Lobur Mission Dispensary

The Lobur Mission Dispensary is a healthcare project located at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Diocese of Lodwar, Turkana County, in northwestern Kenya near Kenya’s border with South Sudan and Ethiopia. Turkana has the highest poverty rate in Kenya with 83 percent of the population in need. Sixty-four percent of the population suffers from food poverty. Infant mortality is 40 deaths per 1,000 live births. The average life expectancy is just 60.

The Lobur Mission Dispensary serves the semi-nomadic pastoralist Turkana population of Kibish Sub-County. It is one of four church-sponsored dispensaries in the Sub-County. No other health facilities serve this impoverished population. The Lobur Dispensary has a small hospital ward and medical offices located on parish land; it also conducts mobile clinics throughout the Sub-County. The population experiences high rates of malnutrition, childhood stunting, high maternal and infant mortality, death from snake bites and parasitic infections. The dispensary refers serious medical cases and all surgical cases to Lodwar District Hospital or Lodwar Referral Hospital, which is more than 100 miles away.

This project will assist the dispensary with the purchase of medications and medical supplies, fuel for mobile clinics, transport and treatment of referral patients and staff salaries.