African Mission Healthcare Foundation

Background:  Access to quality maternity care is limited in Africa.  In Kenya, the maternal mortality rate is over 500 per 100,000 live births.  Women are often required to purchase their own sterile supplies, if they can afford them.  However, at Kijabe Hospital, an established mission institution and teaching center, the mortality rate is less than one-fifth the national average.

Project:  In 2007 Kijabe Hospital started the Naivasha Medical Center near the impoverished lakeside town of Naivasha, Kenya.  The facility now cares for 3400 patients every month.  A new 12-bed maternity is nearing completion with support from the Fielder Medical Assistance Foundation (of Waterstone Support Foundation), the precursor to the African Mission Healthcare Foundation.

AMHF will be assisting the Naivasha Medical Center in the following ways:

• Ambulance ($58,000):  A durable off-road vehicle will support the HIV community care program, transfer of emergency obstetric cases, and supply of the hospital.
• Generator ($37,000):  Naivasha Medical Center now serves 40,000 clients annually; however, frequent power outages in the town compromise care and safety.  With the opening of the maternity ward, preventing these outages will be crticial.
• Maternity staff subsidy ($20,000):  In order to keep delivery fees low and care accessible to the poor, funds will be provided to defray operating expenses during the first year.  It is anticipated that this subsidy will be lowered annually as the site matures.

Oversight:  Kijabe Hospital has a long history of responsibly handling outside donor funds.  The institution has managed more than $2.5 million in US government HIV grants.  Over $800,000 has been given for the successful Naivasha Medical Center to date. 

Future:  To support and retain key staff, to attract doctors, and to allow for trainees, a multi-unit housing structure is planned for this rapidly growing work ($125,000).