On Friday, November 28, 2008, Mark Willis along with 40 other local medical professionals left Akron, traveled to Kenya on a medical mission.
In addition to being a lawyer, Mark Willis is a licensed EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). The trip was sponsored by Care Kenya (Care-Kenya.org) in affiliation with Ohio University’s School of Medicine, Ohio Northern School of Pharmacy, and Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. The group operated out of the Care Kenya Medical Clinic in the village of Masara, Kenya.
They saw approximately 3,500 patients in a little over two weeks. As an EMT, Mark Willis had been asked to go on the trip to help with the intake and triage of hundreds of people who would show up at the clinic on a daily basis. In addition to routine well being medical care, the mission group treated wounds, injuries, and diseases. One baby was born at the clinic. Prenatal vitamins were supplied to all pregnant women. A year’s supply of children’s vitamins was distributed to all children. Toothbrushes and toothpaste were supplied to all children and prescription medication was dispensed to all as needed. The mission group took about 5,000 pairs of used eyeglasses. The group obtained an optical refractor and was able to determine prescription for eyeglasses and filled the prescription from the inventory of used eyeglasses. The gift of eyesight was magical and it could be seen on their smiling faces. The days were long, but the work was rewarding.
