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Kenyans expand bone marrow donor registry, as Michelle Obama urge participation on MLK Day

A section of Kenyans who turned out in large numbers at the Ushiandi PCEA church in Lowell last Sunday for a bone marrow donation drive in search of a miracle match to save the life of Stanley Nguyaii wa-Mbarii, an ailing Kenyan father of two who is suffering from Leukemia.

by Harrison Maina, Ajabu Africa News, posted January 15, 2011

Over 200 Kenyans cast their fears aside and decided to do the right thing for the community when they donated bone marrow cells in an effort to seek a cure for Stanley Nguyaii wa- Mbarii, an ailing father of two from New Hampshire who is suffering from Leukemia, also known as blood cancer.

Meanwhile, in an email to Ajabu Africa.com and it's readers, Michelle Obama, the wife of the president of the United States of America, asked all people of goodwill to turn out in big numbers this Monday to donate blood, and participate in other community projects in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday.

In her email, Mrs. Obama said that “Each January, we remember Dr. King on his own holiday -- and one of the best ways to preserve his legacy is to engage in service ourselves. As Dr. King told us, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"

That's why this Monday, January 17th, Organizing for America volunteers will be participating in service projects all across the country in Dr. King's honor. There will be food drives, neighborhood clean-ups, education projects, blood drives, and more”.

She provided a link where volunteers can find and register for events happening in their local areas.

“Please help Barack and me honor the legacy of Dr. King, and join us in service to our country once again this year”, urged Mrs. Obama.

During the bone marrow drive last Sunday, the Kenyans, who met at the PCEA Ushindi church in Lowell, added to the bone marrow registry that was recently started after another group of about 170 Kenyans donated their bone marrow at an event held at the saint Stephens church, also in Lowell , in aid of the ailing father who is member of the Saint Stephens church. Nguyaii Wa-Mbarii lost his wife 3 weeks ago to cervical and liver cancer.

Michelle Obama,urged for a large turnout at the MLK Jr. Day community events

Unfortunately that drive did not generate a miracle match for Nguyaii, making it crucial for Kenyans to press on with more drives.

The bone marrow drives have also been hailed as highly needed since expanding the number of those who are registered by donating their cells will make it much faster to locate a matching donor for Kenyans and other Africans in the US who may themselves, or their loved ones, fall sick from the deadly disease in future.

To date, close to 400 Kenyans have now donated bone marrow cells, and plans to expand the African pool in the registry even further are underway spearheaded by the Dana Faber Cancer Institute in Boston.

According to medical experts, Leukemia, commonly known as blood cancer, is usually curable by a bone marrow transplant procedure, but the hardest part in the process is to get a donor whose cells can match those of the patient.

However, only 30% of patients in the world are lucky to get a miracle match from members of their own families, leaving the rest of the 70% hoping to get a match from anyone around the world.

Experts say that people sharing similar genetic makeup, usually from the same locality or race, can create a bone marrow bank from which chances of finding a match are highly boosted.

Speaking to Ajabu Africa News at the Ushindi church venue, Diane Gemba, a donor center recruiter for the National Marrow Donor Program at the Dana Faber Cancer institute, said that she was amazed at the massive turn-up by Kenyans for the drive considering that there was another similar drive in the same city a few months ago.

Nguyaii wa-Mbarii, and his sister ( in red) flanked by friends, Priscilla Wanjiku, and Kariuki Kimungu during the bone marrow drive at the PCEA Ushindi church.

Gemba congratulated members of the Kenyan community for the exemplary example they set for other immigrant communities by registering for the much needed bone marrow registry, that will help in saving lives of those who may suffer from the lethal but curable leukemia.

“It’s unbelievable. We had about 200 people who donated cells today, and many more who did not fall in the criteria to donate, but who nevertheless gave us a lot of moral support”, said Gemba.

She added that when added to the previous drive that was held at the Saint Stephens church in Lowell back in the fall of the just concluded year, the total number of Kenyans now registered with the registry is close to 400.

“This is far much better than the turnout at other events we have done in the past in other communities. Even after we advertise so much, not more than 20 people usually show up at each event ”, said Gemba, beaming with pride at the performance by Kenyans.

She hoped that this time, a miracle match will be found for Stanley Nguyaii.

Thanking Kenyans who turned out for the highly successful event, the chairman of the committee that helped organize the bone marrow donation effort, Kariuki Kimungu also from Nashua, NH, said that he was thrilled at the progress that Kenyans were making in an effort to get a cure for the affected member.

He said that the family of Nguyaii was very happy with the progress and hoped that a match will soon be found.

Diane Gemba of the Dana Faber Cancer Institute together with Kariuki Kimungu and a staffer diring the bone marrow drive at the PCEA Ushindi church

“We are all very impressed by this big turnout, in addition to the other one we had a few months ago”, said Kimungu.

“We are all optimistic that we will finally get this miracle match, and we shall also continue to do more drives in other areas”, added the man, who has worked tirelessly with the affected family since early last year when the couple was diagnosed with cancer.

“I am so impressed with the turnout by fellow Kenyans”, said Alice Morrison, a nurse at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, who has helped many Kenyan cancer patients who get admitted to the renowned hospital.

Brigham & women’s hospital has a partnership in cancer treatment with the Dana Faber cancer institute, which is an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.

Many Kenyans who turned up and were in good health and lie between ages of 18-65 years were eager and willing as they donated towards the cause.

Others who were either younger or older also showed up eager to donate as well, but unfortunately they did not meet the criteria set. However, they provided moral support to those eligible for donations, while others volunteered to administer the simple mouths swabs as well as paperwork to go with each donation.

Alice Morrison, left, and Lucy Gaiti, who survived breast cancer narrowly after it was detected and treated right on time.Morrison helped Gaiti during her period of treatment.

"It’s a great day when you see all these Kenyans come here to donate bone marrow for the sake of an unfortunate member. I commend them and hope a cure will be available now”, said Rev. Samuel Kimohu of Saint Stephens’s church, flashing a donors card that he received after he attended the initial drive.

Many community leaders and observers hope that the selfless generosity shown by Kenyans for the well being of the community during the bone marrow drive will lead them and others to come out in big numbers on Monday , January 17 to donate blood and do other community work in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Ajabu Pictorial