Humanitarian Trip to Kenya is Life-changing for Robbinsville Resident

Submitted by Jennifer Hasan, DPM

Nervous excitement is the best way to describe the rush of emotions that I felt in October 2024 after accepting an invitation by the organization Friends of Yimbo (FOY) to join their humanitarian trip to Kenya in June 2025. My purpose was to provide podiatric medical care in Yimbo, an underserved village in the western part of Kenya.

FOY is a charitable organization devoted to educating and empowering populations in and around Yimbo. The organization was founded in 2007 by brothers Charles and Ben Odipo to carry on the legacy of their father Joseph Odipo. He was a visionary who founded the Muguna Primary School, the first in the region. What began as a single classroom built by villagers is now a thriving school with 470 students and 10 classrooms. In addition to education, FOY initiatives also include access to clean water, community health, and economic development.

I was introduced to Charles and Ben by a colleague, Dr. Maria Sopchede, who participated in the humanitarian trip in 2024 and inspired me to participate in 2025. Approximately every other year FOY organizes a 12–15-day humanitarian trip to the village of Muguna in western Kenya. The trip is considered to be rugged and rustic but it is also an opportunity to see and experience the side of Kenya that tourists don’t get to see.

The eight months of preparation for the trip involved countless phone calls, emails, texts, and Zoom meetings with the Odipo family, medical authorities in Kenya, and the travelers. Medical supplies were ordered, vaccines were administered, Kenyan and Ugandan visas were obtained, trip insurance was purchased, and flights were booked.

Finally, the day came on June 21 to board the 14-hour flight from New York to Nairobi and meet up with the other 13 volunteers who came from California and Canada.

Upon arrival in the village, we were met by several hundred students, teachers, faculty, and community members and treated to a program of speeches, presentations, and traditional dance. The medical camp took place over three days in several basic classrooms within small enclosures in the Muguna School. Two hundred seventy-eight patients were seen, including 80 podiatry patients. The patients were largely impoverished and presented with a variety of conditions ranging from acute and chronic wounds, congenital deformities, and infectious diseases.

The patients were gentle and kind. Many walked or rode moped taxis for several miles to be treated at the medical camp and I was humbled by their strength, resilience, and patience. To spend time in a community where most live on less than a dollar a day and lack basic necessities such as electricity and running water and yet are proud, resourceful, and happy offers a new perspective of one’s own life and challenges.

After five days in Yimbo our group split up to visit other destinations in Africa including Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Madagascar, and Uganda. I joined seven others for a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in southwestern Uganda to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. After an eight-hour drive from Kampala we navigated through rugged terrain accompanied by a guide, trackers, security guards and porters to observe these gentle and majestic animals for one hour. Standing three feet away from a 400 lb. silverback gorilla was awe-inspiring moment that I will never forget.

The finale of the trip was a safari in the Masai Mara National Reserve in southwestern Kenya known for its high concentration of wildlife including the “Big Five” (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino). We saw all except the elusive leopard. We were also able to experience the Great Migration of wildebeests and zebras from Tanzania into Kenya which begins in July.

In the end, this was so much more than a humanitarian trip. The bonds of friendship made within the Friends of Yimbo and with my fellow travelers will last a lifetime. It was an honor and a privilege to experience the warmth and hospitality of the villagers who trusted me with their medical care. I would encourage others to come out of their comfort zone for this type of experience—and who knows…you just may see a leopard!

For more information, visit friendsofyimbo.org

Dr. Jennifer Hasan has resided in Robbinsville for 15 years with her husband Kevin Greczek, and teenage sons Jacob and Adam Greczek. She is the Chief of Podiatry at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. She has practiced podiatric medicine and surgery at Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for 22 years.

She would like to thank Dr. Maria Sophocles for introducing her to FOY and Princeton Orthopaedic Associates for their generous contribution of medical supplies for this mission.