Mission Aviation Fellowship flies a medical team from CURE International for a two-day outreach in isolated northern Kenya, allowing those who are often overlooked to be seen and treated.
Story by Hillim Gitonga
An aircraft from Mission Aviation Fellowship flies over the dry landscape of northern Kenya. On the ground, Maasai huts known as manyatta dot the earth. Their rudimentary construction shows just how far these communities are from basic services.
Normally, the journey here would have taken something like 20 long hours by road, much of it far from tarmac.
Today, by air, the journey is reduced to just two hours.
Here in Loyangalani, CURE International is conducting a ‘medical safari’, an initiative that aims to screen and treat patients in remote places. CURE provides life-changing surgery and Christ-centered care to children worldwide living with treatable disabilities.
The outreach has been organised thanks to the local parish. The medical team is met by a large group of patients already waiting for them.
The patients are grouped to help manage the flow, from pregnant women, to children and general cases.
This is not an indoor clinic. Under only the shelter of a tree, and with limited equipment, the team moves from one patient to the next. This area being remote, they are assisted with interpreters who help bridge the language gap, ensuring each person is heard.
Among those waiting is Taman Lopepea, a young boy living with bilateral clubfoot. His presence reflects the reality for many children in isolated places where conditions often go unaddressed. Standing quietly in the crowd, his condition is visible, but today there is the possibility of change.
By the end of the day, a total of 165 people have received care, numbers made possible only by the time-saving flight.
It’s day two, and the team continues by road to the village of Moite. Supplies are packed, mattresses are strapped onto the vehicle and the team presses on. The road from Loyangalani is rough.
In Moite, patients gather again under the shade of a tree seeking relief from the scorching sun. Here, consultations continue and another 80 or more patients are seen.
Children represent a significant number of the cases, many of them suffering from common illnesses and respiratory infections. Malnutrition is plainly visible. Here, access to medication remains a challenge. The presence of the team matters, and means that care is reaching people who are often overlooked.
In areas like these where stigma around disabilities still exists, the clinic becomes a space for reassurance and increasing awareness. For many, this is their first interaction with a medical professional.
Bringing together medical professionals for one to two weeks of outreach is often not practical given their individual commitments. But with MAF, what would normally be difficult becomes possible.
MAF and CURE’s partnership goes beyond transport. MAF makes quick access possible and strengthens connections with communities. In places where the road is long and uncertain, sometimes the only way forward is by air.
Dr Federico stresses the centrality of aviation in making these clinics possible.
“By coordinating flights, these clinics can take place over a weekend, making it far easier for teams to serve remote communities without stepping away from their regular responsibilities for long periods,” he says.
“MAF is what makes that kind of access and flexibility a reality.”