Doctor’s trip to Kenya to open clinic eye-opening

Published 12:01 am Thursday, June 30, 2011

MUKILTEO — Steve Morris has traveled to Africa many times over the years to teach naturopathic medicine and to work with botanists.

This spring’s trip to Kenya was different.

A patient at Steve Morris’ naturopathic clinic in Mukilteo asked him to set up a clinic for the Wana Duma Children’s Project in the western part of Kenya.

Wana Duma is the home of 60 orphans, about half of them HIV-positive. These children lost their families to AIDS, and the mission of Wana Duma is to improve their lives.

Steve Morris, 59, and his son Shawn, 24, got on the plane to Kenya to help.

After arriving in Nairobi, they drove to the small town of Gilgil, where Wana Duma is located. Shawn Morris chronicled the trip in a blog.

Steve Morris began examining children right away and treating them for asthma, diarrhea and other diseases. The father and son brought a bagful of medicine with them.

Steve Morris is a family physician, but he uses natural remedies. His eldest son, Aaron, 26, practices with him in Mukilteo. Shawn Morris also is studying to be a naturopath.

The Morris family grow their own food, keep bees and cultivate herbs on their farm near Clinton.

Steve Morris grew up in Boston and developed a love for farming from his grandfather. The time in the 1970s he spent living in a kibbutz, an Israeli communal farm, fueled his passion for growing food.

Working with the Wana Duma Project in Kenya was bitter-sweet for Steve Morris. “It just shook my world,” he said.

He saw children who came into the world already infected with HIV. He saw a country where an entire generation — adults roughly between ages 25 and 40 — fell victim to AIDS. That’s why many so many children are being raised by grandmothers, Steve Morris said.

He visited several of those grandmothers, too, performing physical exams and treating their health problems. In Kenya, like in other third-world countries, the availability of processed foods and soda brought on a rise in diabetes.

“Diabetes is rampant there. Soda pop is cheaper than pure water,” Steve Morris said.

The men saw many things that weren’t right with Africa. They also saw breathtaking natural beauty and rich cultural heritage.

“People were humble, welcoming and generous with their time,” Shawn Morris said. “They would give you anything.”

He said the trip made him realize that he wants to work in a place where people don’t have access to basic health care.

The experience sent ripples through the lives of the Morris family. Steve and Aaron Morris are planning a trip to start a clinic in Peru, where Steve Morris has worked as well.

They also are helping a family Steve Morris met in Kenya: 23-year-old Miriam, who is about to give birth to her first child, and her two younger sisters. Their parents died from AIDS. They were living in a shack without a kitchen or bathroom when Steve and Shawn Morris met them. Thanks to the Morrises, the sisters now have a clean, safe place to call home.

Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452; kyefimova@heraldnet.com.

Learn more

To learn more about the Wana Duma Children’s Project, go to www.wanaduma.org.

Read Shawn Morris’ blog at wanadumahealthproject.blogspot.com.