I am a member of the Co-operation for Health and Education Programmes (CHEPs) which is an organisation dedicated to the welfare of the unfortunate. Its activities range from health needs and providing educational scholarships to development projects. CHEPs main focus has been eye camps which entail visual acuity tests and free distribution of spectacles. My contribution lies in having learnt these activities. Our team has also helped uplift those starved from the famine that has struck Kenya for the past few years, distributing food to various villages in the Northeastern and Coastal provinces. I travelled to these famine-struck areas with the CHEPs team and it has been an unfeigned eye-opener each time I observe the situation of the people, and it humbles me when I compare it to the opportunities I enjoy. I am a proud member of this team and I hope to continue being involved with similar organisations or leading one myself.
Initially, I took part in these trips for the purpose of filling up my CAS hours and to accompany my father. Over time, I gained interest in helping people and my priorities were set right. My objectives were not only to fill up my Service and Action part of my IB requirements, but to actually go out and help people who were less fortunate than myself. The trips entailed a great deal of planning on my father's part and I watched and learnt as he did it. I also helped him with some of the work. These skills would eventually help me later on when I pursue this task.After numerous trips, I have gained a ton of information and skills including taking the Visual Acquity test (VA), taking blood pressure, checking blood sugar level and organising all the documents of those we help.
I have also realised the living standards of those out there to the extent that they cannot afford even one pair of glasses or a year's school fees which is less than Ksh 10,000. Furthermore, I appreciate more of what I have. This organisation has opened up my mind, outside of my comfort zone to realise the true situation of Kenyans and also of those abroad.
Initially, the team started travelling to villages near Nakuru town. The areas were extremely impoverished and lived in dire situations. They were in need of serious help. In tandem with the poverty, eye problems and diseases were also eminent which is where our team came in. These trips usually occurred over the course of a weekend and we travelled to one village each time. We usually reach there the night before so that we can start early the next morning in order to the most number of patients. Tests were carried out accordingly and spectacles were handed out. If the person had a serious problem and needed surgery, the doctors would refer them to surgeons in Nairobi and we would pay for the costs.
I felt a sense of contentedness after every trip we pursued. Seeing the smile on the people's faces made me feel that I made a difference. Although it was a collaborative effort, we had done what we went to do. These trips created more awareness amongst donors for our group and were able to do more of this kind of work.
Furthermore, my father has incredible leadership skills and timeliness which I have learnt a lot from. Organisation is key for this work and without it, we would not have reached this far. His talent to overcome difficulties without taking too much effort is impressive. Once we did not have the means to get to where we wanted and oddly enough, we used the public transport with all our equipment, to get there. It saved us money as well as time. I can use these skills for time-management as well as for better organisation for my IB diploma. The leadership skills I can utilise for future endaveours.
Another more recent programmes was an eye camp held in Lamu. We saw about 400 eye patients and I learnt something new. I learnt how to measure the blood pressure and sugar level of those patients as these are factors that affect eye health. It was an awe-inspiring trip.
Nakuru Eye camp #1
Alphego, Rift valley, Kenya
Date: 2nd May 2011
This was the first eye camp I went to since the beginning of the CAS programme. My father had gathered a group of volunteers, mainly friends with whom we travelled to the village of Alphego. This was to be an exciting 2 day excursion as I was with my good friends and therefore it would be easier to work with them.When the CHEP's team arrived at the village, I was surprised as to where and with what we had to work. It was a small hut and we had to see over 300 patients. I observed how my father worked with what he had and it was a successful operation. I was outside the hut, known as a 'kibanda' in Kiswahili taking the visual acquity test along with one of my friends of the 350 eye patients. My father was roaming in and out making random checks of the patients general health and seeing if they had any other problem other than that of the eyes. Inside the hut, there were doctors who gave glasses or medicine to the patients if they needed it or referred them for operation.
This trip was a big eye-opener for me as well as all of my friends for whom it was also the first time. The experience of helping others and giving them a better life just by giving them simple medicine or spectacles allowed me to realise the importance of our eyes and to be content with what we have. It also gave me inspiration to continue this kind of work later on.
Nakuru Eye camp #2
Mogotio, Rift Valley, Kenya
Date: April 2011
This eye camp was also held in two of the villages in Nakuru, about an hour away from the main town. We reached Nakuru in the evening the day before the eye camp. We stayed at a school and early the next morning, we travelled to the village of Mogotio. We set up our equipment as we were watched by the eager crowd of the local people who were waiting for their eyes to be checked. It only showed how desperate they were out of poverty and how much they were in need of our help. This encouraged me to work harder so that they get the best out of us. Sight is very important and this village had a severe problem because of the lack of it. There were many cases of trachoma and cataract which are bad eye infection that could make a person blind. With our help, many of these patients were able to rid themselves of this infection.After every patient left, I could see a difference in their mood and face expressions. They had smiles on their faces as they waved goodbye. Their happiness was my happiness because I knew that I had changed someone’s life. There were 300 more of these.
Nakuru Eye camp
Ghadeer Clinic, Nakuru, Kenya
Date: 18th July 2011
This was our third eye camp and it was also held in the town of Nakuru, about 2 hours away from Nairobi. However, this time the eye camp was carried out in the main town at the local school. The space was large so we had enough space to treat a turnout of about 500 people. They came from the town and some also travelled from villages out of the main town after they heard of the eye camp we were organising. The lessons learnt were the same because the sole objective of helping a people was also the same. However, I gained more leadership and organisational skills as this eye camp was on a larger scale than the previous ones my father had organised. Handling all those people where I carried out the visual acquity test was a difficult task as everybody was eager to before the other. I managed at the end and everybody got what they wanted and was happy.
Lamu Eye camp
Date: 25th – 26th December 2011
Most of the people of Nakuru already had their eyes checked and my father was in communication with all of them so he found another place to do his charity work. His colleagues in Lamu had mentioned to him that the locals had many problems that was related to the eyes. For this reason, he decided to expand his scope of work and on 17th June we travelled to Lamu. We first travelled to Mombasa by bus which took about 9 hours and from there we took another bus to Lamu, which took another 5 hours. We reached Lamu at about 11.30 and we went straight to the hotel which we got complimentary by the owner as our purpose for coming was to help the people. Moreover, it was one of the owners of the “Sunsail hotel” that invited us to come.
We started early the next morning as usual in a small building and the line of people ran till outside. Lamu buildings are known to be small so we had to do with what we had. I started off doing my normal job, the visual acquity test for half the day. We had an hour lunch break at about 1 and resumed our work at 2 o’clock. This time I had to check the blood pressure and sugar level of the more serious patients as this affects the sight. It was interesting because it did not only involve taking a few drops of blood, some patients were terrified when they the needle in my hand so I first had to calm them down and tell them that it would not hurt at all. I managed to do this and it was even easier since I know Kiswahili so it was easy to communicate.
I think that travelling for a total of 28 hours both ways was worth it because the lessons I learnt and what I observed was unparalleled. There are no cars in Lamu because of the density of the buildings so people travel on donkeys, bicycles or they just walk. It is a generally poor area and educational standards are not very high. Over the course of the eye camp, a few students approached my father as they were in need of school fees. This was also part of my father’s line of work so to this date, he still helps them to get a decent education. My father believes that education is essential and it does not matter whether you get a good job or not, it develops a person who is then able to think more open-mindedly. I also learnt this lesson during this trip which also inspired me to do more for my fellow human beings.
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