Northern Kenya

Population and Sustainability Network are supporting a broad-based healthcare clinic run by the Nomadic Communities Trust (NCT).

Family planning commodities are being transported by camel
Family planning commodities are being transported by camel 

NCT is a registered Community Based Organisation operating in Northern Kenya that offers choices to poor, remote, nomadic communities who lack access to health resources. These include Family Planning /Reproductive Health services; HIV/AIDS prevention/palliative care & treatment of opportunistic infections; immunisation and basic curative medicine including the treatment of malaria.

The NCT mobile clinic visits a different community & school each day of the month, revisiting most communities every month of the year to provide continuing and follow-up reproductive and general health care, immunisation and HIV/AIDS services & education, including concern with Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

The Mobile Clinic model seeks to access remote, environmentally fragile regions that have no other health facilities, reaching nomadic populations using appropriate means of transport. Since September 2005 a motor vehicle has been in the field providing monthly services and education to over 18 communities and their schools.

Women receiving information about family planning choices
Women from the community are receiving information about what family planning services are available.

Due to the ever rising costs of motor vehicles, NCT is raising funds to also implement small simple camel train mobile clinics. Each clinic will be accompanied by a trained Community Based Distributor (CBD) member per team, and an assistant - and they will offer Reproductive Health/Voluntary Family Planning and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes including Voluntary Counselling & Testing (VCT).

NCT co-ordinator Sharon Wreford-Smith comments "a few of this younger generation have had access to a little education and also know what it is to go hungry and now realise why." Kenya's population in the 1930s stood at 2.5 million. It is now over 32 million.

Samburu District has a population of approx 200,000 predominantly Nomadic peoples. From historical statistics from it's ‘sister project' in Laikipia District (pop 400,000) -the Mpala Community Trust (MCT) Mobile Clinic, which reaches and serves an average of 50,000 people a year -it is hoped that NCT will reach a target of > 10,000 people in the first year, and an average of > 25,000 people thereafter.

For more information, please see http://www.nomadictrust.com/Family%20Planning.html