Endebess, Kenya

Weekly tally for Endebess:

Patients seen: 358

Biopsies: 24

PAPs: 39

Cryo's: 35

LEEPs: 5

16 Trainees and 10 Supervisors were trained in VIA, VILI, Cryo and LEEP. We expect to certify all during our next visit in August.

60 Community Health Educators were trained in the importance of screening for cervical cancer and education materials were distributed for the CHE's to use in their communities.

These last two weeks with PINCC have been absolutely extraordinary. It is always a pleasure to go into a community and share talents but to train others so that your talents can continue after you depart is truly the way to go. PINCC's combination of classroom sessions plus 1-on-1, hands-on transfer of skills is effective; the growth and empowerment seen in all of the trainees has been remarkable. It was a real pleasure to work with such motivated, enthusiastic people. Every one of them has stated they will continue after we leave and they look forward to follow up training when we return in six months. If these 16 trainees see only 3 patients a week, there will be 1248 women screened before we return. If the numbers remain at the roughly 29% needing further treatment or tests as it has this last week, that will mean approximately 362 women will have been treated for conditions which generally result in cervical cancer before we even return… and this is only for Endebess!

Working with PINCC has been a privilege and I hope you have enjoyed my sharing the experience with you. This is, however, the last blog entry I shall be writing for PINCC. I am now in Kisumu, visiting with a Peace Corps Volunteer friend to see a bit of Kenya before I return to the states but I am sure Carol will find someone in the new team to continue. They are in Kisii now, until Wednesday, when they move on to the Johanna Justin-Jinich Community Clinic, a project of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) in Kibera , a vast Nairobi slum. I imagine them now, the end of the day, arriving at their accommodations, tired and dirty, yet fully energized by the work and appreciating the simple pleasures: electricity, hot running water, paved roads, thread count sheets. They have cleaned up and are sitting around a table or a cluster of sofas, discussing the trainees and the difficult cases of the day. They are thoughtful, and dedicated, and all working hard to make a difference. I am truly proud to be a part of this team. Talk to you on the next trip…

Amelia T. Hambrecht