It takes two days by road to get to Kenya's remote county of Mandera from Nairobi, an area that lies adjacent to the Somalian and Ethiopian borders. Fortunately, it takes me less than two hours to get there by a special United Nations flight.
Then it's 60 minutes by dirt road to one of Africa's modern miracles - a health centre, otherwise known as a Community Life Center (CLC). Today it is been inaugurated by Ali Roba, Governor of Mandera County, a populist, but also a man with a target on his back.
Roba has been threatened by the Somalian Al-Shabaab group who have promised to kill him. He has already survived seven assassination attempts and five weeks ago, the car travelling in convoy ahead of him was taken out by a RPG and three people died.
He's ahead of me in the convoy, eight cars protected by a security detail. The trip here has almost been cancelled because Kenya's President Kenyatta had planned to drop into Mandera because there is an important national election in August and he needs votes. Fortunately, he decided to stay in Nairobi.
The cars drive very fast, aquaplaning perfectly over the dirt. Nerves are taut, elections are never good news for those with targets on their back, nor for those travelling with them.
The CLC has been created by a collaboration between the United Nations Population Fund, the Government of Mandera County and Dutch health technology company Philips that used to sell lightbulbs and electronic products, now it saves lives.
This new primary care and community hub is part of Philips’ ongoing commitment to improve access to quality primary healthcare and decrease maternal and infant mortality rates – a huge challenge across Sub-Saharan Africa. Philips has already opened a CLC in Nairobi, now it is opening one in one of the earth's harshest terrains.
Mandera County is hard to reach, dangerous and is a dry part of North-Eastern Kenya... and that maternal mortality ratio is a staggering 3,795 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
It is also a border region that struggles with a growing number of refugees fleeing the Somalian civil war and in need of care. Other challenges include a lack of qualified healthcare workers, non-operability of available medical equipment, a lack of electricity, water and basic healthcare technology as well as a lack of sustainability and reliable data on the population’s health.
The newly inaugurated CLC will provide the community with modern, high quality, integrated health services for mother and child care, together with general health services and facilities for the diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases.
“The inauguration of the CLC in Mandera is an important milestone in finding new ways for significantly advancing maternal and new-born health outcomes in the six counties in Kenya, which contribute close to 50% of all maternal deaths in the country,” said Dr. Ademola Olajide, UNFPA Country Representative to Kenya.
At the same time, the CLC will offer the community a clean energy supply, employment opportunities, and the potential to develop commercial activities. It will also act as a secure social activity hub within reach of around 40,000 people.
“The healthcare challenges in Mandera are hugely concerning; and they are a reflection of the issues and realities faced by millions of individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our Philips Community Life Center platform is a new delivery model and our ambition is to introduce this throughout Africa to improve access to primary healthcare", said Jasper Westerink, CEO Philips Africa.
At the site itself, there certainly appears to be a market for it among the population. Throngs of women and children are waiting for the center to open while the representatives of the UN, Philips and Mandera County MPs talk the talk, sign the papers and shake hands.
After the perfunctory tour, VIPs are sheltered under a tent as local elders and pregnant women thank and petition them for further services such as an ambulance. It is enacted with pomp, fanfare and not a little humor.
After hours of presentations and speeches, Governor Roba finally gets his turn and he's a professional, whipping up the crowd into a frenzy as he petitions them in turn for votes in next month's election.
Then, it is all over. The convoy rushes out of town, speeding back to the UN 32-seater plane on the non-tarmac waiting to take everybody back to Nairobi.
No assassination attempts today, the job is done, leaving behind a beacon of hope for Kenyan women who can now walk to a maternity ward, instead of being hauled by a camel. This is progress of the most sublime kind.
