Kowak Hospital
Community Healthcare
Your gift helps new mothers effectively care for newborns during their most critical stage of life. Good medical care during the first year of a baby's life is pivotal to a healthy childhood. Unfortunately, many women in Tanzania die during pregnancy and child birth. Your generous donations also pay for surgeries, medications, hospital care, mosquito nets, and more for patients in financial need.
Furthering Kowak Hospital’s Mission
The Ministry of Health increased Kowak Hospital’s rating to "Three Star" which places it as the best hospital in a wide area. Support Kowak Hospital by donating towards essential or upgraded equipment purchases, special projects, and special program staff salaries.
Sarah and Esther’s Story
“Sarah and Esther were 10 months old when we met them and their mother. It was our first visit to the Care and Treatment Center for HIV/AIDS (“CTC”) at the hospital in Kowak, Tanzania. CTC is a regional outpatient clinic for people with AIDS and HIV exposure. Every week, mothers and their children come to CTC for medication, health check-ups, activities, and education. There are also similar weekly groups for men and older children. Many of the patients walk miles from outlying rural areas for treatment.
Sarah and Esther’s mother have AIDS and started Antiretroviral Therapy (“ART”) through CTC after the girls were born. While both girls were exposed to HIV in the womb, they had not been definitively diagnosed as having AIDS. Their mother could not produce enough milk for both girls because of poor nutrition and other effects of her own battle with AIDS. At ten months of age, Sarah and Esther each weighed less than 11 pounds.
While holding Sarah, we noticed her tiny hand scratching at small blisters that were itching or irritating her other hand and arm. We saw the same blisters on Esther’s little hands, but she was too weak and lifeless to scratch them. Their mother allowed us to take them across the compound to visit the clinic doctor. They were found to have scabies, which is caused by a parasitic mite that often
occurs in immunosuppressed and/or malnourished individuals. Sarah and Esther were treated for the scabies and have continued to return with their mother to the CTC, where they receive milk and cereal as nourishment supplements provided through donations from our parish in Ouray, Colorado.
More than 80 infants and children under the age of five, with malnutrition or other illnesses related to HIV and AIDS, are served each week through the CTC nourishment program. That program gives them a chance to lead relatively normal and healthy lives. Sister Reetha Mary, the director of CTC sends us photos of the girls and other children benefitting from the CTC nourishment program.”
Kathy and Jay, Kowak Volunteers 2018