At 6.30am on Saturday 14th May, an overcast but dry cool morning, all roads led to Nyayo Football Stadium in Nairobi as the starting point of the annual Mater Heart Run. This 10Km run/walk was started as an initiative to raise funds for the treatment of children with heart disease in Kenya.

In the early days – mid 1990’s – practically nothing was available in the country for such children. A fortunate few were sent overseas, mostly to Italy, for the necessary help. With the help of some Italian doctors and a basic minimum of donated second hand equipment an enterprising Mater team ventured to offer interventional care. Success was mixed early on but gradually with increasing training and overseas exposure the local team built up the service to a level which is comparable today to most western based programs.

Now in 2011 The Mater Hospital, Nairobi, is well known for its pioneering work in the region in pediatric cardiac surgery. The program is entirely a charity one as the vast majority of children come from really needy backgrounds and the high cost of such care makes it impossible for their families to meet the costs. The Government is not yet in a position to assist the hospital but it is hoped that this may change for the better in the future.

On Saturday May 14th we witnessed approximately 25,000 gather in Nyayo Stadium, all ready and eager to get going. After a few short rousing speeches His Eminence Cardinal Njue blessed the venture and the participants. This was followed by an enjoyable and lively warm up and then after the National Anthem the Kenya Police band led the run out of the stadium and away we went.

What a sight – in a matter of minutes a sea of green took over the main Uhuru Highway and other major roads until the first runners made their way back to the stadium within the hour. The runners were of all ages, nationalities, shapes and sizes. The route was well policed and the traffic had to give way to closed roads for the duration of the run.

On arrival back at the stadium the runners were welcomed by entertainment, welcome drinks music, comedy. The children had a ‘ball’ on the bouncing castles, with the clowns and the myriad of other entertainments.

This run is well supported in the city by the corporate community but especially by the local schools. The children each collect the equivalent of about 5 euro and for that they get the T-shirt and can participate. Safaricom – one of the main mobile phone companies – sponsor the shirts and so the money the children raise goes straight to the treatment of the heart ailments.

On the actual day The Mater linked with the National Blood Transfusion Service and together we managed to harvest blood from approximately 50 donors.
We expect to raise the equivalent of 250,000 euro from this year’s run for the heart program. This will enable us to do open heart surgery on 80 to 100 children with congenital or rheumatic heart disease.

I wish to pay special tribute to the staff of The Mater Hospital, who laboured tirelessly for weeks before to make this fundraiser a real success. 2011 has been the most successful run to date and so in the year ahead we look forward to helping more children than ever before.

Marian Dolan rsm
Kenyan Province