Where the dream begun
When I graduated from the Clinical Medicine and Surgery program in 2009, I faced a pivotal decision about my career path. Over the following five years, I worked with two organizations and served at a remote hospital in the cold plains of the Aberdares. There, I dedicated my efforts to preventing the transmission of HIV from pregnant mothers to their unborn babies. Later, I moved to the slums of Nairobi, working with underprivileged communities in Githogoro, next to the prestigious Runda Community, as well as in the slums of Huruma, Mathare, and Kibera. During this period, I was uncertain about the direction my career would take.
Though I appreciated my work, I discovered my true passion lay in designing and implementing programs for underserved communities. This passion led to the creation of EquiHealth Global, a realization of a lifelong dream aimed at promoting early disease detection in underserved populations through health screenings and resource linkage. Our mission includes conducting medical fairs and camps in various communities, providing comprehensive care that encompasses medical, dental, vision, nutrition, and mental health services.
EquiHealth Global: A Holistic Approach to Health
For about eight years, EquiHealth Global has been organizing medical fairs, offering primary care to thousands of patients. Our broad approach supports early disease detection and primary intervention by treating acute illnesses, educating about chronic conditions, engaging with the community, and making appropriate referrals for follow-up care. Our long-term vision includes partnering with research institutions to publish articles profiling the trends and correlations identified in these communities. These findings, along with our recommendations, will be shared with policymakers and community leaders to propose advanced interventions that further promote early disease detection.
What we have developed is an effective model and this year we will be incorporating our new Health System Management System which will see us go paperless and collect all our data with next level privacy on the cloud. Our spirit of innovation enables us to keep improving our program and ensure that we provide next level statistical analysis as well as privacy in the different communities we serve. We are happy to have partnered with Optima Branding to enable this.
We are also partnering with Optica Ltd Kenya which specializes in eye care and provision of prescription glasses. They will be joining our medical camps to provide eye care. We have partnered with Waiyego dental clinic to provide dental screening and care during the medical camp which will be a first of its kind service during our community events. We have also partnered with Afya Mont to provide free prescription and over the counter medication to the attendees.
Our NutriCare program provides Health and Hope Kits, containing nutritious food items, oral hygiene products, sanitary items, and gospel material. These kits are designed to offer practical support to participants. Our mental care program is particularly special, as it involves working with pastors and church leaders to provide spiritual counseling and prayer to participants. We engage local pastors, training them in basic counseling skills and how to diagnose acute mental health illnesses, as well as where to refer patients facing such challenges.
Short-Term Mission Trips: Partnership with Cornerstone Church, Statesville, NC, USA
We utilize short-term mission trips from the USA to recruit volunteers who serve in our medical camps. These trips not only bring much-needed medical expertise and support but also foster a spirit of global community and shared purpose. Additionally, the teams help finance the medical missions.
About a year ago, Renee Griffith, the principal at Cornerstone Christian Academy, reached out to me shortly after her trip to Kenya, expressing her desire to partner in medical missions there. This led to extensive engagement and collaboration with Paul Hill, a pastor at Fairview Baptist Church, who has traveled to these communities for the past 15 years and is very familiar with short-term missions in this area. After a lot of hard work and coordination, we are pleased to announce that this year we are partnering with Cornerstone Church, which has funded the medical missions and will have a team of 26 volunteers traveling to serve. The spirit and dedication of the team are very encouraging as they are excited to serve within these underserved communities.
Partnership with Murang’a Mission Station
In every community we visit, we collaborate with a faith-based partner that holds the community’s trust and aligns with our vision of empowerment. This partner organization acts as a community liaison, driving the success of our program. As we design the program, we engage the partner fully to ensure it is culturally informed and respectful. Julius, who serves as the administrative director of Murang’a Mission Station, saw this as an opportunity to further his healthcare passion by establishing a strong foundation with the organization. “I have served with MMS for over 10 years. This opportunity has given me invaluable insights into effective community partnership,” said Julius Mwangi.
Muranga Mission Station’s goal is to develop self propagating, self sustaining, self governing churches.
Upcoming Medical Camps
From June 10th to 14th, we have scheduled five medical camps in five different communities in Murang’a County. We aim to serve 2,500 patients during this period with the help of 50 volunteers. Of these, 26 volunteers are traveling from the USA, while the rest are local EquiHealth Global Kenya volunteers. We have also partnered with Murang’a County Health department who provide the regulation and licensing for the medical camp as well as health care professionals who will be serving in the camps.
EquiHealth Global continues to strive towards making healthcare accessible to all, ensuring that even the most underserved communities receive the care and support they need.
A Word from Our Team
Nothing brings us much satisfaction than to see people receive care and compassion for their illnesses while also getting to hear the wonderful news about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
EquiHealth Global is committed to delivering both physical and spiritual healing, embodying our holistic approach to community health. Thank you to all the hardworking teams both in USA and Kenya that are determined to see many get the love and care they need through the program.
Other evangelical activities that will be happening include prison outreach, school outreaches among others.
Author
Julius Mwangi