The heritage of Chogoria

EXACTLY one hundred years ago, on October 9 1922, a laden motor car wound its way slowly on rutted tracks, in and out of the deep valleys on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, eventually reaching an open, treeless ridge. The place was called Chogoria, and this was the start of the Chogoria Mission, led by Scottish missionary doctor Clive Irvine, with his wife Joy.

There had been years of preparation, as the Church of Scotland Mission, first established at Kikuyu over 20 years earlier, sought to take the gospel into this part of Kenya. Dr Irvine, an Aberdeen graduate who stayed on after doing war service in East Africa, offered to go. With the agreement of the Foreign Mission Committee of the Church of Scotland, and funding for the first five years promised by Dr Irvine’s father-in-law Ernest Carr (of the Carr’s Biscuits family), land was found and leased, and material for a wood-and-iron bungalow sent ahead on 70 ox-carts along those same muddy tracks.

From the beginning, Dr Irvine had the vision of a threefold ministry: the Christian gospel, effective health care, and good education. Together with Kenyans trained in the earlier-established mission stations, he travelled out into the area, sharing the gospel as he treated the medical conditions he found, with what medicines he had. Gradually more buildings were put up, first in mud-and-wattle, then wood, and, when good clay was found locally, in baked brick.

Even in the first year, the mission had electricity, supplied by a small hydroelectric generator at the foot of the waterfall in the valley below. This enabled the use of other machines big and small. However, it produced DC electricity, so when in later years an X-Ray machine was purchased, an AC diesel generator was needed.

The first hospital building was just two wards, joined centrally with a consulting room, an operating room, and a pharmacy. This made simple surgery possible, and in-patient care could be offered, as the local folk began to trust in this kind of medicine.

The church was also built in brick, designed in an unusual style by Dr Irvine himself, and paid for by many donations from Scotland, the names still inscribed on the walls. The congregation grew steadily, with local leadership, and enthusiastic singing kept in time for many years by the beating of a big drum. In the 1940s the East African Revival reached Chogoria, resulting in a great surge of people coming to deep faith, and bringing strength to the church.

Schools were set up, with teachers from other parts of Kenya and overseas. As well as growing numbers of primary schools, these developed into two well-respected secondary schools, now nationally recognised. This was important to Dr Irvine, as he said: “We believe that education in a Christian school under Christian teachers is essential if Africa is to become a Christian continent.”

As the number of hospital patients grew, and more effective treatments arrived with the advent of antibiotics, the maternity and paediatric wards were built, plus a separate operating theatre. And accommodation for the steady numbers of nurses, dressers and medical assistants in training. By now there were also eight staffed dispensaries out in the community, which the doctor visited weekly in turn. The faith and strength of the young institution were tested in the 1930s by the strong local opposition to their stand against female circumcision, and again in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising, when at least one local woman, Mariamu, was martyred for refusing to betray her Christian faith. Many in the church stood strong.

As Kenya moved towards Independence, the Presbyterian Church of East Africa was established, which took on responsibility for Chogoria, as it still does today, together with the two other hospitals which grew out of the Church of Scotland Mission in Kenya.

A major change for Chogoria was the retiral of Dr Irvine in 1961, after almost 40 years. Into his shoes stepped Dr Jack Wilkinson (my father), then Dr Geoff Irvine (Dr Clive’s son), followed by a steady succession of able doctors taking the hospital forward. Many of these were Scots, and one said recently “Our years at Chogoria were the most fulfilling in our life.” (Drs Scott and Mary Murray 1982-88)

In the 1970s a whole new hospital was built, with funding from Germany, expanding the facilities to 300 beds with two operating theatres. This of course required more staff. The old hospital buildings became the new larger base of the established Nurse Training School, increasing the numbers trained as Enrolled Nurses, and later Kenya Registered Community Health Nurses. Now called the Clive Irvine College of Health Sciences, it is still much respected nationally.

As well as greatly increased in-patient facilities, the hospital leadership expanded work in the community, taking health care and preventative medicine out to where the people lived, opening many new clinics under the supervision of the Community Health Department. The arrival of the tarmac road helped link these communities, although the side roads were still just dirt - or mud in the rainy season.

By now there were five doctors in the hospital, and specialist care programmes were being developed. A milestone was reached in 1994 when the hospital was approved for intern training, and young Kenyan medical graduates arrived to learn practical skills while helping with the workload. This was the start of Chogoria offering postgraduate medical training, which has since expanded into the Family Medicine training programme, and a Surgical Residency programme. And over the years, many medical students have been inspired by their experience in Chogoria.

The hospital became a tertiary referral centre for surgery, and specialist care. An HIV/AIDS clinic was opened, the Dental Unit rebuilt, a CT scanner installed, a kidney dialysis unit developed. Two more operating theatres have been built to cope with the volume of surgery. The oxygen plant is being doubled in size. There are clinics for diabetes, palliative care, eye conditions, as well as gynaecology, antenatal care, medicine, and paediatrics. The chaplain evangelists are active in every area.

And almost all the staff are Kenyan, and Kenya-trained. It had been my privilege to be part of the team for nearly 15 years, but as the last long-term Scot, I left in 2006. Since then links have developed with American missions, keeping the international connections strong. And from Scotland the “Friends of Chogoria” continue to pray for and maintain strong contacts with Chogoria. But in the hospital, the leadership team is entirely Kenyan.

And through it all, one hundred years on, echoes Dr Irvine’s original vision of bringing together the three strands - the Christian gospel, good education, and effective health care. That is the heritage on which Chogoria is built. And how it has grown and developed, to the glory of God, is what we are going to celebrate together when we gather in Chogoria on October 9.

friendsofchogoria@gmail.com PCEA Chogoria Hospital website https://pceachogoriahospital.org/