MMK makes Kenyan newspapers, TV, and more
MMK’s Healthcare Makes the News
About a week ago our clinic in Muhuru Bay made big news … literally. We were in the Kenyan national papers, radio, and television — interviewed and showcased as a model healthcare provider. The stories told how MMK had gone the extra mile to help and treat victims of the recent cholera outbreak in Nyanza Province, and how we are unmatched by any other healthcare provider in the region.
As always, MMK is shining! After the news, various people visited our clinic to see how we do what we do and to learn from us. They wanted to see what keeps us going and how we are ale to retain selfless healthcare providers. This was truly a great thing, and added a huge morale boost to our staff.
As our success continues to grow, important partnerships keep growing, too, particularly with the Kenyan government. Just this week a truck loaded with 400 treated mosquito nets and 4800 condoms arrived at the clinic. In tandem with the Kenyan Ministry of Health, a group called Population Services International drove the ten-hour distance from Nairobi for the sole purpose of providing us these unexpected donations. This is a huge value to the clinic and the people of the region.
MMK is truly putting healthcare on the map in Kenya.
MMK's Healthcare Reaches a Whole New Region in Need
Brand New Bahati/Nakuru Clinic Launches Today
Months ahead of schedule, we are thrilled to announce the soft opening of MMK Clinic #2 in the Bahati/Nakuru, Central Highlands region of Kenya.
Government officials, MMK staff and officials, and Bahati locals gathered to celebrate the arrival of reliable, affordable, and quality healthcare to people in urgent need. This means the prevention of needless deaths caused from treatable diseases such as malaria or simple diarrhea, more children making it to that critical fifth birthday, babies being immunized, and more.
Stay tuned for more updates -- and pictures -- to follow. And thank you all for your support to help make this amazing and inspirational new clinic a reality.
A Mother-and-Son Story
Saving Lives in Unexpected Ways
Twelve year old Onyango was in a terrible road accident last February. (You may have seen him in our most recent video clip.) Brought to the clinic by a good Samaritan, he stayed for weeks, unclaimed. We thought he was an orphan, and had no way of knowing where he came from. Unbeknownst to us, his mother, from a distant village, was looking everywhere for her son. Turns out, Mama Maria is not only in the business of saving lives, but also reuniting families.
New Mothers - Healthy Babies
Ending Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
MMK's Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission is doing wonders saving newborn babies from HIV. Since implementing this program a month ago, we now save infants whose mothers are HIV positive from contracting the virus. The initiative is simple yet powerful. It costs very, very little - yet offers enormous impact. It is beyond anguish to watch children born into life HIV-positive, knowing they could have been saved so easily, so cheaply. Seeing these innocent lives saved only inspires us to reach even more people.
Safe childbirth, vaccinations, reproductive health, and family planning are an imperative parts of what we do at MMK. With your help, we can reach even more families - mothers, fathers, and babies - who desperately need our help.
A Note from Peter Awilo Kithene
On the Ground
The services our new Health Center is offering are simply fantastic. Our laboratory is busy testing some 16 diseases - from HIV to malaria. In fact, the other day, the family of the District Commissioner (the equivalent of a State Senator) came to the clinic and had his children tested for malaria and typhoid. It’s a very big deal to have that type of family mingling with our clients - the poorest of the poor. It is a true hope for the people we serve, and shows the views of society are beginning, however slowly, to shift. I was thrilled when the Commissioner said they'd be coming for our services in the future.
Equally exciting, the Ministry of Health of the Kenyan government has included us in the list of facilities they supply with medicine. This is a great step for our clinic, allowing our organization to move one step closer toward self-sustainability.
Thank you so much for all your help, work, faith, and dedication to this mission. We are making a difference, and as the model continues to grow and improve, I know we will touch more and more lives throughout rural Africa.
Launching the New, Improved MM Health Center
The Grand Opening was a beautiful thing. MMC, launching its new clinic - off the rental property of the past three years, and onto its own property, and new spacious building - remained true to its vision, paying homage to the poorest of the poor, going the extra mile to incorporate diverse religions and tribes. There were Christian and Muslim invocations; the Maasai security guard detail performed a tribal dance, along with a Luo group of staff, widows, and mamas.
See video of the new clinic.
See more pictures.
The principle guests were patients who had received services from us the past three years, but the most moving of all was the Guest of honor: 16-year-old Calvin. Read more.
Reaching the Un-Reachable
With many thanks to the Rotary Club of Mercer Island, Washington, Mama Maria is thrilled to announce the launch of their second ambulance—this one, solely dedicated to providing urgent care to those largely inaccessible, except by water.
When they first heard about the “Water Ambulance,” local residents actually laughed. They assumed we must have been joking when we told them we were providing a boat that would transport sick people . . . and not fish! Now that it’s launched, locals have quickly realized what it means to them - access to desperately needed healthcare for those living along the lakeshore, many in villages inaccessible by land throughout much of the year.
More than urgent transport for the critically, the Water Ambulance also makes bi-weekly runs from the clinic to tactically placed ports-of-call, providing further access to health care management and even prophylactic care.
