Weekly meeting - with update on the Imara Project

This week Alan Fox will be speaking to us to update on the Imara Project.

Mukuru, where the Imara Healthcare Centre is located, is a large slum in Nairobi, Kenya and is home to over 80,000 people. It is near the industrial belt in Nairobi and many of the inhabitants have left rural homes because of poverty and have come to the city in the hope of finding work. The majority of the people are unskilled and uneducated and remain jobless. The housing is made from cardboard, plastic and corrugated iron sheets. These one-roomed houses are small and have no sanitation or running water. There is no waste collection and most of the household waste goes directly into the nearby river. Fire is a constant threat. There is no infrastructure and electricity is generally not available. The lack of sanitation and clean drinking water, combined with poverty and poor housing conditions, leads to a host of healthcare issues. Every year in this slum, thousands of people die due to malaria, HIV/AIDS and water-borne diseases. In January 2012, The Rotary Club of Eganville signed a working agreement with Peter and Francisca Inoti and the Imara Healthcare Centre, to provide on-going financial support to the Centre. Over the following months assistance has been provided to upgrade the electrical wiring and install donated LED bulbs, buy used furniture for a consultancy room, purchase 10 beds and mattresses for the maternity ward and day clinic. Eganville Rotary has also assisted with the purchase of badly needed medical supplies and medicines. Medical supplies have been donated to the Imara Centre by the Renfrew Victoria Hospital as well as the county of Renfrew Ambulance Service. These supplies have been taken to Nairobi by students from Renfrew Collegiate Institute and Opeongo High School, who were traveling to Kenya to participate in a school building program. Eganville Rotarians Alan & Mona Fox visited Kenya in October 2012 and discussed with Peter and Francisca, their priorities for the future development of the Imara Healthcare Centre. They identified drainage as the most urgent problem to address. Whenever there are heavy rains, the central passage way in the clinic floods. This is not only a health risk but also a major expense having to pump the septic tank so frequently. An engineer‘s report recommended raising the rear part of the building by about a meter so that water and waste can be fed into the municipal sewer. It was also proposed to install a concrete slab for a roof to enable future expansion to the second story.

As usual, there will be a 2 course meal wih coffee / tea followed by the speaker.If you would like to reserve your place please contact Jeffrey Fisher