Health and the Heart of the Community

We spent several days in various Kenyan health care facilities, learning about the work that goes on there, and the people who do the work. Our conversations always came back to community. An addiction center had a place for patients to play pool and form their own community. The problem, we were told, was that when they left the center and returned home they would face the same problems and without a supportive community were likely to relapse.

At the children's center we learned how children without parents struggled until they formed a supportive community within the center: a community of staff and peers who gave them the love and support they needed.

Another conversation centered on the isolation brought on by COVID and how the disease isolated people from the support of their community and how that isolation, that sense of loss was potentially as deadly as the disease.

We joined community health workers for a home visit that, again, reinforced the power of community- not only the power of healthcare within the community - but also the power of the community to support and sustain through hard times.

Holistic health care needs to always consider the power of the community in healing and promoting the health of the individual. That's the take home from today.

After those visits, we moved out of the urban environment and into more rural areas. We stayed at the Masai Mara College of Wildlife and Tourism where there is a unique community inspired wildlife conservancy. Over 500 landowners came together and combined their land to be open for the conservation of wild animals. The conservancy pays the land owners to lease the land so that the animals can roam free. The land owners can stay on the land if they choose, preserving both the animals and the traditions of their ancestors.

The College teaches students (many from the local community) about wildlife conservation and also offers courses in skills needed for the tourism industry. The college uses best conservation practices such as solar energy and environment minded construction.

We saw the power of community again when we visited a local school where the lead teacher showed us around with pride. He is from that community and his connection to the students was evident in every classroom we visited. There again, we saw evidence the close connection with between the people and nature. The children have a greenhouse and help to grow some of their food. There was evidence that an elephant had recently visited, leaving the calling card of a broken tree.