Biography

Milton Ochieng' grew up in the small rural village of Lwala in western Kenya. Milton is the second born while Fred is the third born in a family of four boys and two girls. Their parents were both teachers. Both Milton and Fred attended Alliance High School in Nairobi, Kenya and then attended Dartmouth College for their undergraduate studies. Their village sold their chickens, goats and cows to pay for Milton's airfare to the United States with only one request: "Do not forget us." Milton and Fred later attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where with the help of their father they conceived an idea to build a clinic to improve health care in their ailing village of Lwala. Unfortunately, they lost both of their parents to AIDS while still in school. Determined to realize their father's dream, Milton and Fred juggled their medical school studies while networking and fundraising across America to build the village's first clinic: the Erastus Ochieng' Lwala Community Memorial Health Center. Milton's and Fred's work is the subject of a documentary called Sons of Lwala, which premiered in Nashville in March 2008, winning several accolades including the 2008 Nashville Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary. The documentary is being shown across the USA to continue raising funds for the clinic. Upon graduation from Vanderbilt, Milton received the David R. Freely Memorial Award and the Leonard Tow 2008 Humanism in Medicine Award in recognition of the inspiration he provides to others through his integrity, courage and compassion in the delivery of healthcare. Currently, Milton is an internal medicine intern at Barnes Jewish Hospital at Washington University. Fred is third year medical student at Vanderbilt. In their spare time, Milton and Fred continue fundraising for the clinic through their non-profit organization, the Lwala Community Alliance.

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