Lambertville Public School principal worked with medical nonprofit in Kenya
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
When Lambertville Public School Principal Geoff Hewitt went to Kenya for the last two weeks in May with a nonprofit medical organization, he expected to be working only on the health education component of the program.
After all, education is his trade.
He did work in health education with 500 students and staff members in two Kenyan schools, plus a lot more as well.
"Project Helping Hands teams usually have 10 members, but our team had only seven members," Mr. Hewitt said last week. "So I worked with the medical teams a lot as well. I primarily did intake work with patients, taking their vital signs and getting their medical history, to get them ready to see medical staff."
He dealt with 1,300 patients that way.
He said, "We treated children with malaria and children and adults with malnutrition. We saw lots of rashes and skin diseases, tuberculosis, cancer, arthritis, scoliosis, wounds that had been untreated for years and eye and dental problems. The character of the Kenyan people I met was just beautiful. They’re the most patient, accepting and thankful people."
One of the patients he helped treat was a woman with an eye wound.
"She’d had this wound and been in a lot of pain from it, for five years," Mr. Hewitt said. "On closer examination, it was learned that the eye was almost completely deteriorated and needed to be removed."
The woman was referred to a hospital where the procedure was done for $200, a small fraction of what the job would have cost in this country. The procedure was paid for out of the $4,000 Mr. Hewitt brought to Kenya with him.
"That money was donated by students and staff and community members," said Mr. Hewitt, who paid his own expenses to get to and from Kenya. "Each of us on the Project Helping Hands team was required to bring 50 pounds of medical supplies."
"We referred over 60 people to hospitals and other facilities in Kenya," Mr. Hewitt said of the Project Helping Hands team. "It enabled people to get treatment for severe dental problems, severe infections and other problems."
The team got a great reception on its arrival in the village of Oyugis.
"There were 300 people waiting for us when we got there," Mr. Hewitt said. "They were very appreciative and happy to see us."
The team set up a clinic and pharmacy as soon as it got there. From its quarters, the team had to walk 3 miles to and from the clinic each day.
Project Freedom sends teams to Oyugis twice a year as it does to sites around the world. Some of the countries visited this way are Uganda, Peru, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.
Before he went to Kenya, Mr. Hewitt discussed the impending trip at an assembly at his school. Now that he is back home, he is following up with the students on his work with Project Helping Hands.
"It was quite an experience," he said. "I’d love to do it again, but not during the school year."
The last two days before coming home were spent on a safari.
"That’s part of the transition period of getting ready to come back," Mr. Hewitt said. "What we saw while riding in the safari van was so amazing. The countryside is so beautiful, and we saw lions, cheetahs, zebras, baboons, giraffes . . . incredible!

