Students for Kenya held a screening of “Sons of Lwala,” a documentary exposing conditions in Lwala and shedding light on the efforts of two Vanderbilt medical students.
The documentary was written, produced, narrated and directed by Barry Simmons. The film centers around the journey of two Vanderbilt Medical School students, Milton and Fred Ochieng, who started a medical clinic in their hometown of Lwala, Kenya. The event also featured performances from Variations and Spoken Word.
After two years of filming, the documentary premiered this past April and has since won three awards from the Nashville Film Festival.
The documentary gives background information on the brothers, their parents and childhood in Lwala. Both brothers attended Dartmouth College and Milton Ochieng, the oldest, was the first person from Lwala to travel to the United States. The documentary comments on the village’s collective effort to raise funds for his plane ticket for his initial trip. After his neighbors supported his academic pursuits, Ochieng promised not to forget them, and much of his drive for maintaining the clinic spurs from their generosity.
The planning for the clinic began with the Ochiengs’ father who assisted in design plans. In 2005, after their father’s death from AIDS, they continued his dream by breaking ground on the clinic. They proceeded to raise funds in the U.S. from middle and high schools, the band Jars of Clay, and Blood: Water Missions. The documentary also featured Vanderbilt Students for Kenya’s first Lwala Benefit Gala that raised $10,000.
In March of 2007 the clinic had its grand opening, and it served over 12,000 patients in its first eight months.
“It is inspirational to know that two people made a huge difference while still in medical school, and this shows what we at Vanderbilt are capable of,” said Public Relations Chair for Students for Kenya Becca Qian.
This year’s Lwala Benefit Gala will be held March 26, 2009. For more information on getting involved please contact rebecca.y.qian@vanderbilt.edu.
