighed less than five kilograms and was severely dehydrated and lethargic. We paid for the baby to be admitted at the local hospital where she was treated for rota virus. When we left the baby was still hospitalized and was being tested for HIV as the mother was HIV positive and had breast fed the baby. Preventative care in the form of immunizations and nutrition good have prevented this from happening. Education on oral rehydration with diarrhea and not breast feeding when HIV positive could have also prevented the baby from becoming so sick. This case showed me how blessed we are in the states with our medical system even at a time when our medical system is under much scrutiny.

One of my favorite memories of my time in Kenya was our daily walk home. Everyday

around five o'clock after clinic was finished we would walk the three miles back to our hotel. Without fail we would be greeted by a hundred "jambo" and smiling faces and cheering children. It was not uncommon for little kids to come running up to us grab our hands and walk us home. I was touched by the Kenyan spirit and by the love and appreciation they had for us. I was over whelmed by the thanks they gave and the gratitude they had for a simple toothbrush or even just holding the hand of a "mzungu".

Thank you again to everyone who helped support me and make my medical mission to Kenya possible.

Sincerely,

Susie Pharney 

Barco's Nightingale Scholarship Winner Jo Birdsong

Barco's Nightingale's scholarship winner Jo Birdsong is a registered nurse from the west coast. She was a lucky winner of our Nightingale's scholarship and is leaving to Haiti on a mission trip with the organization Project Helping Hands.

Jo has been in nursing for 30 + years and has enjoyed every bit of it and when she's not working, she has two sons and three grandchild who keep her busy! Jo is employed by Providence Little Company of Mary of Torrance, CA. There is spent 9 years working in their emergency department and was recently promoted to a Pre-Hospital Care Coordinator (if you are curious, a Pre-Hospital Care Coordinator is involved in all radio transmissions from the hospital to the paramedics out on the 9-1-1 calls. It's basically a liaison between paramedics, EMT's, fire departments, ER Radio Nurses and LA County EMS Agency).  Jo loves her job and her work!

Jo is not a new face to humanitarian mission trips. She has some experience under her belt and has participated in a total of 4 trips, all of which were to Haiti. The organization Jo is going with sends teams of volunteers to provide medical care and health education for people in all developing nations. The teams participate in treating and educating people in cities and towns, focusing on educating the local health care providers. This way their goal of seeing the health care providers become self sufficient is a reality.

If you are wondering how you can volunteer with Project Helping Hands please click here. There is a ton of info on their website and even some fascinating videos!

Jo Birdsong will be in Haiti February 3rd 2013 with Project Helping hands. Her mission was made possible by the scholarship she received from One Nurse At A Time and the generous support of Barco's Nightingales Foundation.

More will posted on her return!

Thanks-

ONAAT