Our First Trip to Kenya
In June 2007, four volunteers traveled from Spokane, Washington, to Kopanga, Kenya, as medical volunteers. The experience would change the lives of those volunteers, Dr. Michael Mainer, Stacey Mainer ARNP, Sandy Ivers and her son Nick, and would lead to long-lasting impact in this impoverished region of southwest Kenya.
These Spokane-based volunteers worked at a small, understaffed, inadequately supplied clinic which treated a steady progression of severely malnourished infants, pregnant women, children and adults with malaria, diarrhea, debilitating skin conditions, poor nutrition and HIV/AIDS.
The Early Stages
By the time the team returned to America, they were determined to find a way to help the people of this destitute region. By 2008, they established Partnering for Progress, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring access to health care, sanitation, clean water and educational opportunities.
Significant strides have been made in less than a decade. P4P consistently organizes bi-annual medical/education trips to Kopanga to provide care and educate local medical providers. P4P raised funds to build and support a new medical facility in Kopanga, has installed clean water systems, implemented an infant nutrition program, and funded scholarships for elementary and secondary school students.
August 2011 – Kopanga, Kenya
Looking Forward
Having met the goal of establishing a self-sustaining medical clinic in Kopanga, P4P is now expanding into the community to develop additional collaborative relationships with health providers, schools and local water committees. As P4P moves forward, economic development projects will be created to address poverty, the root cause of so many challenges in this part of the world.