| Kari
Duclos Holman in Kenya
Dear family and friends, Who would have ever imagined that in 2011, I would receive a phone call from Stacey Mainer, a local family nurse practitioner, asking us to join a mission team traveling to Kenya! She asked me to seriously consider joining the team because of my experience in lab medicine and pediatrics. Once she found out my husband Thomas is an engineer, she begged for his help with the water sanitation project too! I have wanted to go to Africa, since doing Malaria Project during my undergraduate studies. Thomas has never dreamt of doing such a trip! In the past I wasn’t able to go with our research team because of the length of time it required away from school. I knew I would try to go on a medical mission sometime in my life, but at this point in time I had “put that thought on the back burner”. After a few weeks of careful consideration, Thomas and I decided that since they needed both of our skills on the same team, it was the perfect opportunity! Once we had decided to go our sister Molly Holman joined the team—she is between undergrad and physical therapy school and will help with stretching exercises for back pain ect. Partnering for Progress (P4P) is a non-profit group, here in Spokane, founded by Stacey Mainer, ARNP and her husband Mike Mainer, MD. The major emphasis of these trips is to provide training for local Kenyan medical providers, and to develop a clean water system. Since the initial trip to Kopanga in 2007, the organization has managed to raise enough money and support to build a new medical clinic, begin installing sanitation systems, and bring medical professionals to Kopanga on a bi-annual basis. Currently, a Kenyan nurse, named Alice, staffs the clinic full time. Alice has come to Spokane for some training, and functions like nurse practitioner. I will be working in the clinic with Alice and 3 other providers, seeing both adults and pediatric patients---we plan to see a lot of malaria, typhoid, HIV, and parasite infections. I will also visit the local orphanage to help develop malnutrition guidelines. Our mission team consists of 14 people total: one ER doctor, a HIV trained ARNP, a family medicine ARNP, a family medicine trained PA (myself), a physical therapy assistant, two optometrists, two people staffing the pharmacy, two engineers for the water team, three health educators. The clinic is concrete built (see pics on website of old and new clinic) and is wired and plumbed. The well has been drilled, about 200 ft from clinic. Part of Thomas’ job will be getting water from the well to the clinic and developing a central community water supply tank. Thomas also plans to design a building that will serve as a local shelter. Today, P4P is helping to stabilize the Kopanga clinic through short-term financial sponsorship, access to clean water and sanitation, professional medical training and health education in schools. The goal is for the Kopanga clinic to be self-sustaining by 2013. When this is achieved, Partnering for Progress will expand into other areas of need using the successful model from the Kopanga clinic. You can also read the current newsletters on the website for up to date details. Several people have asked us what they can do to help! Because it is more expensive to buy supplies stateside and transport them with airline restrictions, we ask for you to contribute money. This is the perfect opportunity to make a charitable contribution and know exactly what your donation pays for! Listed below are some of the clinic expenses. The cost for each volunteer for travel/food/room is about $2,100. If you choose to gift a donation you can specify what you would like the money to be used for—just attach a sticky note to your check with your specification (ex: medicine, water project, Molly, Kari or Thomas’ travel expenses). Also indicate if you want a receipt mailed to you for tax purposes. If you choose to donate to our travel expense, please also send me an email so I can make sure to be re-imbursed properly. If you want to send supplies, also contact me to ensure I have suitcase space. (kariduclos@yahoo.com) Please visit our website at http://partneringforprogress.org/ to make a one time or recurring on-line donation, set up an on-line bill pay with your bank, or simply mail a check to: Partners for Progress (P4P) P.O. Box 28191, Spokane, WA 99228. Thanks for all your support! And keep us in your prayers that we kept safe and return healthy! Love, Kari, Thomas and Molly Holman  |
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