Breaking Ground on Health Clinic

Posting by Nyla


Dear friends of Mama Hope,

I'm so happy to report that I've finally made it to Isiolo, Kenya and we have started construction on the The Stephanie Moore Health Clinic..
Things have been a whirlwind since we got here. Pretty much as soon as we arrived, we immediately attended a Health Clinic Commitee Meeting to discuss, budget, time frame, and design of the health clinic. The community was so excited and they wanted to start construction immediately so that the Health Clinic could be finished by the time I leave.
The next day was spent going to the different villages and inviting the people to a community meeting to discuss the community’s expectations for the health clinic. This was to ensure that the community would embrace and make this project their own. We were
surprised to learn that the communities are so dedicated to the building of the clinic that they walked from as far as 30 miles through the desert to attend the meeting.
The next morning the community meeting started normally enough until the women from the different villages started a marking ceremony. The ceremony consisted of them singing a song questioning each other where
the building should be and dancing over the area. In the beginning all
the different tribes were separated. As they made a decision they came
together as one whole group circling the area where the clinic should
be. It was incredible because the women's ceremony came up with the
same area for the building as the land surveyor. Fortunately Bryce,
our film maker, got the whole thing on tape and we will put it in the
documentary.

This morning I woke up to the sounds of commotion and came outside to
see women and trucks bringing in materials to start construction on
the clinic. By the time I made it to the site the people had already
dug out trenches of the outline of the clinic. Tomorrow we will
begin erecting the walls.
Thanks to Mama Hope donors, the people of Isiolo are going to have a
clinic that provides loving care to the community. If the community
keeps up the same kind of pace as they did today, the clinic will be
built in just a couple weeks and will be ready to serve patients. You
should be happy to know that your donations are improving the lives of
a whole community of deserving people in Kenya!
All the best from Kenya,
Nyla