Healthcare and Mobile Clinics

  Kenya

Rural

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks and 3-6 months
Typical Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks
Dates: Year Round

Description: Volunteer Kenya's Healthcare Program is open to trained medical students, doctors, and nurses who are interested in working in a rural clinic setting and running mobile clinics in rural western Kenya. August 12th, 2003, the Bill Selke Memorial Clinic opened its doors to the rural community of Kabula village. The opening of the clinic represents a significant achievement towards offering sexual and reproductive health education and services, along with infectious disease and primary healthcare services, to the community members of Kabula and its immediate surroundings. We also run mobile clinics services three days a week. Our volunteers pack up a van with medical supplies and head out to what seems like the middle of nowhere to run a mobile clinic for the day. Volunteers typically leave around 9:00am and return around 6:00pm from the mobile clinics. We have had volunteers participate in our Healthcare Program from countries including the US, UK, Spain, Australia, and Switzerland.

Highlights: Since 1998, we have been implementing and supporting community development programs in the rural villages of Western Kenya , where large international aid programs rarely venture. Our unique partnership between international volunteers and our on-the-ground crew in   Kenya allows us to reach those people in the interior villages who most desperately need our help. It also facilitates maintaining our running costs at a minimum.

We have no international overhead, fundraising, or marketing costs. All of those activities are run by our International Coordination Staff, who are all unpaid past volunteers working via an email network. Since all of our on-the-ground work is done in Western Kenya and run by local Kenyans and overseas volunteers, we have no need for big, expensive offices in Nairobi or Washington D.C.

As a result of this, we are able to run community development, education, and healthcare programs that reach hundreds of thousands of Kenyans in the very remote and rural villages on a budget of around $120,000 USD per year.

Qualifications: To assist in our Healthcare Program and at the Bill Selke Memorial Clinic, the requirements are based on your level of involvement. Basically, you will be allowed to participate at the level that you would in your home country. So if you are a medical student, then you will be allowed to do only the same procedures that your school would allow you to do at home. If you are a pre-med student, then you can assist in a similar manner than that which you do as a volunteer in your local hospital at home.

Cost in US$: 1,000 per month

Experience Required: no

Age Range: 20-60

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Kenya Independently

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Volunteer Kenya's Mission Statement: To fight HIV/AIDS, provide primary school education, encourage microenterprise development for women, and provide healthcare for the people of Western Kenya without regard to religion, politics, ethnicity or nationality.

Year Founded: 1998