I feel extremely lucky that last night I was able to attend the preview of a documentary film made by a former local tv news reporter about two current Vanderbilt Medical School students. The film is called “Sons of Lwala.” The two students are Milton and Fred Ochieng’ who come from a small, remote village in Kenya named Lwala. The documentary recounts the story of how the two brothers came to be at Vanderbilt and their struggle to build the first medical clinic in their home village.
There are so many remarkable facets of the film that I don’t want to give away because there are still a few opportunities to see the film locally and hopefully nationwide. Let me just say that it is a great story about sacrifice, philanthropy, and dedication to ones community and family. Milton, the older brother, was only able to come to the U.S. to attend college because the people of his village sold their cows, chickens, and anything else they could in order to buy him a plane ticket. The reader should understand that it is not uncommon for students to leave Africa to get a college education; it is unusual for them to come back, and to take on the kinds of burdens in doing so that the Ochieng’ brothers have in order to change the unfortunate state of their home village and country. The brothers lost both of their parents while at school in the U.S.
I implore everyone who has the chance to see the film to make the time and please go to the premiere at the Nashville Film Festival. If you are not in the Nashville area, then you can go to www.lwalacommunityalliance.org and learn more about the brothers, their familly, and the clinic, as well as their continuing mission to construct clinics across Kenya and Africa. Donate. Tell all your friends. Consider what it is that you have sacrificed for your education or your profession.
–Luke Webb
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