Solidarity

Our support in Kenya

Tenax has organized for years a fundraising for the activity of volunteer doctors in the hospital of Wamba, Kenya, on the border with Sudan. Many doctors from around the world go to this facility and work for free – among them, there are the Florentine surgeons Roberto Santoro and Aimo Frittelli, who promote the solidarity event on behalf of the non-profit organization Wamba Athena.

Wamba Hospital was founded in the ‘60s by the “Consolata Missionaries” in order to meet the needs of the local population, that back then was isolated from the rest of the country. In 1969, Bishop Mgr. Cavallera entrusted the hospital organization and management to Dr. Silvio Prandoni – physician specialized in tropical diseases.

Today, the hospital can count on 175 beds and offers to its patients a variety of services: pediatrics, obstetrics, surgery, radiology, physiotherapy and postoperative intensive care. There is also a pharmacy able to independently produce medicines, and a mobile clinic to vaccinate, do prenatal check-ups, treat diseases that don’t need hospitalization, and offer educational and preventions programs about AIDS, TB and malnutrition. The hospital takes care of the medical needs of about 200,000 people.

In addition to the arid nature of the territory, the area of Wamba is characterized by a widespread and deep poverty – due to an economy based on a nomadic pastoralism, shepherds constantly move in search of new pastures, while women and children are left alone in the misery of their villages made of shrubs and excrements In this context, every year there are about 400 children, aged 1-12, hospitalized in pediatric wards, who are generally not able to pay for their daily hospital bills.

The most common diseases are malaria, bronchopneumonia, gastroenteritis, debilitation caused by malnutrition and TB. Additionally, many families can’t afford the hospitalization of their women in labor and premature babies.

Over the years, several artists – such as Piero Pelù, Bandabardò, Marina Rei, Dolcenera, Negrita, Gatti Mézzi, Beppe Voltarelli.

Not only since 2007 has Tenax supported fundraising campaigns promoted by big organizations like Emergency and UNICEF, but the club also helped the earthquake victims in Abruzzo.