Former Sponsored Child now a Medical Doctor.

My name is John Sankok, a medical doctor and I work with Christian Missionary Fellowship (CMF) in Maasai Health Ministries as the Health Director. I am based at Ewaso Ngiro CMF and oversee ten health centers under CMF in the rural communities of Narok and Kajiado counties. Having worked with the CMF for the last 24 years since i left college. I understand the health challenges that rural communities face in their search for affordable healthcare.  Today, I am humbled to be at the forefront championing for the wellbeing of our rural communities in health and sanitation.

My story began in a small manyatta (Maasai traditional house) back in Naroosura, a rural area in Maasai land. I grew up during the time when education wasn’t highly regarded among communities such as ours, the Maasai.  Young men like me would join moraanism (youth undergoing a rite of passage to become adults) and herd cattle as a community tradition and  ignore to pursue education .  Meanwhile, young girls would be married off by their parents as they lacked the desire for their children to attend school.

The hostile reception to enroll children to be educated made the government intervene and parents were forced to take their children to school.  In my case, the persistent efforts of our local chief and police helped my parents to enroll me in the primary school. I had even more challenges as I came from a poor family and feared that I would not be able to stay to pursue education due to lack of finances. However, i performed well in primary school and was chosen as a sponsored child by World Vision Kenya Pasotua Area Development Programme (ADP), Kajiado County.

With the deep burning desire in me and my school fees taken care of by my World Vision sponsor, i was able to study uninterrupted for three years in high school education (1983-1985). Though I never got to know my sponsor, I remain grateful for their support and sacrifice for my progress this far.

It is in high school that my deep desire for a career in the medical field was born.  I grew up in a rural community where challenges in accessing healthcare services were numerous.  The problems ranged from delays in accessing healthcare, lack of properly equipment and human resource challenges in the few health clinics.  People walked for days to access healthcare in towns and other major centers and it is this challenge that ignited in me the desire to study clinical medicine and serve in my community.

I later joined the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Nairobi for an undergraduatecourse, and specialized for a Master’s degree in Maternity Healthcare and Gynecology. It’s right after college that I decided to return and work in my rural community and help alleviate their health status.  It is the commitment and passion that i apply to my job that has helped me mobilize affordable and better healthcare for the rural communities I work for.

The benefits I got from World Vision sponsors, have definitely impacted on my local community. I am happy with what I am doing now, happy with my career, community work and grateful to World Vision for their noble actions. I see the only way to pay the organization is through giving back to the community, this is the best way I know of saying thank you to the sponsor who sacrificed to support my education.