In August 2018 after five years in development the Osiligi Medical Dispensary officially opened, the first major step in a larger plan to bring medical care to over 200,000 members of the Maasai community in the Narok District of Kenya.
On the Dispensary’s opening day, fifty-six patients were evaluated for their glucose level and hypertension, and eye glasses were distributed to those in need. David Weeks, Global Education Director from the Glenelg Country School and his former student, Kikanae Punyua of the local Maasai community, were joined by Dr. Tayo Awotunde, a pharmacist from Greenbelt, Maryland, who supplied medication and assisted in patient evaluations. Martin Punyua, a local Maasai medical student, supported the glucose and blood pressure evaluations. An additional pharmacist, a nurse, a lab technician, an HIV/AIDS counselor, and a nutritionist counselor, all funded by the local Narok Health Department, were also able to attend the opening. The local doctor for the Osiligi Medical Dispensary arrived the following day to meet with Weeks, Kikanae Punyua and the Dispensary governing committee of local Maasai elders.
The Osiligi Medical Dispensary consists of two rooms for labor/delivery and recovery and two rooms for emergency care and consultation, along with a small pharmacy, medical lab, waiting room and washrooms. By the beginning of October the facility will be open full time.
David Weeks, Kikanae Punyua and the Maasai elders of the Dispensary governing committee met with a local contractor to discuss the plans for the construction of a new medical facility, to be separate from the Dispensary—with an outdoor covered seating area to accommodate waiting patients and their families—and contain a pharmacy with storeroom, a medical lab for preparing traditional Maasai medical remedies, a dentist’s office, a vision center and an indoor waiting room. Having viewed the floor plan and determined the location for the center, the contractor and his crew began to break ground for the facility’s foundation. Approximately $35,000 US has already been raised for construction of this new facility, expected to cost $60,000. With the development of this new Maasai Medical Center the Narok Health Department will be able to provide more comprehensive medical support to the local community.
Plans have already been made for constructing the Osiligi Hospital Ward to be located across from the Osiligi Medical Dispensary. This facility will provide overnight accommodations for patients and their families as well as medical personnel. This new medical complex that will not only serve the approximately 600 students in the neighboring Ole Punyua Primary School but also the 200,000 members of the Maasai community in the Narok District of Kenya.
For more information contact David Weeks by email at weeks@glenelg.org or by cell at 443-794-4302.
