Morning overview of Lake Nakuru

by Dr. Bill Hunter
(Fargo, ND, USA)

On one of our many trips to Kenya to develop a dental unit at PCEA Kikuyu Hospital we went on a day safari to Lake Nakuru. The beautify of Kenya and it's people are unsurpassed in the world.

Our mission was to build a modern dental clinic to serve adults and children. The clinic will provide immediate, comprehensive and preventive services to the general public with special emphasis on the poorest segments of society. Outreach programs will be developed to provide immediate care for those in pain and for referral to the clinic. Neighboring schools and orphanages and remote rural population will receive outreach preventive dental education and services. The facility will offer opportunities for mission minded professionals from the United States and other countries to volunteer their time and talents as educators or service providers. The vision of the clinic will be to provide quality comprehensive dental services in a pleasant environment and adhering to the highest quality sterilization procedures.

A Partnership in Health Care

The people of Kenya know that dental health is essential to their quality of life. There are 700 dentists for a population of over 39,000,000 people. Most people do not have access to care and you can only imagine the need. There are approximately 7000 children within walking distance of the Clinic. Thanks to a partnership between the Kikuyu Hospital, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and supporting churches of the Presbyterian Church (USA), a dental clinic now serves the people of Kenya. Located on the modern health care campus of Kikuyu Hospital, the dental clinic offers the latest in dental care. The Kikuyu Hospital Dental Clinic is administered, operated and maintained by the people of Kenya, but the degree to which it can succeed depends on the compassion and support of all the friends of the Kenyan people. The Kikuyu Hospital Dental Clinic was built on the legacy of care established by Scottish missionaries in 1908 when they built the first hospital in Kenya. Those missionaries knew what the partners in this project know, "...with God everything is possible." When we allow ourselves to be the channels through which God's love and power can work, the distance between continents is reduced and the gaps, between cultures, is minimized.

Scottish Presbyterian missionaries founded the Presbyterian Hospital at Kikuyu in 1908.The hospital is located 20 kms. from Nairobi city center in Kikuyu constituency, Kiambu District. It draws most of its patients from the surrounding area of over half a million population. This does not include the city of Nairobi with a population of over two million. The hospital is owned by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and is incorporated under the PCEA Presbyterian Foundation. The hospital has undergone many changes in staffing, services, and infrastructure over these many years.The General Hospital Unit has expanded in recent years from general medical care to diabetes, skin, TB, HIV/AIDS, ENT, obstetrics, pediatrics, and community health care. In 1975 the hospital established the EYE UNIT and it serves patients and trains medical personal from East and Central Africa. This unit has enviably made Kikuyu Hospital known well beyond the country?s borders. In 1993, an Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Unit was established. Emphasis is in treating children, young men and women afflicted by polio, burns, and other congenital deformities. This program has evolved into a comprehensive rehabilitation center and new facilities for this work were built, and dedicated in 1998.

The Dental Unit, dedicated in 2006, is the fourth unit. The clinic provides immediate, comprehensive and preventive services to the general public with special emphasis on the poorest segments of society. Outreach programs have been developed to provide preventive dental education and immediate care for those in pain and for referral to the clinic. Plans for educational experiences for dental students from the USA, England, and Germany have been implemented.