Everything went just as planned with the delivery of the container for Marsabit Hospital! The PFC staff took the 12 hour bus to Marsabit from Nairobi on Monday and joined Pastor Hirbo’s team to prepare for the ceremony of opening the container on Tuesday at 2:00.
They hung banners, put up balloons and ribbons on the container, gathered the plastic chairs and prepared the agenda for the event. I flew on the missionary flight with Cris, Gary and team. The plane landed in Marsabit on the airstrip at noon. Pastor Hirbo was there to get us and we went straight to the hospital.
After some speeches by hospital and government officials the hospital staff and many others watched as the container was opened. The staff were more than amazed at what was in the container!
The County Director Dr. Kochi spoke and told the crowd that Marsabit had been forgotten even during colonial rule. He gave health statistics that demonstrated how Marsabit struggles with meeting the health needs of the population. He said his plans in his new role as the County Health Director was to change the health statistics for his people in Marsabit. He said this container of equipment and supplies gives a great start to this vision. He said MedShare and CocaCola African Foundation had remembered Marsabit. Medshare is the organization who donated the equipment and CocaCola African Foundation funded the shipping and transport to Marsabit.
After the container was opened everyone helped to unload the supplies and equipment. Over the next 6 hours we emptied the 40 foot container on the grounds of the hospital and organized everything by department – ie physical therapy, lab, surgery, etc. they then called the staff from each department out to receive their equipment and supplies. It was so much fun to see each department excited about getting neeeded equipment for their work!
Can’t really adequately tell you the response to the baby warmer that was sent. The nurses shared how just last month a baby died because they didn’t have an incubator. The baby warmer will help…they never had a baby warmer ever at this hospital!
There were 20 new Hill-Rom beds in the container that will replace the current beds that are broken and rusted. There was an mechanical lift – the staff had never seen such a piece of equipment. There was a vital sign monitor – the doctors were very excited about such a piece of equipment. There were walkers, canes, wheelchairs, braces. There were hundreds of boxes of much needed supplies – bandages, gloves, protective clothing for staff, etc.
Our staff heard the nurses on their phones throughout the day calling friends and families and telling them about the equipment. They were saying Marsabit Hospital would never be the same! They were inviting people to come see.
Anthony, their supply coordinator worked all day with us – everything will be inventoried and tracked. They want to ensure all the supplies and equipment are used for the benefit of the people.
We took lots of photos and will be posting them on our blog and website. I will let you know when they are posted.
We will help the staff over the next two days as they transform their hospital. The day was a blessing to so many. MedShare and CocaCola Africa Foundation have really made an impact in this northeastern town of Marsabit.
Blessed to witness this transformation…
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