The adopt-a-bed program for Friends Lugulu Mission Hospital in Western Kenya has been in place for some time. The hope of this web page is to give you a better idea of the types of patients who benefit from your donations to the adopt-a-bed program.

Lugulu lies in a subsistence farming community in Kenya near the border to Uganda. The standard of living is very low. Generally people do not have running water in their houses. They rely on bore holes or streams whose water is generally not pretreated. Families are large, generally averaging about eight children, although the more educated people average having about four. The houses are frequently made of mud and stucco with cow dung being used to patch the holes. Most houses consist of two rooms and a separate kitchen.

Food in a household of a subsistence farmer generally consists of sweet potatoes, bananas, and maize corn although with traditional vegetables. Sticks are collected by children to be used for cooking. The GDP per capita is US $372 and Kenya is the 22nd poorest country in the world with the third largest gap between rich and poor.

Due to such poverty many people are unable to pay their hospital bills, despite the fact that they appear quite low by North American standards. Friends Lugulu Hospital, as part of its mission, frequently provides care to patients who are obviously not able to pay. The hospital tries to stay well stocked and have supplies, treatments, and medial providers available for all types of emergencies, something which the government hospitals do not routinely do. Patients who cannot pay burden the services which an already financially strapped hospital is able to provide.

As a point of clarification, the hospital rarely refuses care to patients as long as they promise to pay. This means, however, that in order for the hospital to get paid at all it needs to maintain a policy of not letting a patient go home until the bill is paid. Frequently partial payments are accepted and overall the hospital collects about 60% of what it bills. Yet at times patients, due to outstanding bills, stay in the hospital for long periods. Others are discharged earlier at a considerable financial loss to the hospital. Every patient, no matter how poor, is expected to pay at least something in the realization that medical care is not free.

Where does adopt-a-bed come in? Adopt-a-bed is a general fund. This fund allows donors to adopt patients who would otherwise not be able to pay. In doing so the fund permits the hospital to continue to treat poor patients in spite of the expense involved. Because of US tax deductibility laws funds cannot be given directly to a specific individual but must go to a general fund.

We hope, on a monthly or bimonthly basis, to provide short stories about the types of patients who are benefiting or will benefit from the adopt-a-bed program. Again, although no donations can be given directly to any specific patient, they can be designated in honor of a specific patient's story. We hope these stories give you as readers insight into the need of the patients here as well as substantiate the help which your donations can provide.

Contributions

If you or your church would like to make a contribution to the Adopt-a-Bed program, please contact us via the contributions page or the address below. Please include a note on the check for "Lugulu Adopt-a-Bed" or "Lugulu Adopt-a-Patient".