MMC Gets Social
Did you know you can show your support and follow MMK updates and stories on Facebook? Mama Maria has an active Fan Page with pictures, videos, and updates from the ground. (Peter recently gained online access in the village so we can soon get real-time info!) We are also online at Facebook as a Cause - a page where you can interactively show your support through donations, fundraising, and other levels of enagement. Sign up today!
OLD NEWS
2008 Auction Raises Astounding $106K for Kenya's Neediest
Twende! ("Let's go" in Swahili) was the theme of our 3rd Annual Benefit Auction Event held last month, and "go" we will with an outpouring of generosity from the over 200 attendees who gave and gave . . . and gave again!
Mama Maria's best auction event ever raised a goal-breaking $106,000 in funds to help tens of thousands of widows, orphans, and others of the poorest of the poor in rural Kenya who have gone without basic healthcare for far too long.
"This money will be used to change people's lives for generations to come," said Founder Peter Kithene. "This much money in Kenya translates to impact we can't imagine in America. I can't wait to get back to Africa and get to work in our new clinic building and saving more lives."
During the evening, MMK supporters were treated to a special viewing of Peter Kithene accepting his "Hero" award at last year's CNN award ceremony, as well as to be the first to hear news of MMK's goal to open a second clinic in another region of Kenya by the end of 2009.
MMK would like to say thank you to all who attended, those who donated items for auction and funds to stock our new clinic building, and much more. Together, you and MMK are breaking the cycle of poverty in Africa!
We couldn't have done it without you!
Founder Peter Kithene Named as One of UW's "Top 100 Grads"
UW's alumni magazine just came out with their 100th anniversary issue where they tipped their proverbial mortar board to the most impressive 100 UW graduates of the past century � and Peter Kithene landed smack in the middle of Bill Gates, Sr, Govenor Gregoire, the man who eradicated smallpox, and the founder of Mercy Corps. "We put together a selection committee of folks who know the UW backward and forward, past and present, and asked them to help us come up with 100 famous, fascinating or influential living graduates. It was a process filled with delightful discoveries and difficult choices, and the results are an absolute embarrassment�of riches." Not only that, he graced the cover. Check it out.
And the Winner is ... Peter Kithene and Mama Maria
Honored by CNN
It�s official: Mama Maria has a hero at its helm. On December 6, 2007, Peter Kithene was named as the winner of the Medical Marvel category at the global broadcast of �CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,� hosted by Anderson Cooper and Christiane Amanpour. CNN�s Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, introduced Peter in front of a live, international audience of millions, and celebrities such as Glenn Close, Harry Connick, Jr., and Mary J. Blige, by saying: Let us marvel at Peter Kithene, a man who gave his village not just an outstretched hand, but his entire heart.
We are working on getting the CNN video of Peter�s life and work as soon as it is made available. In the meantime, you can read the transcript of the show or hear an audio clip of his acceptance speech�which was, truly, truly an inspiration.
Peter was judged by a Blue Ribbon panel of luminaries, including Nobel Peace Prize winners, musicians, actors, sports stars, and activists, including: Lance Armstrong, Peter Gabriel, Jewel, Deepak Chopra, designer Carolina Herrera, and NBA star Dikembe Mutombo.
Congratulations, Peter. Our Hero; our Medical Marvel: dedicated to the enhancement of human health.
Chakula Bora Launches for Muhuru
Bay Mothers and Babies
With a donation from partner organization Gracewinds Global Breast Milk Initiative, the first clinical building on the new compound is up and in business. The chakula bora (a Swahili word meaning, roughly, �proper nutrition for babies�), will serve as a place for perinatal services, including prenatal education and basic health checks, well-baby checks, and an outreach center for breastfeeding and other perinatal education. It will also serve as a community center for further health-related education and seminars, as well as the site for the Orphan Feeding Program lunches. One more word: it is stunning.
Mama Maria Ambulance Launch!
June,
2007, Peter went to Muhuru Bay to check on the
clinic and MMK programs, and, best of all, to purchase a clinic ambulance. For the first
time in Muhuru�s history the community has an ambulance meant for the sick and
the needy. No more carrying women with birth complications or desperately sick
children on bicycles or wheelbarrows or donkey carts, no more painful walks with
the sick, no more unnecessary pain and suffering for emergencies that can�t be
treated.
The day the van was launched it took its first passenger to the hospital in Migori. Among the earliest cases was an infant born on the side of the road, his mother on her way to the clinic. They little boy�s intestines had developed outside of his body, and the ambulance rushed the new baby and his mama to hospital. We are told his life was saved �and many, many others�all because of the new ambulance!
Mama Maria in the News!
Seattle's
NBC affiliate, King 5, featured Mama Maria Kenya this past Mother�s Day!
Anchorwoman, Lori Matsukawa, spent an hour interviewing the founding members and
then did a three-minute piece highlighting the great work of Mama Maria.
Check it out! Or, watch the
video clip!
Stay Informed
Things happen so fast at Mama Maria�and we�d love to keep you posted on the latest happenings. So, sign up for our free newsletter � and we�ll be sure to keep you posted with all the good news!
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