Beds for Bondo
The Rotary Club of Washington donated money for the purchase of bed frames, mattresses and linens for the Bondo County Referral Hospital in Kenya.
Angeline East, second from right, with her mother, brother and sister-in-law
Angeline East helps cover one of the donated beds.
Angeline East points to the newly delivered beds in the maternity ward at the Bondo County Referral Hospital.
Angeline East holds a photo of some of the members of the Rotary Club of Washington. The photo will hang on the wall of the maternity ward, and the unit will be named for Rotary. On Angeline’s far left is the president of the Bondo Rotary Club; to her immediate right is Dr. Willis Ochieng, superintendent of Bondo Hospital. To Ochieng’s right is Dr. Kwaka, chairperson of the Bondo Hospital Board of Directors and the hospital’s chaplain.
Growing up in Masita, a small village in western Kenya, Angeline Anyango East witnessed human misery every day. But what stayed with her after she married American Bob East and moved to Pennsylvania was the way women suffered through childbirth.
“A woman might walk for an hour, then catch public transportation that bumped along bad roads for hours,” the Washington woman said. “And when she gets to the hospital there is no bed for her. She either shares a bed without a mattress or takes her place on the floor.”
These women could not experience the joy of having a child.
“When I had my first child,” she remembered, “I had a beautiful room. I vowed to give at least one woman in Kenya a bed.”
She told her mother, still living in Kenya, what she wanted to do.
“Are you crazy, child?” her mother responded. “You will be defeated. If the government can’t do it how could you do this yourself?”
“Just watch,” Angeline said.
Angeline joined the Rotary Club of Washington in 2018. When the club was looking for an international project, Angeline told them about the situation in her home county. The club agreed to take on the project, and she had an answer for her mother: “I have beautiful friends with big hearts.”
The efforts were perfectly timed.
The Bondo County Referral Hospital had just built a maternity ward, if that’s what you would call a large empty room with no beds and no equipment. She asked Dr. Willis Ochieng, superintendent, for a list of their needs, and it was extensive. Their wish list included 26 beds with mattresses and sheets, incubators, baby cots and other medical equipment.
“We were able to raise around $6,000, enough for 14 beds. We’re hoping to fund the remaining needs next year,” Angeline said.
But just sending money for beds was not enough for Angeline. She wanted to be there when they arrived. She and her husband, Bob, traveled to Kenya in May to oversee delivery. At first, officials kept congratulating her husband. They could not believe a woman could achieve this.
In addition to doctors and hospital trustees, local dignitaries showed up, as well as a delegation from Masita, Angeline’s village. They told her, over and over, “We are so proud of you, our daughter.”
Her mother’s reaction, in Luo language was, “Ma Omako Dhoga,” which means, “I am speechless.”
It’s not only the beds that will leave an indelible impression. The sheets are labeled “Nyamasita and Rotary Club of Washington PA.” (“Nyamasita” means “daughter of Masita.”) A picture of club members will hang on the wall, and the unit will be named for Rotary.
Bill Price, who was president of the Washington Rotary when the decision was made to take on the project, said Angeline “is one willing Rotarian who will work at any project, whether it is international or local.”
“Angeline’s energy and concern for the needs of women in her former home, and the fact she was going back to visit this year, made the choice easy,” Price said.
He added that at a recent Rotary board meeting, it was noted that no one can say no to Angeline with her infectious laugh and smile.
The Washington club wants to raise enough next year for the remaining beds and incubators to serve the approximately 200 women who give birth there each month.
“Several clubs are interested in partnering with us on this project,” Angeline said. “We’re hoping to raise at least $12,000 through our efforts and matching grants to meet all the medical equipment needs of the Bondo maternity ward.”
One woman, who didn’t give her name, thanked Angeline, saying, “We are blessed to have strangers come across the world to help us.”
That’s Rotary.