Ambulance for Imiliwaha
Donation protected
I am running 26.2 so the Imiliwaha community doesn’t have to.
My name is Adam Kolb. I am a 2016 graduate of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota and a current member of the Benedictine Volunteer Corps of Saint John’s Abbey (also in Collegeville) stationed at St. Gertrud Convent – Imiliwaha near Njombe, Tanzania. And on February 26, 2017, I will be running the Kilimanjaro Marathon in support of one of my new home's most dire needs: an ambulance for its health center.
Although covering the 26.2 miles of a marathon has always been a dream of mine, since coming to Imiliwaha in July 2016 and having worked in the pharmacy at the health center, it has blossomed into much more than an individual pursuit of physical fitness or an examination of mental strength. Now, the 26.2 miles is:
1. A representation of the distance some patients of the Imiliwaha Health Center have to travel (by car, motorcycle, bicycle or on foot) to receive certain care the center is unable to provide,
2. An act of remembrance for the, estimated, 50 patients who die each year seeking the care they need, and
3. An opportunity to raise the funds necessary to guarantee sustainable health and well-being to a community that has welcomed me with open arms.
Therefore, not only do I wish to finish the 26.2 miles, but also, leading up to this effort, I hope to raise at least $12,000 to help purchase an ambulance for the health center, in collaboration with East Africa Ambulance Project, by June 2017. Because, again, this is about more than improving physical fitness and raising awareness toward the inequalities of life, this is about actually changing those inequalities by increasing the quality of life for those around me.
The Problem:
The Imiliwaha Health Center, resurrected in 1997, and responsible for 38,316 people from 16 villages, is a 12-ward facility with an 88-bed capacity for inpatient care. The wards of the health center include: outpatient care, maternity, active labor, laboratory, minor theater, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy and four inpatient wards (female, male, pediatric and postnatal.) On average, within these service wards, the two doctors and six nurses on staff attend to at least 30 patients per day, which equates to around 11,000 patients per year. However, many more patients come to the facility, or contact the health center from one of the surrounding villages, in need of procedures the staff are not capable of performing (surgeries, blood transfusions, x-rays, etc.) due to their lack of access to certain equipment. So, when these major procedures come about, it is thus the center’s responsibility to transport the patients, as many as 70 km, to the hospital in Njombe. Unfortunately, securing transportation, can sometimes be quite difficult on such short notice, as the amount of cars available within the community is of a limited number. And even when a vehicle is available, it costs about 200,000 TZS ($100) to obtain its services. This inability to guarantee the necessary transport thus leads to, the estimated, 50 deaths per year, as patients are stuck at the health center or try to get to Njombe by walking, biking, taking a motorcycle or riding the bus.
About the Convent:
St. Gertrud Convent - Imiliwaha was founded in 1968, by St. Agnes Convent of Chipole, Songea, in the Njombe Region of the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Currently, the convent is home to about 470 nuns and 72 candidates, postulants and novitiates. With the presently large religious community as well as the motto of ORA-ET-LABORA, prayer and work, the nuns not only are self-sustainable, but also provide a stationary, yet wide-reaching, support system to its rural community. Some of the different areas of service include: schools (primary, secondary and trade), a few small shops, an orphanage, a church and the aforementioned health center.
Want more information about my time in Imiliwaha or to see more pictures of the beautiful community? Please visit my blog, The Chronicles of Imiliwaha!
My name is Adam Kolb. I am a 2016 graduate of Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota and a current member of the Benedictine Volunteer Corps of Saint John’s Abbey (also in Collegeville) stationed at St. Gertrud Convent – Imiliwaha near Njombe, Tanzania. And on February 26, 2017, I will be running the Kilimanjaro Marathon in support of one of my new home's most dire needs: an ambulance for its health center.
Although covering the 26.2 miles of a marathon has always been a dream of mine, since coming to Imiliwaha in July 2016 and having worked in the pharmacy at the health center, it has blossomed into much more than an individual pursuit of physical fitness or an examination of mental strength. Now, the 26.2 miles is:
1. A representation of the distance some patients of the Imiliwaha Health Center have to travel (by car, motorcycle, bicycle or on foot) to receive certain care the center is unable to provide,
2. An act of remembrance for the, estimated, 50 patients who die each year seeking the care they need, and
3. An opportunity to raise the funds necessary to guarantee sustainable health and well-being to a community that has welcomed me with open arms.
Therefore, not only do I wish to finish the 26.2 miles, but also, leading up to this effort, I hope to raise at least $12,000 to help purchase an ambulance for the health center, in collaboration with East Africa Ambulance Project, by June 2017. Because, again, this is about more than improving physical fitness and raising awareness toward the inequalities of life, this is about actually changing those inequalities by increasing the quality of life for those around me.
The Problem:
The Imiliwaha Health Center, resurrected in 1997, and responsible for 38,316 people from 16 villages, is a 12-ward facility with an 88-bed capacity for inpatient care. The wards of the health center include: outpatient care, maternity, active labor, laboratory, minor theater, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy and four inpatient wards (female, male, pediatric and postnatal.) On average, within these service wards, the two doctors and six nurses on staff attend to at least 30 patients per day, which equates to around 11,000 patients per year. However, many more patients come to the facility, or contact the health center from one of the surrounding villages, in need of procedures the staff are not capable of performing (surgeries, blood transfusions, x-rays, etc.) due to their lack of access to certain equipment. So, when these major procedures come about, it is thus the center’s responsibility to transport the patients, as many as 70 km, to the hospital in Njombe. Unfortunately, securing transportation, can sometimes be quite difficult on such short notice, as the amount of cars available within the community is of a limited number. And even when a vehicle is available, it costs about 200,000 TZS ($100) to obtain its services. This inability to guarantee the necessary transport thus leads to, the estimated, 50 deaths per year, as patients are stuck at the health center or try to get to Njombe by walking, biking, taking a motorcycle or riding the bus.
About the Convent:
St. Gertrud Convent - Imiliwaha was founded in 1968, by St. Agnes Convent of Chipole, Songea, in the Njombe Region of the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Currently, the convent is home to about 470 nuns and 72 candidates, postulants and novitiates. With the presently large religious community as well as the motto of ORA-ET-LABORA, prayer and work, the nuns not only are self-sustainable, but also provide a stationary, yet wide-reaching, support system to its rural community. Some of the different areas of service include: schools (primary, secondary and trade), a few small shops, an orphanage, a church and the aforementioned health center.
Want more information about my time in Imiliwaha or to see more pictures of the beautiful community? Please visit my blog, The Chronicles of Imiliwaha!
Organizer
Adam Kolb
Organizer
Wabasha, MN
