The HospiceCare Inc. & Meru Hospice Partnership

Meru Hospice

In 2009, Meru Hospice’s three nurses and eight additional staff provided hospice services to 219 patients (67 percent with cancer and 33 percent with HIV/AIDS)*. With impassable roads during the two rainy seasons, most patients or their family members walk to the clinic for care. There were 1,433 clinic visits, and staff made 191 home visits and 148 in-hospital visits. The staff maintain a huge kitchen garden as well. A two-year drought has made food distribution a key part of the physical care of hospice patients and families.

Despite the many challenges they face, the Meru Hospice and community confront these hardships with determination and heart. In November 2009, 500 people participated in a fundraising walk, collecting $3,000, a huge sum in this part of the world. In 2010, they plan to serve 300 patients.

HospiceCare Inc./Meru Hospice Partnership

The HospiceCare Inc./Meru Hospice Partnership is a grassroots effort born of one staff members trip to Meru in 2003 and her account of the tremendous need. At first, bake sales raised funds and an all-volunteer committee came together to coordinate support.

Since then, the effort has grown. HospiceCare staff, volunteers and community members donate their time to coordinate grants, fundraisers and technical support. From these efforts, Meru Hospice has been the beneficiary of two $25,000 grants from the Caritas Foundation, a $3,000 gift to establish a kitchen garden, and a Toyota Land Rover, which at the time of donation, was their only vehicle.

Since that first trip in 2003, more than 20 people have made the trip to Meru at their own expense, and each time, extra luggage is stuffed with essential medications and supplies—resources that the Meru Hospice staff stretch to comfort as many patients as possible.

The formal partnership with HospiceCare Inc. makes rooms at HospiceCare available for meetings and fundraisers, and enables HospiceCare staff to donate through a payroll deduction program.

* Statistics are from Meru Hospice Annual Report 2009

To learn more about the Meru Hospice and how their staff are making a difference in Kenya, visit their website at www.meruhospice.or.ke.

How to contribute to the project
If you would like to make a donation toward the project, checks should be made payable to HospiceCare Inc./Meru Hospice Partnership and send to HospiceCare Inc., 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison, WI  53711.

You may also download the  Adopt a Patient brochure .

For more information or to donate your time for fund-raising events, community presentations, or to help distribute information, call Amanda Pischke at HospiceCare at 327-7103.