THE town of Odede, population 20,000, is located on the banks of Lake Victoria in Kenya, about a two-hour drive from the city of Kisumu.
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Most people in the area are subsistence farmers and live in extreme poverty on less than $2.50 per day, with limited access to basic infrastructure and services, such as healthcare and education.
The number of people living with HIV is high and life expectancy is low, sitting at about 53 years old.
It’s a far cry from the relative prosperity of Bendigo, where four nurses are preparing to embark on a life-changing journey to the impoverished town next month.
Danielle Pollock, 28, Maddy Sammons, 25, Bronte Castle, 28, and Elise Hore, 28, have volunteered to donate their money, time and skills towards improving healthcare in Odede and the surrounding area.
They are taking part in a month-long program run by World Youth International, an Australian not-for-profit organisation which operates community development programs in Kenya and Nepal.
When WYI arrived in Odede in 2008, 37 per cent of people had HIV and one in four mothers died in childbirth.
The town had no infrastructure beyond a rundown primary school and a little produce shack.
Before the organisation opened the Mama Ann’s Odede Health Centre in 2013, the nearest hospital was a two-hour drive away – a distance many people simply could not afford to travel.
Women were giving birth in their homes without the assistance of health professionals, often leading to serious and sometimes fatal complications.
The hospital, one of 40 WYI projects in the town, is staffed by Kenyan health professionals and supported by the nurses undertaking the volunteer program.
It will be Ms Pollock’s second time on the program and this year she has stepped up to the role of team leader, guiding a group of 10 nurses.
During their month-long stay in Kenya, the women will be working in the hospital and will also deliver medical camps, which will see them travel to even more remote communities to provide healthcare, treating hundreds of patients within one day.
“We set the whole thing up and then we just treat whatever comes in,” Ms Pollock said.
“We’ve only got basic supplies but people who don’t otherwise access the medical help are able to get treated, and then they’re followed up afterwards to make sure they’re getting the care they need.”
Under the program they will also provide healthcare to young people in a juvenile detention facility in Kisumu, and provide free HIV screening and malaria tests.
Education is another cornerstone of the program.
The nurses will share their knowledge with local healthcare workers and will deliver health education to people in the community, including school children.
They will also choose their own placements, giving them the opportunity to use their specific expertise to deliver services; as midwives, Ms Castle and Ms Hore hope to work with mothers and babies in the hospital’s birth clinic.
The prospect of working with far fewer resources and among people living such drastically different lives to their typical patients in Bendigo is something the nurses are prepared for, although they acknowledge it will be a challenge.
Ms Pollock said the contrast between the healthcare available to people in Australia and in Kenya was confronting.
She recounted an incident that happened during her time in Kenya last year, when a man came in with a head injury suffered in an assault.
His family scratched together the money for one CT scan, but when the man returned with another injury a few days later, the hospital staff had to decide what was to be done, as a CT scan was a massive expense for the family.
The family managed to find the money to pay for it, but what would have been routine treatment here almost proved to be out of reach for that man.
“I think that was just amazing to me, that we’re just so lucky and we take so much for granted,” Ms Pollock said.
This was a really good opportunity for me to get out there, in a field that I love, nursing and midwifery, and contribute to the global community.
- Bronte Castle, midwife
The nurses’ passion and excitement at the prospect of using their skills to help improve healthcare in the area is plain to see.
“My motivation came from a very early age, as a child always wanting to be a part of something and help those less fortunate than I, so this was a really good opportunity for me to get out there, in a field that I love, nursing and midwifery, and contribute to the global community,” Ms Castle said.
Ms Hore said she had travelled extensively and wanted to give something back, using her expertise.
“I’m really passionate about mids (midwifery) and helping out mums and bubs, and giving them as much care as I can,” Ms Hore said.
The nurses felt the benefits of undertaking the experience would be a two-way street.
Ms Sammons said she believed her time in Odede would not only help the community, but would also be personally rewarding.
“It will be a great nursing experience as well,” Ms Sammons said.
It was a sentiment echoed by Ms Pollock.
“I think myself, and I think most of the members that were in my group last year, we came back feeling like we’d gained so much more than we’d left behind,” she said.
“Because it is an amazing experience, it just changes the way you see everything.”
About World Youth International
World Youth International was founded by 21-year-old Robert Hoey in 1988 after he worked in Russia with youths affected by the Chernobyl disaster.
After Robert died at just 28 years old, his family took on management of the small organisation and continue running it today.
The organisation has a “hand up” rather than a “hand out” approach, aiming to make the communities in which it works sustainable and self-reliant.
Manager Terry Hoey, Robert’s brother, said the organisation aimed to give its volunteers a diverse range of opportunities in which they could exercise their individual skills and expertise.
He said the organisation also had an “impeccable” safety and security record in its volunteer programs.