Ready for Departure – Mission 2023: Post Pandemic
As we finalize our packing, review our checklists, sit on that suitcase to get it closed....our team is in the final stretches of readying themselves for departure, and are extremely…
As we finalize our packing, review our checklists, sit on that suitcase to get it closed....our team is in the final stretches of readying themselves for departure, and are extremely…
The final countdown is on for our 2023 Mission. Merely 3 more sleeps until we depart. Are we excited??? Heck yes!! Some trepidation? Probably. After 3 years of not being…
CNFA + Fielding Estate Winery Click here to go to the event page for more information!
On Monday, June 29th, CNFA launched the COVID-19 Food Distribution Program in our communities around Vihiga. Thank you so much for your donations, and a special shout out to our…
Our last day! This morning the tables turned and we sang and danced for the people of Kenya before clinic - with our lead singer Harriet. It was a very…
Today we transferred a 60 year old lady with an injured ankle to the hospital. Marie and Karen dewormed over 300 students at the primary school. Kenyan nurses Roselyne and…
Our clinic today was in the same yard as an elementary school so we had a lot of children running around, we even tried to teach them how to do…
Today Laura, Harriet and I went to the school next door to deworm many children from kindergarten to grade 8. We had three of the cutest albino children at the…
Happy Nurses Week! Here we are doing what we do best - playing cards. After a well deserved day off, it was hard to get up this morning - I…
Since it was our day off, we split up into two groups - half of us went to the Kakamega rainforest and the other half to the crying stone and…
We were dropping like flies today - three members of our dream team had to stay back from clinic because they were sick but at least they had the toilet…
Today’s clinic started off a little slow but by the afternoon we had a huge wave of people come through, as well as another torrential downpour. At one point Jeff…
Nancy and Kristen went on a home visit to treat an elderly lady who had a severe case of jiggers. On the way back they got their monthly workout in…
Today Meaghan, Hilary and Johnstone went to three homes for jiggers treatments where they sprayed down the homes and clothing of the families and soaked their hands and feet in…
Laura and I slept in Kenya’s finest waterbeds last night after we left the windows open during dinner and a torrential downpour flooded our room. Today Harriet and Johnstone went…
We started our day one of clinics in the village of where Solomon greeted us with song and prayer as he does every morning. Marie and Nancy had their first experience…
Today Karen was off to a good start when she locked herself in her room, unable to find her key and then had no running water to shower or even…
Jambo! Well, after 22+ hours of planes, trains and automobiles (thank you gravol courtesy of Nancy and wine courtesy of Lufthansa airlines for making me feel like Annie from bridesmaids…
Hey everyone! As promised, here is the final count for the total number of people seen and treated through the 11 days of clinics of the 2018 mission. We saw…
When the water works hit you like a tonne of bricks. I’m happy to report that I wasn’t the only one crying on the last day of clinics this year.…
When I say north you say pole! Solomon started off our morning with a prayer where he thanked his friends from “the North Pole.” We had a good laugh to…
Today school was back in session and Laura and Krista dewormed 200 kids and went from classroom to classroom at a school and gave Whitfield’s anti-fungal cream to each child.…
Today Gail went on a home visit to follow up with a lady who had thyroid surgery done last week - she is recovering and doing very well thanks to…
Ingrid, Johnstone, Victor and Sara went on a home visit to assess an elderly woman named Gladys. She had a stroke 5 years ago and has since become very weak…
As today was Saturday, it was a shorter day for our clinic. We treated a total of 407 people in about 5 hours. …
Our fifth day of clinics at Kigama has been the busiest one so far with a total of 657 people seen. 35 pairs of reading glasses were given, 40 young…
If you’re asking what this picture is about I’ll tell you. Normally we leave at 7am for clinic but this morning Lynn…
Barb and Patti did a home visit with Johnson and treated a family of 5 for jiggers. Jiggers is a type of sand flea here in certain parts of Kenya…
Lynn, Krista and our Kenyan nurse Sarah gave quite the laugh to 30 young girls while teaching sexual health and handing out reusable sanitary pads. …
Day one of clinics started off in true Kenyan time - pole pole (slowly slowly) as they say in Swahili. Because of the upcoming election, it was around 930am by…
The roadie to Kisumu started off in luxury - Jeff and Jerry picked us up at the Sheywe in the shiniest matatu we’d ever…
Jambo! The day has officially arrived, we’ve touched down in Kenya. All 11 of us and what feels like 1200lbs of supplies that we’re…
It doesn't seem real to me that the end can already be upon us. I feel like I blinked and this mission was already on its final moments. It was…
May the fourth be with you. I can honestly say I have never felt holier than standing on an alter handing out medications to those in need. That was definitely…
Rocked up to another clinic where the line up of people was so long that it extended off the property of the church we were working out of. To know…
Arriving to clinic to see a line of more than 50 people already waiting outside is just a slightly daunting start to the day. However, with the help of Solomon…
Solomon had a new rendition of his daily song that included us clapping in excitement for all the different ailments that could possibly affect a person and cause them to…
April showers, bring May flowers has never been a more appropriate saying than to describe today. When our Kenyan guides talked about there only being two seasons (the wet and…
By the end of this mission, we are going to be almost/sort of/semi-fluent in a few choice words in Swahili. I don't know if our Kenyan nurses are more excited…
There is nothing quite like having your own personal hype man to generate such an uplifting and positive energy to start off the day. Solomon is truly a rockstar. He…
By day 3, we were a well oiled machine, loading the van, setting up and starting with minimal fusses. Everyday started with an introduction to the community leaders, a song…
Hello from the other side. It appears that I have survived! Clinic #2 was a mystery to me, but the others gave me the breakdown of the day. To start…
Unfortunately, some of us were not off to a great start this morning. While I stayed home and puked my guts out, the rest of CNFA was off touching the…
Jambo!! Breakfast lead to some very interesting discoveries: 1) if someone offers you something called arrow root, do not accept 2) if you do, be prepared for it to look…
(Sorry guys! Had some technical difficulties getting the blog up and running so be prepared as I play catch up to present time!) Welcome to Nairobi!!! If anything, I…
Well, this is it. It's bittersweet really. We are tired. We miss our families. We look forward to heading home to Canada. But, every one of us will miss Africa. …
Welcome to Homunoywa clinic. Yes, I had to write that name approximately 500 times. I'm finally starting to get used to writing consonants and vowels together in unusual combinations. I…
Welcome to Kedoli! We set up clinic beside a school, where Lynn taught her class. Jerry and Nina also went through the school, class by class, and treated ringworm. I…
Trish has sat on the CNFA board of directors since 2011 and served as Treasurer from 2013 to 2015. Trish has been a member of five past medical mission, as part of the lead team. Present and past nursing experience includes Geriatrics, Emergency medicine, Intensive Care and Public Health. Trish also serves on the BOD of the Geriatric Nurses Association of Ontario, Hamilton chapter.
