The Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences is in Eldoret, Kenya, a town of 100,000 people, at an elevation of 7,000 feet in the Rift Valley Ð sunny days and cool nights. It is a place of misery and marvel, heartbreak and hope. There, since 1990, the IUSM faculty, led by its Division of General Internal Medicine, has collaborated with the Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences in a program that profoundly touches all who experience it. Moi University established its medical school in 1990. The first class graduated in the Fall of 1997. The IU-Moi program supports one full-time IU faculty member on site, who shares with his or her Kenyan counterparts the responsibilities for teaching, patient care and curriculum development at the medical school and affiliated hospitals and health center.

Residents from IUSM may choose to take an eight-week elective and students a six-week rotation in Eldoret. Moi University students have had the opportunity to take a rotation at IUSM since May 1995 when Moi's first class reached its clinical clerkships.

" . . . Without a ventilator and an endotracheal tube, there was no way to save this child. The medical officer and I regarded each other, and he reached over and clasped my arm. "These ones are always difficult," was all I remember him saying. I looked at this doctor, a man I respect as a colleague and as my teacher, and I saw in his eyes the same anger and frustration that I felt . . . of knowing what to do without having the tools with which to do it. For that brief moment, despite our cultural difference, we truly understood each other."

John Sidle, MD
A resident in Kenya, 1996, and Team Leader for the IU-Moi Program for 1998-1999 "The days started early and each day was not only spent on patient management but also on the enhancement of oneÕs knowledge of patient care. There is an over reliance and overuse of diagnostic tests as a means to determine patient management with less time or emphasis on patient physical exam . . . Students do not get much hands-on experience . . . "

Franklin Rono
Moi University student who completed a rotation at IUSM in 1996

"Work at the hospital continues to be demanding, rewarding, frustrating, draining. We are remodeling the nursery and the work is proceeding well. The plumbing drains empty to the outside for the first time Ð the nurses and other staff are very excited . . . help(ing) morale . . . is very important for many of the wonderful staff members who are working for the long haul."

Jim Lemons, MD
Hugh McK Landon professor of pediatrics, July 3, 1994

"Our students learn to work with their hands and their eyes in the absence of high technology when in Kenya. They amaze themselves. Kenya shows us life without its veneer."

Joe Mamlin, MD
Professor of medicine at IU and a co-founder of the IU-Moi medical exchange program 1990 - 91

"Our experience meant . . . living in and understanding another culture, making the world seem smaller than it did before, giving a little something because we could, frustration and sadness when we couldn't give enough, deep gratitude for our country and health care system, learning new and creative ways to deliver care, singing songs without caring if you knew what the words meant, knowing it was coming from your heart and theirs . . .

"Julie and Jeff Myers, MDs
IUSM students, Kenya, 1996

"The nursery has quads here!! They were all born vaginally, attended by a midwife, and doing well. The mother is quite ill due to blood loss, and of course, she has no milk so they are only able to get cow's milk . . . no breast milk from other mothers because of fear of AIDS. I worry they will die of feeding intolerance. There is no formula available here, and no bottles either . . . they spill the milk into the babies' mouths. If you survive around here, you are hardy!"

Pam Lemons, RN
Professor of pediatrics, volunteer at Eldoret Community Hospital, June 13, 1994

"Having stayed in Indiana for 7 weeks, the first week was overwhelming, I believe this is a great place to work. It has been a great experience both professionally and socially and this may make me a better citizen of my country."

John Kariri, MBChB 1970-1998)
Moi University student who completed a rotation at IUSM in 1996

"Jambo (hello)! It's not a lot different here except that everyone speaks another language and the weather is perfect and there are all kinds of wild exotic animals and you drive on the left side of the road and you can't drink the water and the country is beautiful and mountainous and there are all kinds of strange plants."

Kevin Lemons
College student and son of Pam Lemons, RN, and James Lemons, MD. Kevin taught in a Kenya school while his parents volunteered at Moi University, 1994