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The Yellowmen on Tour
February 2009

After the usual last minute panics the Yellowmen Team consisting of Rotarians Peter Stiles, John Relfe and Martin Mears plus Jeannie Stiles and Katy Woolley landed in Nairobi at the start of another ‘ tour of duty.’ Rtn. Eddie McCall and our driver Justus were already in Kenya and had been for some ten days. They had travelled down from Tikeet the previous day and unlike the rest of the party, who had spent the last 9 hours in the air, were well rested.
The 11 hours safari bus journey that followed is best glossed over and has been described in previous articles. On arriving at base camp in Marich Study Centre we were welcomed with a hot meal and a few Tusker Beers. This was to be a busy trip and so the next day and the nine that followed would be work days.

The aim of this trip was twofold – to continue building work on our clinic and to carry out a series of clinics. The building work consisted of supervising the setting out of the compound hedge, clearing, cutting and marking the fence line, planting lemon trees at the entrance to the site and pushing the workers to finish the John Cocker unit. On the medical side we wanted to have two major treatment clinics, a mother and baby clinic as well as three screening clinics. The aim of the screening clinics was to try and establish some health data concerning Pokot children. We had a good idea of the medical problems affecting adults (as seen here), but were unsure of those affecting children. Optometrist Peter Stiles was able to investigate the eye health of the children and Dr Thomas Ngolesia (our Pokot doctor) the general health. Both professionals would write up the results of the clinics so that they could be submitted to the Kenyan Health Ministry. Meetings with the District Commissioner in Marich and with the Right Honourable Wilson Litole in Nairobi would allow us to press home concerns on a variety of subjects to do with the medical programme.

Since our visit in October last, the work on the clinic had raced ahead. The John Cocker unit was virtually completed and by the time we left even the solar lighting and refrigeration plant was installed and working. The walls were painted white and the workmen were laying the concrete base on the verandas. It was brilliant to stand at the entrance to the compound (now grown to about 10 acres) and look at the rapidly emerging clinic. Work on the building that housed the three wards was also going on apace and the brickwork nearly complete. Talk was of finishing the ward building within a couple of months.

The screening of the children in three separate areas of Tikeet was a logistical nightmare. We needed to be able to process over 125 children a day if we were to meet our target. To do this we had to have at least that number in the compound at the start of the day. The children were brilliant, standing under the hot sun until called to see the medics. Katy, working as our photographer also doubled as child entertainer and organised games to keep the children happy. In the end we saw over 300 children between the ages of three and ten. It was of concern that the immunisation programme seen elsewhere in Kenya seemed to have broken down here and masses of children had not been immunised at all. Peter Stiles also noted the need for a Vitamin ‘A’ programme to help with continuing eye health.

As well as the screening we also held two general clinics and saw another two hundred and fifty patients, including about 70 mothers and babies. Though the majority of the children had a reasonable level of health there were many suffering the after effects of serious malaria and several suffering from leishmaniasis (sand fly disease). Malnutrition was evident in children from the deep bush. Amongst the adults, Peter saw many that had incurable eye conditions, though he was able to hand out quite a large number of ready readers to adults who thought their reading days were over. Looking at the face of a patient who is able to read again after many years is very moving. That look of incomprehension followed by smiles and in a few cases tears was something never to forget.


In the general clinics there was the usual range of illnesses with a great number of worm infestations, urinary infections and chest problems. Living in huts in which a fire burns causes real problems.

However, it was not all hard work. In between we had singing and dancing and feasting. At the end of a busy day with the safari bus packed with Yellowmen both British and Kenyan and the temperature still in the upper thirties we sang our way to the only shop, 25 kms from Tikeet, where we could have a coke and sit with the locals before driving the last 25 kms to our base in Marich.

Leaving Tikeet is always sad. The days there fly by and belonging becomes a total reality. Friendships, now developed over ten years in some cases, means that our Tikeet family never wants us to leave and presses us to come back very soon if we have to go. What a privilege it is to be there and to be part of this project.

As I write, the October team is being put together and hopefully the final steps towards the completion of the project will be taken. Meanwhile further fund-raising is needed. A fellow Rotarian from another club once asked who can go to Tikeet and of course the answer is anyone. If after reading this you want to get involved, contact the Yellowmen at Senlac Rotary Club.

