special projects ICROSS Kenya 2010

OUR WORK

SPECIAL PROJECTS
Among the long term programmes that ICROSS has been directly involved in has been series of interventions. These special projects respond to immediate needs like ethnic violence, epidemics, disease outbreaks and famines. This year, we responded to three unpredicted needs.

i. DROUGHT

The failure of the rains in 2009 caused the Maasai nomadic communities to lose their livestock over 70% of animals died during the drought. ICROSS was able to provide many families milk and goats and provide nutritional support to under nourished children. We have developed an institutional memory for drought response. Our very first activities among the Maasai in 1980 to 1984 were famine relief and drought preparedness. Almost 30 years later the experience ICROSS health teams have been supporting over 3000 moderately malnourished children in worst hit areas.

ii. CHOLERA CONTROL

Together with the ministry of health, we launched a district wide cholera prevention programme, covering all of Kajiado district. The Ministry of Health and ICROSS teams covered all high risk areas for cholera outbreaks in a cholera control initiative. ICROSS teams also introduced child to child cholera prevention in homes and villages across Maasai land.

i. TRACHOMA

Since 1994, we have been developing new ways of reducing blindness from trachoma. The Maasai have one of the highest rates of trachoma blindness in the world. This bacterium is the largest preventable cause of blindness in the world. In 2010, the ICROSS research team improved on the designs of its fly trap; the latest design is a simplification of the previous model developed with Prof David Morley. In 2011, we will test the improved fly trap.