When people can’t get to the hospital, you bring the hospital to them.

Across Big Life’s area of operation, many remote Maasai communities lack access to basic healthcare services. Expecting people to care about wildlife conservation isn’t realistic if we don’t care about them in return.

We launched our Backpack Nurse Program in 2022 together with our longstanding partners at CHASE Africa. It started with a small group of tenacious nurses loaded with backpacks full of basic medicines, riding motorbikes to the most remote corners of the ecosystem. Today, that number has grown to 42. In just a few years, these nurses have provided essential healthcare services to thousands of people.

Now, thanks to renewed funding from CHASE Africa, we are able to dramatically amplify this impact in the form of integrated outreach clinics.

The first just took place in Njukuni, a remote village in Rombo. Big Life provided the transportation, managed the logistics, and coordinated 12 medical professionals from the Kajiado County Ministry of Health.

In a single visit, more than 350 community members were able to access a range of services, including: family planning, antenatal care, ultrasound, malaria treatment, cancer and HIV screenings, eye exams, and comprehensive curative care and follow ups.

This is just the beginning. We will be hosting at least one integrated outreach clinic every month until the end of 2028, reaching villages identified by Ministry of Health as having the greatest obstacles to healthcare.

It’s an initiative that will save and improve the lives of thousands of people.

We are grateful to our supporters the world over, and our partners at CHASE Africa and the Ministry of Health for making a difference in the lives of so many. Because conservation only succeeds when communities lead.

📽️: Joshua Clay