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Top 10 CNN Hero of 2016 Umra Omar and her group, Safari Doctors, travel by boat, road and air to bring medical care to people living along Kenya's remote coastline. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
It can be a perilous journey; threats by extremist groups have caused residents to flee the eastern coast of Kenya. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
Safari Doctors provides free basic medical services -- including immunizations, maternal health care and treatment for malaria -- to thousands of people a year. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
Omar, who grew up in Kenya but attended college and worked for a time in the United States, decided to return home out of a "sense of responsibility." There she learned about the dire need for medical care facing people who could not access it. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
In the remote area of islands near the Kenyan-Somali border, the Lamu Archipelago, aid groups have stopped working and infrastructures are crumbling. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
"The same thing that makes it beautiful, isolated and pristine, is the same thing that presents the challenges for access to health care," Omar said. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
Omar, who has small children of her own, helps provide pediatric care as well as adult medicine for rural villagers. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
"Being here, being close to home, to be able to fill some of the gaps in accessing health care, it's kind of been an IV drip for life and purpose," she said. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
Omar brings medical aid to the Bajuni and Boni communities, the indigenous people of the area. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
Omar compares bringing in healthcare providers and sending medicine out into rural areas to working a thousand-piece puzzle. NEIL THOMAS For CNN
