Covid-19 In Kenya | Update

Thank you for your concerns and prayers for the families that we serve and our staff in Kenya. As of this morning, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kenya stands at 110 with 3 deaths. To our knowledge, none of our sponsored children, their immediate families, and our field staff have been infected or directly impacted by this disease.  All schools and non-essential services remain closed indefinitely.  The government has also instituted a countrywide curfew between the hours of 7:00 pm to 5:00 am for 30 days effective March 27th, 2020. Additionally, except for cargo flights, all passenger international flights remain banned from entering Kenya indefinitely.   As communicated earlier, we will give a final decision about vision trips this summer by April 30th.  

For a small country like Kenya, we are concerned about the growing community spread of this vicious virus.  The biggest challenge is the lack of enough basic protective gear in the country.   They are rationing purchases of such gear and our medical staff are having to use them only with suspected cases.  Michael, our Clinical Officer (Physician Assistant) shared his concerns with me earlier today: “Things are getting worse with the rapid spread of the pandemic. On the issue of protective gear, we only have few which we are using for patients with respiratory symptoms because we have a shortage in the country.”  I know this is not a problem unique to Kenya but given the overall poor healthcare infrastructure, we are concerned but doing everything we can to secure these gears for our staff.  A major item of prayer for God’s protection.

A big “thank you” to everyone who has made donations to our Hope Fund these past few weeks. As the pandemic continues to impact some of our donors economically, we are ensuring that none of the sponsored children are dropped because that is our commitment to them and their guardians.  Thank you for helping us keep that promise! If you would like to make a donation to our Hope Fund, it will go a long way in helping us to continue providing critical services to the families that we serve.

As we see families here in our country being devastated by the illness and loss of their loved ones from this virus, we remain in prayer for God’s peace and protection.   If you, your family and friends have been impacted, please know that you are not only in our thoughts but especially in our prayers.

As always, thank you for caring,

Stanley M. Mutunga, President/CEO