In 1995, a scholarship program founded by Bhante Wimala successfully assisted fifty boys and girls in furthering their education. In a recent phone conversation, Bhante revealed what compelled him to start a scholarship project specifically for girls. “I quite often come across girls working as servants or gardeners, many times working for nothing or perhaps…

On my November 2003 trip to Africa, one of the employees of the Sri Lankan Embassy approached me with a concern. She told me that she had visited an orphanage on the outskirts of Nairobi, which housed about 100 orphans. These children come from urban slum areas in and around Nairobi. This kindhearted lady explained…

According to the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS, by the beginning of 2003 there will be 42 million people in the world living with HIV or AIDS. Within approximately 10 years we can expect another 45 million people to get infected. In Africa alone, about 55 million people could die over the next two…

Of the many projects completed in 2002, one of the most satisfying was the Cataract Eye Operations Project in East Africa. While in Nairobi over a year ago, I spoke with several physicians and learned of the seriousness of the eye problems in Africa. In fact, blindness in Africa increases at the rate of two…

As part of our ongoing contributions to the eye care specialists at the Lions Sightfirst Hospital in Nairobi, we were able to donate a fundus camera this Fall. Prior to our donation, there were only three of these specialized machines in all of Kenya.A fundus camera is used in the diagnosis and treatment of eye…

Malaria is a life-threatening illness transmitted from one person to another through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. It is one of the greatest public health challenges preventing economic development in the poorest countries of the world. Although more than one million malaria-related deaths occur worldwide each year, 90% of these are in Africa.…

In 2002 we were able to distribute 50 wheelchairs to disabled people in several remote regions of Kenya.

The inspiration for the wheelchair project came as I was visiting the Spinal Cord Injuries Hospital in Nairobi some time ago. This hospital provides medical care and rehabilitation services for people who have sustained paralyzing spinal cord injuries. We were providing wheelchairs to two young men waiting to return home. After talking to these patients and their social workers, I realized that there is a great need for wheelchairs. Many patients are stranded in the hospital, unable to return home due to lack of simple transportation equipment. Apparently, in Kenya thousands of severely crippled people are without wheelchairs. The government in Kenya does not provide free health care nor any medical equipment.