Bob & Ruth Keller
Phil introduced Ruth, a retired teacher and Bob, owner of the pharmacy at the Medical Center who have been visiting Africa and are trying to help.
Ruth said they started accidentally by agreeing to accompany a church trip their son Matt was going on to Benin. They helped out at an orphanage, health clinic and school compound that had been started by a US church. They've been back a couple of times, once with Matt and again on their own. They solicit medications through Bob's contacts and other things like frisbees and ball caps that the kids like.
The whole area needs help and they have helped out on missions to street kids in urban areas as well as outreach to those in rural parts of the country. They dispense meds and help as best they can. Ruth speaks French which is useful. They went in December and met with a contact there who showed them different needs. The compound they went to first has grown with over 100 orphans and 400 students. They visited another orphanage that's further in to the bush and managed to get covers on the mats the kids had on the floor but much more is needed there.
They'd like to see a facility established where a doctor or nurse could work. Injuries are often not too serious but when not treated they can develop into serious problems. A soccer scrape can quickly become infected.
The urban areas have ghetto areas with all the problems associated with that type of living - drugs, crime etc. and there are people working on rehab concepts and 12 step programs with education and micro loan components. They met the daughter of the President who is heading up an NGO under WHO which is trying to combat a tropical type of ulcer that we don't see here.
First described in Uganda in the 1800's it was present in epidemic proportions during the 40's and again in the 60's. It's carried by a microbacterium like leprosy, transmitted by insects and grown in stagnant water which is all many people have access to so they are exposed to it. It's most common in the young who often spend time in the water. It manifests as a nodule which then progresses to a hardening of the skin, then it swells so much that it eventually breaks the skin and ulcerates. It can eat into the muscle and even the bone and then the treatment is amputation. It can turn cancerous. Early treatment with antibiotics is quick, easy and relatively cheap but once past the early stage treatment becomes difficult and expensive. A month in the hospital with an IV for the next step and then, if still not treated, the wound needs to be abraded or the limb needs to be amputated. Both require skin grafts.
Unfortunately early intervention is rare because of lack of education, dependence on traditional medicines and the fear of being cursed. Also any departure from the daily grind of making a living, which going to a hospital requires, means the family will probably go hungry. They need education, medical facilities and clean water.
The Kellers go because they see a need and they can help. Their personal philosophy of faith encourages them to help those less fortunate than ourselves and to pass on the message to others, which they are doing with Rotary. They feel that they and we are blessed and that each of us should try to reach out to those around us and they asked the Club to consider this set of concerns.