The Kokolopori clinic was established in 2006, after a community based survey by Vie Sauvage revealed the most immediate and keenly felt priority among Kokolopori citizens was “health care”. Together, the Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership and its partners are working to bring medical care to one of the most isolated regions of the world.
Many thanks to the following Falls Church businesses and organizations that have supported Kokolopori’s health clinic:
Demosphere International
Don Beyer Volvo
Catholic Medical Mission Board
Crosslink International
Falls Church Chamber of Commerce
Falls Church Family Medicine
Falls Church Foot and Ankle
Falls Church News-Press
Environmental Club of George Mason High School
Hekemian & Co.
Husky Humanitarians of Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
International Club of George Mason High School
Janmedia Interactive
Lions Club of Falls Church
Drs. Love and Miller, Family Dentistry
River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Rotary Club of Falls Church
SolarStik, Inc.
Student Council Association of Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Temple Rodef Shalom
Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation
Village Preservation and Improvement Society
Victorian Society at Falls Church
The Winfield Group
Kokolopori - Falls Church Sister City Partnership
A young mother with two children is about to give birth to her third. She has been in labor since early last night. Her labor pains have become excruciating but the baby won’t come. She is totally exhausted and, as she feels her strength fading, she asks her husband to take her to the clinic which is 14 miles away.
Her husband and brother load her onto a stretcher and carry her for hours over muddy flooded tracks through driving rain to reach the little Kokolopori Health Clinic in Yalokole village. There, Dr. Pondolo Saidi, a nurse, and a midwife welcome her.
For a January 2008 video about Kokolopori's health clinic , click here!
PROJECTS: THE KOKOLOPORI HEALTH CLINIC
Thanks to our friends in Falls Church, the Kokolopori clinic has a doctor!
His name is Dr. Barthelemey Pondolo Saidi, and he has been the Kokolopori clinic director since January 2008. Dr. Saidi has more than 30 years of experience in surgery, public health and general medicine, and he is the only doctor in this community of 8000+ people. On average, the Kokolopori health clinic treats about 20 patients a day. Since 2008, he and the clinic nurses have treated patients suffering from many of the same diseases we have here, as well as malnutrition, tropical diseases such as malaria and parasitic worms, injuries such as machete wounds and burns, and other health problems. Dr. Saidi has also performed more than 150 surgeries—for appendicitis, Caesarean sections, hernias, ovarian cysts, tumors and other urgent surgical needs.
Dr. Saidi says:
"I have worked here for the past two years, far from my children, because I love my
country and the people need me here. People would definitely die if we weren't here. We do great things with the little we have, but we need your continued support."
Since 2008, Falls Church residents pay the salary of Dr Saidi and his senior nurse, Nestor Baelongandi. Among other things, Nurse Nestor assists Dr. Saidi with surgeries and teaches midwife training classes. Our Australian partner, the Indigo Foundation, pays three other medical staff, including a senior nurse who runs a dispensary in Yettee, another Kokolopori village. All the nurses are learning advanced medical and surgical procedures from the doctor so that they can better help with the overwhelming medical needs in Kokolopori and the surrounding area.
For a fact sheet about the Kokolopori health clinic, click here.
To read an eyewitness account of a typical day at the clinic, click here.
We are currently raising funds for Dr. Saidi’s and Nestor’s 2010- 2011 salaries so the people of Kokolopori can continue to receive medical assistance in a country where social services are largely nonexistent. Click here to donate.
Funding and donations provided by Falls Church citizens to date:
•
Salaries for Dr. Saidi and his senior nurse, Nestor Baelongandi
Salaries for Dr. Saidi and his senior nurse, Nestor Baelongandi•Medicines, medical supplies and equipment for the Kokolopori clinic
Medicines, medical supplies and equipment for the Kokolopori clinic•A survey of malnutrition among mothers and young children to be used as a basis for designing nutritional interventions
A survey of malnutrition among mothers and young children to be used as a basis for designing nutritional interventions •600 pairs of prescription eyeglasses and a focometer for testing vision
600 pairs of prescription eyeglasses and a focometer for testing vision•A Solarstik solar power generator
A Solarstik solar power generator•Electric lights for night-time medical emergencies, and
Electric lights for night-time medical emergencies, and•A satellite phone that can be connected to a computer to send email.
A satellite phone that can be connected to a computer to send email.Priorities
Besides the continued salaries of Dr Saidi and Nestor and replenishing medicines and medical supplies, urgent priorities in the upcoming year include:
•Completion of the clinic’s rainwater collection system
Completion of the clinic’s rainwater collection system •Obtaining one or more motorcycle or bicycle ambulances to help transport critically ill patients to the clinic, and
Obtaining one or more motorcycle or bicycle ambulances to help transport critically ill patients to the clinic, and•Continuing to train and equip a cadre of midwives, with the ultimate goal of having a trained midwife in each of Kokolopori’s 35 villages. Click here to read more about the equipment needs of the midwives we have already trained.
Continuing to train and equip a cadre of midwives, with the ultimate goal of having a trained midwife in each of Kokolopori’s 35 villages. Click here to read more about the equipment needs of the midwives we have already trained. Kokolopori clinic waiting room. Photo © Ingrid Schulze
Dr. Pondolo Saidi --photos © Ingrid Schulze (l), Martin Bendeler (r).
Preparing the operating theater
Appendectomy
Photos © Martin Bendeler
Midwives assisting at a birth.
Photo © Martin Bendeler.
Project Partners
The Kokolopori clinic is being supported in various ways by five organizations:
•Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership (KFCSCP) (salaries, medicines, supplies, infrastructure)
Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership (KFCSCP) (salaries, medicines, supplies, infrastructure)•Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), KFCSCP’s parent organization (logistical support, funding transfer agent, provides KFCSCP’s tax-exempt status)
Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), KFCSCP’s parent organization (logistical support, funding transfer agent, provides KFCSCP’s tax-exempt status)•Vie Sauvage, our Kokolopori based partner organization (delivers salaries & supplies, project management, communication from field)
Vie Sauvage, our Kokolopori based partner organization (delivers salaries & supplies, project management, communication from field)•Indigo Foundation, a small Australian-based, community development organization (nurses’ salaries, malaria prevention and community education)
Indigo Foundation, a small Australian-based, community development organization (nurses’ salaries, malaria prevention and community education)•Bonobo Conservation Initiative-Australia, an independent partner of BCI (newest partner, whose director recently helped deliver salaries, medicines and equipment to Kokolopori, and assessed progress at the Kokolopori health clinic)
Bonobo Conservation Initiative-Australia, an independent partner of BCI (newest partner, whose director recently helped deliver salaries, medicines and equipment to Kokolopori, and assessed progress at the Kokolopori health clinic)Martin Bendeler, director of BCI-Australia, recently traveled to Kokolopori with Albert Lokasola, president of Vie Sauvage. For some of Martin’s dispatches—sent on the clinic’s new satellite phone and powered by the Solar Stik generator--click here.
Left, Martin Bendeler & Albert Lokasola with the Solar Stik solar power generator.
Right, Albert Lokasola sending email with the Thuraya satellite phone donated by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society. (photos © Martin Bendeler.)
Special thanks go to Maura Constance, runner, mother, nurse-practitioner and Falls Church resident, who first had the inspiration of hiring a doctor for the Kokolopori clinic three years ago. Maura has raised funds for Dr.Saidi's salary ever since--singlehandedly for the first two years by asking her friends to sponsor her Marine Corps marathon run, and this year as part of Team Kokolopori (pictured) at Sister Cities International's first Race for World Peace!
