History
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Since 1989, the Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church has been in partnership with the Shikokho Women’s Group and the people of the village of Shikokho in the Western Province of Kenya. Shikokho is located in the rolling hills of the Luhya people, just north of Lake Victoria on the Yala River.
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The church has cooperated with the people of Shikokho to build a Medical Clinic (opened in 1995), housing for visiting doctors and full time nursing staff (completed in 1998), and supported the addition of a Maternity Wing (completed in 2003). The Clinic serves the approximately 3,000 residents of the village, along with a population of nearly 30,000 within walking distance of the Clinic.
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The Medical Clinic provides care for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Health insurance is unknown and unaffordable, but small payments for medical services are received when a family has the means to do so. Two government-paid nurses are supposed to be provided, but other staff often work for little or no salary. CCPC has often tried to provide some compensation to non-government paid staff.
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The church has also provided annual scholarship assistance to the primary and secondary schools, assisted in purchasing school uniforms, and provided books for the library and replaced textbooks at the secondary school. A few scholarships have been awarded for post high school community nursing school. Other contributions have included bicycles and trailers to the clinic and to the schools, manual sewing machines and typewrites, and homemade blankets for the Maternity Wing. The total of contributions made by the church and by members individually over the 15 years of the mission partnership have been substantial.
In 1995, a mission team of thirteen CCPC members visited the village to assist in the final completion of the Medical Clinic and to join with the Shikokho Women’s Group and the people of the village to celebrate with the Minister of Health the official opening “harambee” ceremony of the Medical Clinic.
In 2004, a mission team of nine church members went to Shikokho. Those participants were David Aluvale, Gretchen Donaldson, Linda and Phil English, Duke McCall, Jim Shelhamer, Louise White, Rev. Steve Robertson, and A.T. Miller (from the Univ. of Michigan and advisor to the partnership). The purpose of the trip was to bring greetings from the people of CCPC and Washington, D.C. to the people of Shikokho, to celebrate the opening of the Shikokho Medical Clinic Maternity Wing, and to support the members of the community in several self-development initiatives.
The group also took gifts and supplies from the CCPC congregation to the people of Shikokho, including prescription and non-prescription medicines and other medical supplies for the Medical Clinic, school supplies for the Primary and Secondary schools, sewing supplies and fabric, manual sewing machines and typewriters, mosquito nets, medical training books, two bicycle trailers, wind-up radios, and much more.