"Partnerships’ connect Enid, Africa

Story in The Enid News & Eagle on 7/14/2005
By Scott Fitzgerald, Staff Writer

Florence Mubichi’s stay in Enid was short, but the registered nurse and Methodist Church lay preacher from Kenya welcomed the opportunity to spread the word during her time in the city Wednesday.

“This is what the Methodist Church is able to do. The church sees the needs of people and is trying to have people facilitate themselves. We form partnerships — hand-in-hand. We share customs and faith beliefs,” Mubichi said.

Mubichi sat in the living room of Shirley Davis’ home in Enid when she spoke her words of praise. And those words specifically were directed to a Volunteers-in-Mission team from the Methodist Church Davis was part of in January that visited Mubichi’s hometown of Maua and Maua Methodist Hospital.

The mission team, the first VIM group from Oklahoma, helped in day-to-day duties at the hospital and also did lots of refurbishing work.

Davis, a retired registered nurse, said she worked in the surgery ward, helping on procedures and providing after-care assistance. Other volunteers cleaned the pediatric ward and painted.
They provided new mattresses and pillows.

“It was left looking very clean and rewarding for the Kenyans,” Davis said.

Because transportation and communication avenues in the African country are not as advanced as those in many Western societies, the hospital has directed much of its efforts to community work in the surrounding area, Mubichi said.

About 17 clinics have been established, she said, and people have been trained to deliver babies and provide effective aftercare.

Education also has become a priority in helping to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS. The disease has been declared a national disaster in Kenya and continues to claim many lives — especially in rural areas, Mubichi said.

“Our life expectancy used to be in the 50s, but now it’s 44 for men and 48 for women,” Mubichi said.

Mubichi said she helped establish partnerships through the Methodist Church here during her undergraduate days at Oklahoma City University and her graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Health Sciences.

“This is the beauty of being Christian. It’s beautiful to see peace when two cultures come together in one name,” Mubichi said.