Kenya: A Multi Million Philanthropic Initiative to Benefit Mariakani

Mariakani---Mabati Rolling Mills Wednesday opened a multimillion Health Facility in Mariakani of Kaloleni District that currently suffers inadequate health care facilities with a ratio of one doctor to every 66,000 people and extremely high mortality rates.

Mabati Medical Centre that will provide healthcare services to both staff and the communities hopes to reach to well over 40,000 people annually providing treatment for common ailments and with a focus to reducing child and maternal mortality, improving basic livelihood as well as providing specialized care and counseling to HIV/AIDs patients.

Mr. Dhiru Shah, a Trustee of MRM-EIB Trust noted that the new facility is an upgrade of an existing facility and he hopes that with the new facility, Mabati will continue to contribute significantly to the Millenium Development Goals (MDG).

Mr. Shah commended the collaboration with Bomu Hospital which he said is extremely symbiotic because Bomu now have a facility within which to operate and their presence in Mariakani will enhance the care and prevention programme for HIV/AIDs. He hopes that more private sector organizations can work together for the betterment of the communities within which they operate.

In his speech Dr. Chandaria said that Mabati Rolling Mills is committed to giving back to the communities in Kenya, he noted that whereas Mabati is a profit making organization, CSR projects align it to its core values “and in so doing we work towards inner enlightment and sustainable outer actions……..” he added “ taking responsibility or shaping a social and ecologic globalization is a central challenge for executives in both developed and developing countries” and as such urged Kenyan executives to take CSR seriously so that we can grow our people.

The chief guest at the event Mr. Richard Etemesi, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, commended Mabati Rolling Mills for championing CSR initiatives when and where they are most needed. And for working with other partners and Government, this he noted was an inclusive approach which assures the sustainability of such initiatives.

Mr. Kaushik Shah, the group CEO of Safal Group of companies lauded MRM’s leadership for championing corporate responsibility . He said “right from inception, both Dr. Chandaria and Mr. Dhiru Shah have steered Mabati towards great corporate citizenship and a CSR policy to plough back to the local communities was put in place.”

He continued to say that when the MDGs were born in the 1990’s and the appeal by both government and the international community to private sector to drive these goals made, Mabati made no hesitation to join the globe in achieving these goals because their policies and values were already speaking that very language…. He noted that in September of 2010, Mabati Rolling Mills were among the private sector companies that were awarded by the Millenium Development Goal’s Trust Fund for contributing significantly towards the goals.

In her speech, Mrs. Hayati Anjarwalla of Bomu Hospital called the day historic because the co-operation between Mabati Rolling Mills and Bomu Hospital has created a new paradigm in how the private sector and the NGO community can cooperate to help the neediest. She hopes this model will be used for future co-operation between the corporate world and the NGO community, working together to help the poor, indigent and most needy and to deliver life critical services.

The construction cost of this new facility is approximately 50 million shillings and the projections of running it is approximately 10 Million per year. The numbers of patients should double in the next three years or so. Currently the medical centre refers major ailments to Mariakani District Hospital or Coast General Hospital and it enjoys reasonable Government support.

Mabati Medical Centre will further expand in providing Prenatal & Ante natal services in the not too distant future which will further enhance our contribution towards millennium goals MDG 4 & MDG 5.
Mkomani Clinic Society will provide services towards MDG 6 i.e reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS .