Afya Mtaani: A voluntary outreach healthcare service for the Slums of Nairobi Kenya
A project sponsored wholly by the PBF, Afya Mtaani, is a local initiative of young Medical students and community workers who provide a voluntary health outreach services to the residents of Mathare and the sorrounding informal settlements.
New equipment
The AfyaMtaani clinic is now fully operational, we have aquired more equipment for the laboratory including:
- Microscope for blood screening
- Heamoglobin machine for checking blood HP
- Autoclave machine for equipment sterilization.
- Laboratory reagents
- Other laboratory equipment.
Apart from the regular patients who come for various healthcare services, we receive about 16 needy clients daily. These clients include elderly Senior Citizens, both men and women and children who can hardly access healthcare in public health facilities or afford private and individual and commercialy run clinics. Most of them suffer from lifestyle ailments like diabetes, hypertension, arthritis as well as others like pneumonia, malaria, burns, injuries etc.
We receive school-going teenagers who seek confidential help that they can only get from us due to the our teams age bracket and attitude that they can easily identify with. From them we address social health related cases like unplanned pregnancy, general diseases and youth social issues like violence and rape. We provide counseling, guidance, information and family planning options.
Outreach
We conduct home visit outreach to our clients who need healthcare at home because some cannot reach out clinic. We want to continue the monthly outreach program that has become a lifeline for most people in the informal settlement where we are based. We are thankful for the support we get from PBF who have consistently funded our activities, facilitating our supplies, logistics and allowances.
Pharmacy
The pharmacy and the laboratory are very crucial parts of our clinic from which we hope to help us pay our recurrent bills in future.
The pharmacy has grown in popularity in the area and we have specialised in particular medicine and supplies that match the demand of the locals. We would wish to stock more medicine that are relevant to the population based on data from our outreach. We have noticed that there are medicines we must not lack in the clinic.
An extra intern for our team
Most of our team members are students except George. Kiadis Makori our team leader is taking his Masters degree in Nursing at the Kenyatta University under the PBF student support.
Eunice Abok is doing Clinical practice internship for her Clinic Officer Bachelor’s program after her graduation from Mt Kenya University.
Kevin is in his 5th year at Jomo Kenyatta University of Applied Technology where he is pursuing Medicine program. He can only do the weekend shift at our Afya Mtasni Community Clinic.
We therefore we need an extra intern who can cover for the team when we cannot make it to serve our community who depend on our services.
Our highlight
The Community have embraced our services which has somehow filled the gap at the community level especially now when Covid-19 pandemic is overstretching the health care systems of the third world countries and informal settlements in particular.
We are greatful, thankful and blessed to have the Peter Bachmann Foundation as our main partner in this service to the most vulnerable segment of the population in Nairobi’s Mathare, Huruma and Kariobangi Slums