People of AMPATH: Dyron Howell, Volunteer

When new volunteers walk into Dyron Howell’s non-profit operation in Texas that provides weekend meals to children and ask him how they can help, he tells them that he needs them to do what they are good at.

“That will be the success or downfall of any organization, are they truly tapping into the talents and gifts of everyone in the organization,” said Howell.

Howell retired three years ago after 26 years in sales at Eli Lilly and Company, and what he is good at is building relationships. “You can probably tell that I’ve never met a stranger,” he laughs. He has used that skill to not only grow his non-profit from feeding 10 children from his kitchen in Amarillo to impacting 25,000 children across Texas, but also to bring water and education to friends he has made in Kenya.

Dyron Howell has led efforts to dig several wells in Kenya following his first experience as a participant in Lilly Connecting Hearts Abroad.

Howell first travelled to visit AMPATH and Kenya as part of the Lilly Connecting Hearts Abroad program in 2016. Howell is a pharmacist and his skills fit the oncology focus of the program that matches selected Lilly employees with two-week volunteer projects. But past service experiences convinced Howell that what mattered was people, not projects. “I had this mindset that I’m going to start with the people and I'm going to stay invested with the people.”

Through several twists of fate, prior to his trip Howell connected with a gentleman from Eldoret named Francis who invited him to travel to Kenya a week ahead of the main Lilly group to get to know the culture and the people and learn more about the work he was doing with CRF (Christian Relief Fund). “He really showed me the lives of the people that we were going to be working with. When you come into Chandaria (Cancer and Chronic Diseases Centre) you don't know the lives people are living before they come,” said Howell.

Through his excursions with Frances, what really stood out to Howell was water. “Water is life, so that was the first ‘aha’ that I had. Water was a big issue in the places that I went. The lack of access to water was a big deal. The lack of clean and sustainable water was a big deal. If you don’t have water, you’re in trouble for your crops, for your personal health, for your animals,” he said.

In one community in the Rift Valley, Howell and Frances visited a community with no reliable source of water. “It's 95 degrees and we're sitting under the trees. A big tall gentleman gets up and he starts reading from a list and the number one thing on the list is water, then education for kids, then healthcare and then it comes back to water again.” The community had been trying to get water for 17 years. Howell and his family invested in getting the rig all the way out to the community to dig two wells. “Now there is water there and a school there,” he said. Girls who used to spend their days walking to get water now attend school and bring water home from the well on their way.

The new school in Langas.

Howell also became aware that water was also in short supply in the Langas area of Eldroret. In subsequent visits, Howell and friends purchased land for another well and eventually a school. “Even the Kenyan’s thought I was crazy.” In January 2021, the Dyron Howell School opened for more than 250 children in Langas.  “It is complicated if you let it be, and it's simple if you let it be. It's complicated if you try to solve it all by yourself and it's simple if you engage others and you empower others and you work together,” said Howell. Since his first visit, Howell has visited Kenya two additional times to support other groups from Lilly Connecting Hearts Abroad and has now helped with a total of six water wells.

During his first visit Howell also took a local chief up on his offer to attend a baraza (community meeting) where community members discussed hurdles to successfully implementing cervical cancer screenings including the cost and time required to travel for screenings. “Being on the ground really told me that that we need to listen more. I think too many times we forget that listening is probably the most important thing we can do. Most people have no different desires then we do. They want the best for their families. They want education for their kids. They want a better life than their parents had and then their grandparents had. So their desires are no different than ours.”

While a two-week trip might not seem like long enough to make lasting change, Howell says, “I think two week trips are great if you approach them with the right mindset,” noting that his initial trip set the subsequent activities in motion. “Things don’t always turn out that way, but in this case it did, and I’m grateful.”

“We're all gifted differently and the real question you have to ask is, are you using the true gifts, you have? Are you bold enough to open the door when it's being knocked on?” he concluded.