Kenya - Medical & Social Worker Electives. Level 6 Regional Hospital, Level 3 District Hospital, Level 1 Community Hospital Placements

Country: 
KENYA
Sector: 
Christian Work
Healthcare and Medical Services
Social Work with Children and Youth

Opportunity Documentation

PDF icon Thika - Level 1 Community Hospital, community education & orphanage placement in a student town. Pentecostal Church fellowship.
PDF icon Kibwezi - Level 3 District Hospital, day clinic & ward placements, Anglican Church outreach to the District rural communities

Our Partner provides quality Christian medical practitioner and social worker placements, combined with Church outreach, in Thika & Kibwezi

  1. Thika - Level 6 Regional Hospital medical elective - a well resourced and high level hospital - placement linked in with this university city's Christian Unions, lively Church and helping at two local Orphanages. Thika is a major student town with its university & colleges.
  2. Kibwezi - Level 3 District Hospital providing high quality patient care in all major disciplines placements.  Accommodation is provided in the close by Anglican Church compound who also provide super outreach opportunities in Kwezi town and also the rural communities throughout the District.
  3. Thika - Level 1 Community Hospital provides a great opportunity for social workers or GPs looking for grass roots professional experience.

Our Partner is directly associated with Government departments and local Churches.

They provide quality volunteer placements to ensure that medical practitioners and social workers are part of active local teams who are offering up an excellent work programmes. 

Placements are with either a Level 6 Regional Hospital - a well resourced and high level hospital - in Thika (which is a major student town) combined with university Christian Union meetings, attending a lively local Church and helping at two local orphanages; or a Level 3 District Hospital in Kibwezi (a more rural context) which offers multi-displinary hospital day clinics and hospital ward experience; or a Level 1 Community Hospital (particularly good opportunity for Social Workers or GP community experience).

There are good local homestays provided and caring pastoral oversight throughout a volunteer's placement. 

For Christian outreach our Partner offers fellowship and active involvement with the Anglican Church of Kenya in Kibwezi and a Pentecostal Independent Church in Thika. Placements can be from 1-6 months. 

Please see the Documents above which are available for download and feel free to contact Christians Abroad to talk through placement opportunities in order to devise the right medical or social work placement suited to your professional development requirements.

Volunteers with medical health or social work related background can be actively involved in their professions and in Christian outreach. The total cost for one month would be approximately £2350 and for three months, approximately £4000. This includes the return air fare, food and accommodation, travel insurance, a visa and the Christians Abroad administration fee.

Joelah Flintoff spent a month at this project. She has kindly provided the following reflection on her experiences together with some of her photos.

I have travelled from a young age and have always been keen to throw myself into different challenges and new experiences. With my recent qualification in Health and Social Care, I was especially keen to gain international experience in this area and work with challenges entirely different to those faced in the United Kingdom. 
Unsurprisingly, Health and Social Care practice in the United Kingdom looks very different to Health and Social Care in Kenya and whilst I arrived in Kenya with some skill and knowledge in my practice area, I left with a great deal more. 
YOIV were brilliant in recognising my qualifications and skills and identifying a placement not only where my skills would be best used, but one where I would be challenged and where I would grow the most, both personally and professionally. They ensured that I had a varied working experience and targeted my work in terms of the areas of most difficulty their country continues to face (poverty, disease, access to education and resources and more). YOIV worked alongside me whilst in the country and adapted my schedule according to my views of where I felt I was learning the most - in my case, ensuring I spent most of my time at a hospital based in Muranga County. The work here included mental health, disease, maternity, general care, and also had a Comprehensive Care Centre whereby staff train others, and also test, treat and counsel those living with HIV. My experience in Kenya, facilitated by YIOV and Christian's Abroad, has been invaluable and something I would recommend to others wishing to serve in any way - specifically in the field of Health and Social Work. The staff are amazing in their dedication to this work and to bettering their country in any way they can - their attitude and strength in the ongoing difficulty they are faced with is incredibly humbling and I am honoured to have had the opportunity to work alongside both the organisation and the hospital, and in the beautiful country of Kenya.