Alabama doctor brings vision and faith to Kenya

According to the World Health Organization, almost 90% of all visually impaired people live in developing countries across the world. An Alabama doctor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham is doing his part to help in Kenya.

Ben Roberts, M.D., has served as a medical missionary at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya since 2006. He first visited the country as part of his rotation during his fourth year as a medical student. He and his wife, Jenny, immediately fell in love with Kenya and knew they needed to be involved in Tenwek on a more permanent basis.

Roberts, a native of Andalusia, Alabama, graduated from the UAB School of Medicine and conducted his residency in UAB’s Department of Ophthalmology. After completing his fellowship in 2005, Roberts began working at Retina Consultants of Alabama in UAB’s Callahan Eye Hospital.

Now, Ben, Jenny, and their three sons live in Kenya for four years then return to the U.S. for a year. They have been back in the United States for the past eight months, and this summer they will return to Kenya for the third four-year stretch.

Although Tenwek is one of the largest mission hospitals in Africa, it still has a small staff and relatively scarce resources. The 300-bed teaching hospital provides healthcare for 600,000 people in Kenya and other parts of West Africa. Roberts and his team typically see 16,000 patients a year and perform over 2,600 surgeries, including cataract, glaucoma, retina, cornea, plastic, and pediatric eye surgeries.

“Tenwek is a very resource-limited place. For example, we have to re-sterilize instruments and reuse them,” Roberts said. “We get most of our supplies from India because it is cheaper. I couldn’t provide retina care if people at Callahan Eye Hospital and UAB didn’t save supplies to send us as well.”

Many people in the region would rather stay at home blind than try to find help. Because that is such a widespread perspective, Roberts leads a traveling clinic that goes to rural areas where he usually performs 400-500 cataract surgeries in one week.

“Doing cataract surgery — a routine procedure in the States — and restoring someone’s vision is very rewarding,” Roberts said. “We get patients from Kenya and South Sudan who are literally led to our clinics by their seeing-eye grandchildren. You do an operation, and you change their life.”

Roberts also shares his faith with his patients. Tenwek is a Christian mission hospital sponsored by the Africa Gospel Church and the World Gospel Mission. Roberts and his staff share Bible stories about restoration of vision and healing with their patients.

“It’s our desire to bring the best care we can, but we’re trusting Jesus to heal these people’s lives,” he said. “We treat. Jesus heals.”

The World Gospel Mission sponsors Roberts and his family, but they also receive support from a number of other churches across Alabama, including Briarwood Presbyterian Church and Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham.

(h/t UAB)