Ready-readers will bring vision to remote area

Published Date: 29 January 2009. Hastings Observer

ONE hundred and twenty pairs of ready-readers delivered to opticians Barraclough Stiles and Partners on Wednesday will be going much further than the Bexhill practice.
Optometrist Peter Stiles has obtained them for a special project.
Last October, Peter and fellow members of the Rotary Club of Senlac - collectively known because of their club t-shirts as the "Yellowmen of Kadongdong" - paid the latest of a series of working visits to Kenya.
On February 24 they will be returning. There is more work to do and the ready-readers donated by Buchmann UK Ltd. will play a key part.
Managing director Andrew Brandi was at the Western Road practice on Wednesday to present Peter with the spectacles.
Peter explained: "The Yellowmen of Kadongdong are Senlac Rotarians who have been building a clinic in the Pokot region of Northern Kenya, one of the poorest regions in an area of nomadic people living in isolated homesteads.
"The team were there in October last year and oversaw the continuing building of a clinic in Teekeet and completion of one treatment room.
"The nearest hospital is 35 kilometres away."
As there has never been any medical or optical help in the area, Peter undertook several medical clinics and trained a local Daktari, providing him with his own ophthalmoscope and other equipment.
While he was there he discovered that malnutrition and Vitamin A deficiency in young children is causing blindness and even premature death, especially from measles and diarhoea.
He has submitted a report on his findings to the local MP in Kenya.
It highlights the dreadful eye conditions which are going untreated through lack of medication.
Much of the premature blindness, measles and diarrhoea could be prevented. Just two Vitamin A tablets a year - costing a few pence - would solve much of the problem.
He says: "Now it is hoped that a Vitamin A programme will be started to help these people in an area forgotten by the world's great charities."
Senlac Rotary Club draws its members from Battle, Bexhill and surrounding area.
Retired headmaster Rotarian Eddie McCall, who started the clnic project, is taking out a party of schoolchildren who will be carrying the ready-readers.
They will be joined by Peter and his wife Jeannie together with fellow Rotarians jon Relfe and Martin Mears.
Andrew Brandi said Buchmann were delighted to supply the German-made BMS ready-readers which were end-of-range stock.
Peter says: "I saw 35 kids - 18 of whom would have been classed as blind or partially-sighted in the UK.
"The awful part is to see children and see that their corneas have already started to go."
For others, the ready-readers will be invaluable.
"Few of the people we see can actually read. But they need to do close work. We saw people who had been unable to see close up for 20 or 30 years - all for the need of ready readers.
The hot, dry climate means that any eye injury is swiftly infected.
This could be avoided by the use of ointments but when Peter eventually obtained some from the hospital the stock was two years out of date.
When the roads became impassable, he and the Daktari and a government official walked 8 kilometres in 45 degree heat to get to patients ointment that needed to have been kept at 15 degrees!
Funds are still needed by Senlac Rotary as the club is committed to its ongoing project. They are aiming to raise money for a well to supply fresh water, solar heating for refrigerators and for much-needed medical equipment.
Anyone interested in supporting the Yellowmen is asked to contact yellowmen@eddiemcall.com

News

Due to the turmoil created following the elections late 2007 early 2008 the Yellowmen were unable to visit in February last year. However a small group did make it in October 2008, and another visit is being undertaken now.

Although the Yellowmen have been unable to visit Marich fund raising has not stopped and various events including a slot in last years Rotary Conference has been very successful in raising funds.

Full reports and pictures we hope will be available soon

A Personal Journey

Valerie Cocker is 68 and came on the February expedition to the clinic site. Here she gives her account of an amazing journey to see the unit being built in her husband’s name.

“I have recently returned from visiting the Pokot tribe at Tikeet, in the bush of north west Kenya. I went with the Yellowmen of Kadongdong, better known as members of Senlac Rotary Club. I went to dedicate a Hospital Unit in Tikeet in memory of my late husband John.

I travelled with one of my daughters, Helen, and two of our oldest friends Lindsey and Peter Lawrence. After a 12 hour minibus ride in difficult conditions we reached Marich Study Centre, our home for a week. The clinic site was a further hour’s drive through the bush over sometimes treacherous terrain and in temperatures reaching 104F.

We had not appreciated how difficult it was to get there, to work in the heat, and to carry everything we needed including drinking water. It was amazing to see the Yellowmen working alongside the Pokot tribespeople. They checked the progress of the clinic buildings, built with 7000 bricks the women of the tribe had previously made by hand with money raised through donations. The Yellowmen then started work on two blocks of latrines, a vital part of the site, which the local people have now completed.

The mortality rate of young children is high, as an incident during our visit showed. The life of a two year old boy was undoubtedly saved because we were on hand to transport him to a hospital some considerable distance away in time for him to receive the necessary medical attention. This highlighted to us just how urgent it is to get the Tikeet hospital up and running.

The clinic buildings are up to the roof level, but now we need to “raise the roof” on the John Cocker unit and the rest of the buildings.

