At Lincoln South Rotary Club on March 25, our presenter was Kim Baxter of North Platte Noon Rotary. He shared stories about eye clinics and other medical missions and the power of Rotary connections.
Like many Rotary Club Members, Dr. Kim Baxter joined Rotary to become more involved in the community. He would soon find that, as an optometrist, he could provide much-needed service to communities across the globe that had little access to eye care.
He reached out to Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) and learned of a need for volunteers to help with eye care clinics in Kenya.
Kim shared his story with Lincoln South Rotary Club. We would learn how Baxter capitalized on the power of Rotary connections to provide volunteers, funds and passion to fulfill dreams.
Eye care is available in Kenya but, for many, it is not affordable. Baxter stated, “In the majority of cases, none of these people have ever had an opportunity to have an eye exam and have not had access to glasses, even simple reading glasses.”
The clinics rely on donated eyeglasses. They don’t have the equipment and supplies that we have available to us here in the United State. “The equipment we use for eye care missions is designed to give a quick, objective estimate of a person’s eyeglass correction. We don’t worry about the prescription being perfect since we will rarely be able to provide donated eyeglasses that are specific for their correction.” Baxter commented.
The recipients are grateful for any help. A story that Kim shared was of a father and son that walked 7 hours to participate in the clinic. The father had a bad stigmatism and he feared his son had it as well. When he came to the clinic the father said “I am not here for me. I don’t care if I get glasses but please help my son”. At the end of the visit they were able to fit both father and son with glasses.
Kim has participated with 10 different eye clinic teams. He estimated an average of 1,000 people served with each clinic meaning that they have served over 10,000 people through these volunteer clinics.
Kim’s son, Craig, traveled along on some of the eye clinic trips. He became passionate about the needs and implored his father “Dad, we need to come back to this place. These people really need us.” Unfortunately, Craig has passed away. But Kim is determined to carry out his desire to help.
In Baxter’s words, “Our son Craig was a valuable member of the eyecare mission team when we first visited that remote village of Shikunga in western Kenya 10 years ago. Craig was very engaged with the team and he fell in love with the people there who we strived to serve. Now that Craig has passed from this life, his words remain a vivid memory and perpetually motivate me toward continuing on with the work that Craig wanted us to do there in Kenya.”
Through Rotary connections Kim has been able to build teams across the United States and Internationally and assemble funds and other donations to fulfill Craig’s dream.
The result – a new medical clinic being built in the remote rural village of Shikunga, near the city of Kakamega in western Kenya. The funding for this project has come from several Nebraska Rotary Clubs, along with individual donations. Once the clinic building is completed and fully equipped (within the next 2-3 years) there will be medical missionary teams from the United States rotating to provide a wide range of services, including eye care, as well as dental, maternal, pediatric, and general medicine services.
The leaders of the village have named the clinic the “Craig Memorial Rotary Clinic” in honor of the late Craig Baxter.
Hearing of the clinics and the efforts of these volunteer teams, Lincoln South Rotary Club President DeEtta Vrana asked the club members to donate eyeglasses to give to Kim for his next clinic. They collected a total of 94 pair of glasses for the team to take with them on their next clinic mission trip.
Vrana commented when she presented the glasses to Kim “seeing the pictures that you shared of clinic patients, able to see images and words more clearly, we know that these donated glasses will be of good use during your next clinic”.
This is one way in which Lincoln South Rotary Club has fulfilled the Rotary theme “Serve to Change Lives”.
Kim wanted to give credit to a few Rotarians and other individuals who have been instrumental in expanding Rotary's reach - the power of Rotary connections:
There have been many Rotary projects that have been accomplished in conjunction with our eyecare mission trips over the years. The most significant one was the $136,000 global grant that Rotary provided to help the neonatal/maternity wing of the Kakamega County Hospital, near the village of Shikunga. In less than four years since the completion of this project, there have been over 10,000 babies whose lives have been saved there. Kearney Rotarian and Past District Governor Don Peterson was the primary leader for our part of the project and Kakamega Rotary Club President Alice Atemo was the main leader for the Kenya team that coordinating this project from their end. Dr. Pam Donohue, professor of Pediatric Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, was the leader of the Rotary team who traveled to Kenya to provide training for the medical staff in that department of their hospital (KCH). Kakamega County Hospital administrator, Dr. Dixon Mchana, was also instrumental in the success of this project.
At the close of the meeting Kim sang a song that he wrote - one of his hobbies. The song was a reflection of the work we do through Rotary.
BIO:
Member and Past President of North Platte Noon Rotary Club
Served as Assistant Governor for three different District Governors
Son of Anne and PDG Neal Baxter
Kim and his wife Nancy have two children, Craig & Mikaela, as well as two cute little granddaughters.
Kim is a North Platte optometrist, now nearing retirement. He is a past president of the Nebraska Optometric Association and has also served as chairperson for the Nebraska Board of Optometry.
In 2015, Kim was honored with the Rotary “Governor’s Humanitarian Service Award” and, in 2012, he received the Rotary International “Service Above Self” Award. This is considered Rotary’s highest honor, bestowed each year to no more than 150 recipients world wide. Roughly six years ago, Kim and his North Platte Rotary Club initiated a $136,000 Rotary Global Grant project to benefit the maternity and neonatal units of the Kakamega County Hospital in western Kenya. Along with many other Rotarians and eye care professionals, he has traveled repeatedly to that same area of Africa to engage in other Rotary projects and eye care missions.
Besides Rotary, Kim has served in leadership positions for the North Platte Area Chamber, United Way, Nebraskaland Days, City Planning Commission, Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation, and the Teammates Mentoring Program. He is a long-time TeamMates mentor, has served on their state board, and was recognized as their “Mentor of the Year” in 2012. Kim is active in St. Patrick’s Church, where he serves as a music minister.
His favorite hobby is writing, recording and performing music and he loves spending time with his family, especially doing a variety of outdoor recreation activities.
Kim and his family have participated in a number of eye care mission trips to underdeveloped countries, providing free eye care and donated eye glasses to the needy.
