el khenka hospital project

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For our project this semester in our Personal Growth & Adjustment class, we went to the general hospital in Al Khenka in the Qalyubiya
Governate just outside of Cairo.  We went on a Saturday and brought food and prepared meals for all the patients in the hospital (no small
feat).  We also brought blankets and baby clothes for the newborn babies.  Finally, we raised 52,000 LE (over $9000) in just a few weeks
to buy infant ICU units (incubators).  Thanks to everyone who participated and donated to make this project such a success.

 
Here everyone is putting the meals together for the patients.  We gave them half a chicken, rice, vegetables, juice, and rice pudding.

 
Some of the class members handing out the meals.  On the right, one of the very happy recipients.

Mireille with a couple of the nurses.

 
I wish you could have seen the faces of the patients when these caring young women served them their meals.  Not only
the food, but the empathy and care they showed them really made a difference.

This is a little boy who was found on the street and brought to the hospital.  The director of the hospital said
that they get at least one per week that is left in the street in a box.  Four in the last week.  We gave this little
guy some blankets, booties, and clothes.

 
These are a couple of the babies to whom we gave some new clothes and blankets.  You can see some of the
blankets above the head of the little boy on the left.

This is one of the incubators at the hospital.  They are expanding the infant ICU area to 15 beds but as yet
have had only four units.  The government gives very limited funding to the hospital, and certainly does
not buy new equipment of any sort.  So all of these kinds of equipment have to be provided by donation.

Some of the gang while we were waiting for others to arrive

We were all pretty tired after the day--it was very hot.  But there seemed to be wide agreement that it was a great experience.

The delivery of the incubators at Al Khenka hospital happened on Thursday, May 30th.  We made the donation
that day of 52,000 LE (over US$ 9000) for the four new incubator units.  Pictured here the directors of the hospital;
two humanitarian aid volunteers, Grant and Lenore Gerber, from Latter-Day Saint Charities who also made a
donation to the infant ICU room of the hospital; Dr. Matthew Whoolery from AUC (me); and Salma Sherif who represented the
students from the Psychology 302 class in making the donation.

 
A new monitor for the incubators that measures pulse, ox-sat, blood pressure, etc.  On the right, Grant Gerber trying out the new machine

 
One of the little babies in the hospital, getting a nice new blanket.  You really didn't want to see what he had before...

Here is one of the incubators already in the hospital.