With the Yellowmen, I am helping to raise funds to put roofs on the wards and provide clean water for the clinic so it can open. We are also planning to put in solar panels for electricity and equip the clinic with everything from the basics, such as beds and bedding, and as much medical equipment as we can provide. For this we need donations and sponsorship.

People can help in a variety of ways. By sending an individual or group donation, by getting a club or society to adopt this as their major fund raiser or by sponsoring a roof truss, or beds, or a roofing sheet with their name on it. It’s something that I’m very passionate about, and having seen the clinic, I’m even more determined to make sure it opens as soon as possible.

I was so glad I made the journey, although it was a very emotional trip, we all agreed on that. It was also quite taxing, what with the heat and the dreadful roads, but all felt it was a privilege to be included. The Yellowmen not only work so very hard once in Kenya, but to get there they and their families make sacrifices to pay for the fares.”

Pokot Dictionary

The Pokot people have their own language, although some of the words used are similar to Swahili. The basics are as follows, with apologies for the spellings:

poghsio (pronounced poy-shhuh) - hello
poghsio nyoman (pronounced poy-shhuh nya-man) - hello (in response to a greeting)
karam nyoman - hello (friendly, in response to a greeting)
lenteneana - how are you?
karibu - welcome
karibu kau (pronounced kari-boo cow) - welcome to my home
mzuri - good
karam - very good
wena - a call to get someone's attention, to a man
weno - a call to get someone's attention, to a woman
kariama (pronounced karry-arma) - goodbye
kariama sieth (pronounced karry-arma see-eth) - see you tomorrow

February Trip Overview

The Yellowmen have just returned from the latest visit to the West Pokot district of Kenya, to view progress on the medical centre and do some more work.

Since the last visit there have been heavy rains, which have disrupted work on the site. The rains have also had an impact on the access to the site, as a laager (dry river bed) about 4km from the site is now full of water.

The Yellowmen were very disappointed on the first day to discover that the road was impassable. With water up to thigh-level, vehicular access was impossible. However, a tractor was hired for the second day to deliver roof trusses, steelwork, corrugated iron roofing and other materials to the site. After some effort and an interesting half hour when the tractor's trailer got stuck in the river, the materials were finally delivered to the site.

The rest of the week's work carried on, but access to the site at Tikeet was strictly by foot only. The toilet blocks were dug out, with concrete footings and block work going in. Although not a glamourous job, the toilets are essential to the hygenic running of the centre when it opens!

Local people are continuing work on the toilet block and on the roofs for the buildings this month, following the return of the Yellowmen to the UK.

Pictures show Yellowman Martin Mears crossing the laager and work being carried out on the toilet blocks.

Clinic Update

A visit to the clinic site was achieved in October, despite some much needed rain, which made the journey through the bush rather interesting!



A warm welcome greeted the small group of Yellowmen at the site, with traditional Pokot dancing and singing and plenty of smiles.

The site has been cleared significantly since February and the progress on the building work is remarkable.




In February, the foundations for the materity unit and outpatients building were dug out and the first level of blocks put in. The tribes people have continued the work, and both these buildings are now up to roof height, with plastered walls.



In addition, the villagers have started work on the administration and staff block, now up to window height, and dug out the foundations for the waiting room.





While there is still much to be done, the work to date is excellent, and we are now planning for a solar powered well and staff for the clinic.

The clinic could be ready as early as February 2007, and we are keen to make sure it is fitted out to start helping the local people who have done so much to help themselves.

Pictures show Chief Samuel with some of the tribespeople at the clinic site.

Corporate donations to the clinic

Chris Potter, one of the Yellowmen, recently held a free seminar with his company, Select Appointments, and asked clients for a donation to the Buy A Brick campaign.

Select Appointments held the seminar at the Brighton Racecourse on the morning of Thursday 21st September. The successful seminar was designed for clients to bring to light any concerns that they had about the legislation in general, or their business in particular.

This seminar was a complimentary service to Select Appointments clients, and all clients were asked to donate to Select's chosen charitable project, the Buy a Brick campaign in Kenya. The Buy a Brick campaign is raising funds to build a clinic in Kenya, giving practical support to local tribespeople. From this seminar over £250 was raised, a relatively small amount in the UK that will go a long way over there.

Picture shows one of the donors, American Life, handing over a cheque to Chris.

October Visit

Following our visit in February 2006, the Medical Centre has come on apace. The walls are now all completed and the roof nearly ready. The work has been carried out by the villagers with continued donations from Rotary Club of Senlac.

A small group of Yellowmen are visiting the project in October to review the project and find out what is needed next. Money raised from the Battle Classic Car Show, a Golf Day and various other activities will be taken to fund the next stages.

Check back for updates on the project when the Yellowmen return.