A letter from from Joe Mamlin

Pause a moment and ponder the depth and breath of the IU-Kenya Partnership. It has already become so large yet admittedly remains in its infancy. Be assured that it is not the size of the effort or the level of funding that makes all of us proud.

This entire effort remains responsive above all to each solitary patient like Salina. And along with the patients come our Kenyan colleagues prepared to give their careers to this effort. Right behind them are the many wonderful US students and residents, house staff and visitors who add so much to the energy needed to make AMPATH come of age.

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Living Stories: Students

...And there, in my own little corner of a tattered schoolhouse thousands of miles from Indiana, I ran my first true clinic. I saw patient after patient, most speaking only their tribal tongue, and I treated them. We struggled with the language barrier and somehow we managed to overcome it. We did the best with the supplies and medicines that were available. In a few short hours I learned how to recognize malaria, typhoid fever and kwashiorkor. I learned how to dose Fansidar and Mebendazole. More importantly, I learned about the Kalenjin people and their customs. Four hours and four hundred patients later, I remember the wave of true satisfaction that swept over the schoolhouse."
-- IU Medical Student

"...I was impressed by the fund of knowledge of the Kenyan students, interns and attending physicians. Coming from the ‘best healthcare system in the world,’ I thought the Americans would be teaching our Kenyan counterparts a great deal. Instead, I found myself learning more than I had expected from students two to three years my junior. I was ashamed by my lack of physical exam skills, at which my Kenyan counterparts were so adept..."
"Caught in a pay-as-you-go system, and with an average income of two dollars a day, the typical Kenyan patient would sometimes find it a challenge to pay for a four dollar chest x-ray that could make a difference in diagnosis and treatment..."

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