July 2026 Letter from the President for Website News and Perspectives
The Wings of Hope Global Cooperative’s African Adventure with a team of travelers needed to pause in June 2026 to allow me to venture on my own to establish the infrastructure for the establishment of the Osiligi Medical Center.
Thanks to the Build Health International design team, I was able to promote this project in Kenya with a Campus Development Plan of 18 visuals. These included images of a hospital, outpatient buildings, a maintenance facility, a cultural center and covered walkways surrounding a commons area.
I had five main objectives for my trip from June 16-29. Progress was either made towards completing them or they were accomplished.
My two primary objectives were to obtain the endorsement of Kenyan health officials for this plan and secure a signed memorandum of understanding between the Wings of Hope Global Cooperative, the Narok Health Department and the local Maasai Oversight Committee. The endorsement has been made and the MOU needed some modification but is nearly ready for signature.
My third objective was to have traditional and western medicine integrated in a pharmacy or hospital. At present, they are not and I hope this will be changed, since this integration is going to be an important feature of the proposed Osiligi Medical Center. On my trip, I met with the Honorable Lemanken Aramat, a Maasai member of Parliament and encouraged him to advocate for the integration of the two forms of medicine. On the last day of the trip, I connected with Professor Kefa Bosire, a molecular biologist, who wrote his PhD dissertation on traditional Maasai medicine. He was excited about collaborating with a team of Maasai advocates for making it permissible to integrate traditional and western medicines in medical facilities.
My fourth objective was to oversee the two-day Wings of Hope Health Fair for the Maasai people. This event was successful and I was able to debrief with the ten medical practitioners to gain their feedback on how to improve the health fair.
The fifth objective necessitated that I verify the patient records to determine how well the maternity clinic served the community. I learned that the clinic patient records needed to be better maintained and the ObGyn needed to be more available to address the Maasai health concerns. Additionally, I wanted to check the inventory of Wings of Hope equipment to ensure that it was all secure. I discovered that security was lax and more attention needed to be given to locking the offices when not in use as well as the main entrances to the two medical facilities already completed. The memo of understanding between the Kenyan government, Wings of Hope and the local Maasai community will promote security for investor donations and sustainability for the medical services provided by the local health department.
Pulling together the construction team was also important. With Kikanae Punyua, Wings of Hope contact in Kenya, I met with a local Narok contractor and architect and shared the Build Health International Campus Development Plan. I also met with members of the Build Health International team in Nairobi to discuss their role in overseeing the local builders and ensuring that construction conforms to planned specifications and government regulations.
Finally, I received appreciation from Ole Punyua Primary School for the Wings of Hope donation of 26 laptops and met members of the Enkare Narok Rotary Club who expressed interest in software application and infrastructural development for digital education.
The new Rotary, medical and government contacts made during this journey will certainly advance the quality of Maasai education and healthcare. This was a very productive trip!
David Weeks
President, Wings of Hope Global Cooperative
