PRESENTATION
Kateri Medical Services
The Rev. Tom Furrer
Rollie Sterrett introduced The Rev. Tom Furrer, currently part-time rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wethersfield. Tom retired from Trinity Tarriffville in 2016 and has been involved in Kateri Medical Services in Nigeria for 20 years, a ministry to serve the rural poor in Nigeria. He was appointed an Archdeacon in Nigeria, so his proper title is Venerable.
Planning was required to get this medical mission off the ground. The beginnings were humble.
Today Kateri has a staff of 20. The initial location serves approximately 5,200 patients every year. And there are a number of locations which have been created, as well as additional locations in the planning stages.
Our club has helped to fund these free medical missions over the years. Unfortunately the challenges with COVID have made these clinics impossible for several years. It's hard to get the visas and clearance for volunteers to be able to get into Nigeria. Even without these clinics, Kateri served 14,000 patients last year.
The mobile clinics involve taking a truck with a doctor and a nurse to even more remote areas. There has also been some limitation in the time of COVID.
The Graceland clinic at Gusau is especially notable, because it is located in Northern Nigeria, which is a Muslim area. Christians in that area have been badly mistreated by Muslim groups so radical that they will also terrorize other Muslims they don't consider orthodox enough in their religion. The bishop in Nigera counseled Kateri to serve Muslim as well as Christian patients to win acceptance in a largely Muslim country. Muslim patients are equally accepted, and some staff members are Muslim.
Several clinics have been built in various locations through donations for memorials to individuals - all who have had medical-related careers in this country. Donors have also been generous in continuing to fund the operations of the memorial locations.
There are additional clinics planned:
With the clinics planned for completion in the next year, there are ten clinic locations.
And there is hope for more clinics to come:
The vision for Kateri is great, because the need is great. The work done at Kateri helps to bring understand to our world. May it thrive in years to come.
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