Trained as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Nancy has had a wide and varied nursing career mostly in paediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Her experience includes Paediatric Critical Care, Emergency as well as providing care to adult patients with cardiac issues. She provides primary care of patients at a Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic (NPLC) and is Director of Health and Wellness at a summer camp in Ontario.
She has lived overseas, providing humanitarian work in the country of Ghana. Currently she is working at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as part of the COVID-19 response at the Assessment Centre, working with Infectious Diseases and managing COVID patients at home as well as vaccinating.
Nancy has a Masters in Nursing, is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto Bloomberg School of Nursing and has been a clinical instructor at the university level for many years.
She has a passion for women and children’s health in low income settings and conflict areas. She volunteers at a Refugee Health Centre and also for Global Medic, a global disaster relief organization. She has been to Kenya with the 2019 CNFA Medical Mission.
Meaghan graduated with a BScN in 2011 and is currently pursuing graduate nursing studies. Meaghan has been involved in CNFA since 2018 and has been on the past two medical missions. She has work experience in internal medicine, surgery, surgical oncology, and critical care. Meaghan is excited to have joined the BOD and brings a strong passion for nursing and helping her community.
Thirty+ years of experience helping organizations to set – and achieve – specific goals in international and domestic markets. Specialist in helping organizations to make sound decisions based on research, analysis, due diligence, feasibility studies and strategic partnerships.
Significant professional experience in international development, organizing and leading trade and investment missions to and from various countries and regions of the world.
Currently focused on Volunteer work. In addition to joining to the Board of Canadian Nurses for Africa in 2022, I also serve as a Volunteer Advisor with the Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO), a non-profit agency funded primarily by the Government of Canada. This involves providing time and energy to advance social and economic change working in partnership with international organizations.
Also focused on work with the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar as a member of the International Service Committee and the Club’s Board of Directors, as well as fundraising initiatives.
Jacinda is one of the newest CNFA board members. Currently, she relishes the challenges in her role as a staff accountant with Henderson Roller Smit Professional Corporation in Oakville. Her skills developed over the past 10 years in public accounting will help CNFA meet its goals and support the organization’s clinical missions to Kenya. She is excited to join the board and is looking forward to the rewards of being one of such a dynamic group of women.
Gail worked as a front line hospital nurse in hospitals across Canada, as well as Northern Outpost Nursing in remote communities of Ontario and Manitoba. She worked in many areas including Neurosurgery, Trauma, ICU and the Emergency Department. As well, Gail has volunteered in a variety of capacities with an array of community organizations.
In 2007 Gail became acutely aware of the poverty and lack of health care in Western Kenya. Deeply moved to make a difference, she founded Canadian Nurses for Africa with the intent to provide free medical care to the people of these communities. As Team Leader, Gail has lead ten successful medical missions to Kenya. She also oversees the implementation and monitors the public health programs.
After ten years of development in the Kakamega and Vihiga regions of Kenya, there is a marked improvement in the overall health in these communities, which local people and leaders attribute to the health care provided by Canadian Nurses For Africa. Gail stepped down from the President’s role in 2021 and the board of directors in 2022. She remains a valuable resource to the board of directors and is now an honorary board member.
Trained as a primary care and acute care nurse practitioner (NP), Patti has worked in a wide range of nursing roles throughout her career, mostly in acute care and ambulatory care cardiology settings. She also has experience in emergency and walk-in clinic settings.
Patti completed her PhD in Nursing (University of Toronto), where she developed and tested a NP intervention for patients following heart attack. Following her PhD she completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship with the Canada Research Chair for Health Interventions.
In her most recent position as a Nurse Scientist, in partnership with McMaster University, she developed an innovative approach to improve patient care by teaching healthcare providers how to integrate research and leadership activities into their practices. Currently Patti is taking time off from her academic work to pursue activities such as the CNFA medical mission work in Africa and becoming a competitive dressage rider. Patti is very excited about being a member of the CNFA team and hopes to contribute to the success of future missions.