Over the years the centre has grown and evolved, they now take any child in need who is brought to them. They run many outreach programmes within the rural and far reaching areas of the district, Fortunately polio has almost been irradicated in the country however the workload has not declined as treatment for this has been replaced by the treatment of Cerebral Palsy, seemingly on the increase, wi
th the centre now treating 130 children with this condition in their own homes which are spread all over the district. The centre physiotherapist, Joseph, going out to see the families in their own homes or villages and teach the parents techniques to help their children grow and thrive. Another usual injury requiring the centre to step in is burns, Masaai families live in traditional Manyatas - a one roomed hut with an open fire in a trough in the centre. The hut is home to the entire family as well as their animals so often has very little room, it is all too easy for babies and toddlers to crawl or topple into this fire, the burns then being treated by the family using traditional herbal potions, this often however, means that skin doesn't heal correctly resulting in deformities, especially of hands and knees, often to the extent that the child cannot walk because knees do not bend. The centre works closely with the local boy and girls schools ensuring that the children can enter mainstream schooling. They have a number of young girls who ran away and knowing they would be taken in and protected by the centre made their way there rather than suffer usual practice of being to be married to middle age men so their fathers could claim the dowrys of 6 cows, 10,000 shillings and some bedding materials or who were about to undergo female circumcision, a practice still enforced by many families, before being married. The centre and local girls school work together tirelessly to educate against both these practices and encourage children to be allowed to stay in education.
