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Local resident assists missionaries in supplying Kenyans with medical equipment
Several area residents have reached across the miles to help provide relief to those in Kenya, Africa who cannot afford to pay for proper medical care.
Because of the donations of caring people, medical supplies which were donated to equip a maternity hospital are finally on their way to Kenya. Although many of the supplies have been sitting in a warehouse for several months, local humanitarian Charles Lifer said he was unable to pay the costs of shipping the equipment. Finally able to raise the $8,000 needed to ship the hospital equipment to Kenya, Lifer loaded a shipping container with the supplies during the weekend in preparation for its Monday morning departure.
Lifer has been working diligently to help expand a small Kenyan clinic operated by Kenya residents Simon and Margaret Muhota. The clinic is located in a ghetto near Nairobi, Kenya and although it is a ministry to the residents there, it is inadequate to meet many of the needs of the population located near the clinic.
In order to help provide proper medical care to the Kenya residents, Lifer has been raising funds to enlarge the small clinic by adding a maternity hospital. Among the many donations received for the clinic, Sister Concetta from Mercy Health Center donated an X-ray machine and the owners of Fort Scott Manor Dan and Jan Kwierl donated beds and other equipment for the clinic expansion, according to Lifer. The Muhotas said Lifer's maternity hospital project will enable them to deliver more babies and handle more complicated medical situations.
A recent donation by C.R.O.S.S. Ministries, an Iowa based organization, will make it possible for the hospital to also contain a dental clinic, according to Lifer.
After informing local residents about the project to help Kenyan residents who cannot afford to receive medical attention from the nearest hospital, several people combined their resources, raising $5,000 to help ship the container of medical supplies to Kenya. Lifer donated the remaining $3,000 in order to make it possible for the equipment to begin making its way to the Kenyan clinic.
Unfortunately, the $3,000 donated by Lifer was money which was previously designated for construction of the hospital building. In order to finish construction on the new hospital, Lifer said he will need an additional $18,000.
"To date this project has been entirely financed by myself and a few donations," a written document prepared by Lifer reads. " I am currently out of funds for the completion of the hospital. Since the need for the completion of the hospital is so urgent -- lives can be saved -- I ask for donations."
Although additional money is needed to finish erecting the new building, several area residents who are involved in the project said they were excited about the progress made thus far. On Monday morning, these project partners assembled to watch a semi-trailer truck carry the container on the first leg of its long journey to Kenya.
Betty Hixon, one of the project's supporters, was all smiles when she arrived at Lifer's warehouse on Monday morning. After giving out several congratulatory hugs, Hixon said, "This makes me so proud of Fort Scott."
According to Lifer, the truck will take the container to the Kansas City metro area. In Kansas City the medical supplies will be loaded onto a train which will then transport the container to New York. After its arrival in New York, the container will be loaded onto a ship which will carry the equipment to Mombasa, Kenya. From there, another truck will haul the container to Nairobi. The container will reach its final destination approximately on Feb. 19.
The mission statement of the Humanitarians non-government 501 C 3 charity which Lifer operates is "To reach out into the world and make a difference to the helpless and disabled."
For more information or to make a monetary donation, contact Lifer at (620) 223-4444.
Links to previous articles:
http://www.fstribune.com/story/1471738.html
