It’s not every day you can manage disease prevention, save the environment and see the locals smile with one simple project. Rotary Essendon took on that big job with just one machine and one chair - and people in Nairobi’s Mukuru Kwa Reuben slums are the winners. 
Imagine living without running water; adequate sanitation; or electricity. Your home is a shack, the floor is dusty dirt in summer and mud in winter. You can almost hear your neighbour breathing through the flimsy walls that separate you; and there is waste of all types outside your door. Disease spreads easily amongst your community as there is little chance to maintain hygiene standards needed to keep you safe.
Ruben Health Centre ( https://www.rubencentre.org/ ) is a vital health facility located in Mukuru Kwa Reuben district, one of the largest slums in Nairobi. Staff at the Ruben Centre strive tirelessly to provide an extensive range of educational, health, and community development programs, all geared towards improving the quality of life and creating a brighter future for local families. By being a real part of the community and working with the residents, the Ruben Centre is able to ascertain what is the greatest need. Rotarians also know that the best way to help communities in need is to speak to people directly to determine their needs.
Rotary Essendon has worked with the Ruben Centre for many years, and club members have visited the Centre to see firsthand the work done there, so, when the club recently asked the Centre what they could do to help, the response was to install a medical waste machine, and to provide a dental chair.The medical waste machine will reduce the risks of hazardous waste either being burned or inappropriately disposed of in the local area, both of which would create significant environmental damage and personal risk to the local people. It will also reduce the cost of contracting external waste management organizations. Having an incinerator installed also increases the facility’s profile by being compliant with government requirements.
The dental chair will improve and increase the dental health services the facility offers; and improve the health facility’s profile within the local community. Oral hygiene is a significant part of a person’s overall health and improvements in educating the local families via attendance at the clinic will no doubt improve their children’s lives – and their smiles!
To fund the project, Rotary Essendon, in partnership with Rotary Utawala, Kenya, received a District International Grant funded by Rotary Foundation. Rotary Essendon’s contribution was $14,000 and The Rotary Foundation $7,000. Without this grant the provision of the much-needed equipment would not have been possible.
Ruben Health Centre has made a significant impact on the health and well-being of the surrounding community by providing accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare services. The facility has become an indispensable asset to the area, providing critical healthcare services to a population that would otherwise have limited access to medical care.
Further information on this project can be obtained by contacting Rotary Essendon.
And for further information about The Ruben Centre go to https://www.rubencentre.org/