By Katie Farrell Lovett
Staff writer
—
NEWBURYPORT — Dr. Sue Abkowitz Crawford's visit to Bura in March was a little different than her other trips to Kenya over the years.
The president of the Greater Newburyport/Bura Alliance, Crawford was able to see the busy health clinics in Bura up and running.
A nurse was meeting with patients, and the clinic was stocked with all types of equipment and supplies. She got to hold the babies who had been born at the health facility.
The Mwashuma Health Center — which had opened in 2009, serving more than 400 patients in its first month — was celebrated by the members of the Greater Newburyport/Bura Alliance with music, dancing, singing and drumming.
The GNBA had sent medical equipment with the help of the International Medical Equipment Collaborative in a 40-foot sea container to supply the facility.
IMEC provides complete medical suites with donated equipment and supplies that are cleaned, repaired and packaged. The group supplies patient beds and exam tables, lights, desks, medicine cabinets, crutches, wheelchairs, supplies, medical books and laboratory equipment — all the equipment needed to create a fully functioning health clinic, Crawford said.
The GNBA also funded the salary of the nurse who runs the clinic for one year until the Kenyan government began to pay it. They also sent donated supplies and equipment to turn a second clinic into a functional health center.
In order to raise funds to continue to support and grow their projects, the GNBA is holding a dance on Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Elks hall in Newburyport.
Numerous African dishes will be served throughout the night, and there will be a slide show, photo exhibit and auction. Music with the rhythms of East Africa, as well as American music, will be provided by popular Kenyan DJ James Nyette.
Crawford, a doctor as well as president of GNBA, recalled her first visit to Bura in 1996, when the group came across a woman who had been in labor for 24 hours being carried by several relatives on a makeshift stretcher.
"That's my pet project," Crawford said. "It was so wonderful to walk in there and see the nurse in there seeing patients." Visitors from GNBA had made and laid the first row of bricks for the clinic 14 years ago, and the community continued the construction.
Bura is a rural community of villages, primarily poor farming communities, some of which have no electricity or running water. The area is hilly, and the villagers walk or use bicycles. "When they are sick, they had to walk five or six miles to get to the nearest health facility, sometimes losing babies or getting sicker along the way," Crawford said.
The babies that the GNBA members were able to see and hold may not have made it or been as healthy if their mothers had to walk about five miles in active labor, Crawford added.
The GNBA is also continuing its efforts to supply school uniforms to Bura orphans in order for them to be able to attend school. For $25, a child can get a uniform, sweater and backpack, Crawford said. Other initiatives include an agriculture and forestry project, setting up an Internet cafe and furthering their "One Laptop Per Child" laptop pilot program with the Bura elementary school.
In order to now access e-mail, the villagers have to travel one hour by bus to get to a computer station, Crawford said.
Crawford's son, Matthew, collected 40 soccer balls and uniforms and cleats for the children of Bura. The interest in soccer has grown, and there is now a districtwide school soccer tournament.
For more information about the Greater Newburyport/Bura Alliance, visit http://www.masskenya.org.
IF YOU GO:
What: Greater Newburyport/Bura Alliance fundraiser dance for all ages
When: Saturday, Sept. 11 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 25 Low St., Newburyport
Why: Bura, Kenya, is Newburyport's "sister city." Proceeds from the night fund the Newburyport/Bura Alliance projects including health, school uniforms and school fees for HIV/AIDS orphans, an Internet cafe and an agroforestry project.
Tickets will be available at the door or beforehand by contacting Joanna Hammond and Ted Van Nahl at 978-388-3230. Ticket prices are adults $20, students $10; children under 12 are free. There will be a $40 maximum admission per family.
