Central Minnesota Doctor Joins Mission Trip to Kenya

(KNSI) – A central Minnesota doctor is back stateside after spending two weeks helping people in Africa in January.

Dr. Mark Halstrom, with Williams Integracare Clinic in Sartell, was one of 16 people on a mission trip to rural Kenya. He told KNSI News he rolled up his sleeves and got to work at Kilimanjaro Mission Hospital. “I was doing some medical stuff and helping out because of my background, but also digging trenches and moving dirt and throwing concrete around and that kind of thing as well working on a labor and delivery unit, building that from the ground up, essentially.”

During his time in the bush, Halstrom discovered many in the area suffer from the same issues many Minnesotans have this time of year. “You go to Africa thinking you’ll practice exotic medicine. Nope. We saw a lot of colds, coughs, runny noses and ear aches and stuff like that. So, it was sort of funny in that way.”

He says anywhere a doctor would set up, people would come from miles around for treatment. Most ailments were common, such as ringworm, ear infections and colds. Medical care is paid for through donated dollars and whatever the people can afford.

This was Halstrom’s first trip to the continent, but the mission trips have been taking place for decades.

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