Bonyo S. Bonyo, DO, was just 8 years old when his sister died of dehydration. Since then, he's been on a mission to improve healthcare in his native Kenya, according to The Charlotte Observer.
Dr. Bonyo was born and raised in Masara, Kenya, a village that thrives off agriculture. "We grew up poor, but happy with strong familial relationships," he said, according to the report.
His sister was only 9 months old when she died from dehydration. "That's not unusual where I come from," Dr. Bonyo said, according to the report. "That's kind of one thing that made me go into medicine, to prevent senseless deaths."
After working hard in school and eventually saving enough money to attend college and medical school in the U.S., Dr. Bonyo received his medical degree from Athens-based Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He now lives and practices in Akron, Ohio, but he hasn't given up on his mission to help the citizens of Kenya receive better healthcare. While still in medical school in 1995, he created the Student Health Assistance Rural Experience (SHARE) Kenya program, through which he and other students provided care to Kenyans.
By 2006, the program had taken off — not only had it raised enough donations to create a water well and clinic in Masara, but it also changed its name from SHARE Kenya to CARE Kenya Inc., which later became BKM.
Although he primarily resides in Akron, Dr. Bonyo and a group of volunteers go to Kenya at least three times each year, where they treat between 300 and 500 patients per day. Included among Dr. Bonyo's patients is President Barack Obama's grandmother, Sarah Onyango Obama, for whom Dr. Bonyo is the primary care physician.
Dr. Bonyo's dream of providing healthcare to Kenyan citizens is expanding outside the clinic, as the BKM team has donated computers to local schools and created a flouride program to give individuals access to dental care.
"Something like this, you can't do alone," said Dr. Bonyo, according to the report. "You've got to have good support behind you, and I have very strong support behind me."