Notes from the field: Reporting for duty in Isiolo County, Kenya

On the day I arrived in Garbatulla, Kenya to begin my work with Operation Eyesight, there was no electricity, so I couldn’t let my colleagues back in Nairobi know that I had made it. The next day, the network came back online, but the incident sums up one of the challenges of working in this area – the difficulty in connecting with people, including many of our community health promoters who live in villages without network coverage.

Many people here in Isiolo County, in Kenya’s arid upper eastern region, are semi-nomadic. They move from place to place in search of pastures for their cows, sheep, goats and camels. Recently, flash floods cut off access to several villages. That’s why the new vision centre we’ve established in Garbatulla – in partnership with Garbatulla Sub-County Hospital – is so important. Now there’s a permanent eye clinic people can visit whenever the roads are open or when herders are back from distant pastures.

When I got here, I stayed at a local mission as I hadn’t found a permanent place to live.

A woman there named Hellen was very kind to me, making sure I got my tea each morning and that I had everything I needed to get settled. When I explained what had brought me to Garbatulla, she said she was struggling with her vision. I encouraged her to come to our clinic, where she was diagnosed with a cataract in her left eye. She was concerned that taking time off would disrupt her duties at the mission, but on the day of her operation she showed up and got it done.

I just had lunch with Hellen recently, and she is doing very well and has made a full recovery. I’m grateful to have helped someone who made me feel so welcome when I first got here