Melanie Finn

Melanie Finn is a writer and novelist who first came to Natron in 2006 to make a wildlife film for DisneyNature. In the first weeks filming The Crimson Wing, the village asked her to help a man badly injured in a knife fight. Armed with a copy of the bush medic’s bible, “Where There is No Doctor,” and notes from a Wilderness First Responder course, she sewed 13 sutures in the victim’s face. The next day, twenty people lined up outside the camp to see her with various ailments. Through these interactions, Melanie formed deep attachments with the community. Over the next three years, she relied on an email network of doctors, including her mother-in-law, Penny, to diagnose and treat or refer to primary care a wide range of diseases and injuries, including Sexually Transmitted Diseases, TB, pneumonia, snake-bites, broken limbs, pre-eclampsia – and an amputation. When it was time to leave, she approached Penny as a partner, so that together they might establish a meaningful, permanent health service in her absence.

Penny Aeberhard

Penny Aeberhard was a family doctor, with a special interest in teaching health workers and young doctors. As such she was an advisor to teaching practices in the Oxford Region in the UK. She worked in a busy practice in a suburb of London, with a multi-ethnic population. After her three sons left home she went to central India for six months to work as a volunteer in a remote area with 20 villages, giving priority to teaching . After her retirement she continued to use her skills in attachments, responding to requests by NGOs, in India, Nepal and Tanzania. Although she loved the continuity of care for personal patients, over the years she became more and more convinced that for wider influence public health measures had more to offer to promote change in the developing world. She strongly believes in evidence-based medicine, along with empathetic support of communities, respecting their own cultures and working alongside them to allow their autonomy. After a full assessment of need in the Lake Natron area, in 2008, with Mel, she developed the aims of Natron Healthcare along these lines. Expanding her interest in education, both to health professionals and also to villagers, she has worked with a professional health educator with experience in Africa and Pakistan, to develop popular modules that are interactive and clear. She believes that “Third World” education methods need to be first class not third class!

Rehema Simon

 A certified accountant and valedictorian of her secondary school, Rehema Simon initially came to work with us as a translator in 2011, but quickly showed her skill as an empathic communicator and listener. Serving as our project manager, which involves facilitating site visits, overseeing the school lunch programme and communicating with the communities, she has worked with us as an advisor in designing workshops for Traditional Birth Attendants (her mother is one!), family planning, and many others. Rehema is deeply trusted and respected by the communities, being sympathetic to the difficulties they face every day. “It is very important to educate people with information about their health, especially the mothers. The methods we use are effective and easy to understand. I really see an improvement after all these years, and I am proud of that.” She is currently an outreach worker at The Plaster House in Arusha.

Boniface Ngimonjino

Boniface Ngimonjino has worked with Natron Healthcare for seven years as a translator and educator. Professional, warm and discrete, Boniface has earned the trust of the communities, and is therefore able to discuss potentially difficult issues such as
contraception and family planning in an open manner. He has been instrumental in shaping and implementing our male family planning initiative. Born in nearby Monduli District, Boniface is also Masai. He has spent more than 20 years working regionally with community development and livestock health and management. He was the executive director of the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust/Manyara Ranch for four years. “I am dedicated and have a strong urge to support my community since I grew up in a similar environment,” Boniface states. “I understand their culture, because it is mine. I would like to disseminate knowledge because I know people are suffering.”

Andrew Knight

Andrew studied environmental art and industrial design at art schools in the 1970’s before specialising design and management of community development approaches to health promotion and health literacy. He worked on the development of participatory approaches to combined health promotion and literacy development in the Punjab, Pakistan from 1985 – 1993.
Returning to the UK in 1993 Andrew worked for East Berkshire Community health NHS trust health on the development of health promotion materials and campaigns and then for the London Borough of Hillingdon on the development of health promotion strategies.
His work in Hillingdon included development of participatory work with Library services as a resource for promoting refugees and minority community groups and the story telling and creative arts approaches to engaging young people in schools based health and wellbeing approaches.
After retirement as Head of Health promotion, from 2012 – 2017, Andrew continued his interest in community narrative and participatory approaches to wellbeing promotion through work with the charity Children’s Links to develop community led health promotion and mental health promotion initiatives in rural Cambridgeshire.
Andrew first worked with Penny in 1996 designing sexual health teaching materials for Masaai. Since 2009, he has been a crucial resource Natron Healthcare designing the visual resources that enable shared learning between communities, health care and development workers.