May 12, 2023: Hamadira
Clinic 11...done and dusted. Another mission in the books. We are hot, tired, grubby, grateful to be able to help but ready for a rest. We saw just over 400…
Clinic 11...done and dusted. Another mission in the books. We are hot, tired, grubby, grateful to be able to help but ready for a rest. We saw just over 400…
Clinic #10. It's been a long haul...the train is almost into the station, nearing the end of the line. Social tanks are overcapacity emotional tanks are running on fumes and…
Another clinic in the books. This has been our busiest and most attended so far this mission with well over 600 attending and these numbers don't include the Jiggers clinics…
I should call this blog Tails From Beneath the Net, since I write this at night in my bed all tucked in under the mosquito net...usually. Beneath the Net Today…
As we go into clinic #7 I would like to wish The Squad and all our colleagues a Happy Nurses Week. I have had the privilege of working with so…
Today was our day off and yay...we got to sleep in...or so we thought...0530 there was the daily call to prayer sounds (this happens every morning), followed by early morning…
Today we reach the midpoint of our stay. We're all tired, ready for a break. Clinic went smoothly enough but busy. Jiggers clinic also saw several people. From a bit…
Today was a day that my get up and go, got up and went, so I stayed behind to get some needed rest and did not attend clinic. By reports…
Today was a regular start to our day, with no early meetings to attend we arrived at our clinic site on time. Todays clinic opened with drumming and singing. Always…
Today we had a bit of an earlier start as the whole team was to meet with the Governor of Vihiga County. This is the county that CNFA visits every…
Apologies for the delayed post. After taking the scenic route (read took a wrong turn) we arrived at our clinic site more or less on time. A small contingent to…
May 1, 2023 Kigama Friend's Church, our first clinic post Covid. A lot of mixed emotions going into day 1, that of excitement, anticipation, perhaps some fear or trepidation, a…
Start of our week of clinic. We have had a full building all day and still going.
Busy day for the squad today. Following a hearty breakfast we made a road trip to Kisumu for our medication order, a side trip to the Masai Market for some,…
To quote The Proclaimers "I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more..." in our case over 16,000 km to get to our final destination... you do the…
Bidding is NOW OPEN! Check out the amazing auction items! For more information click here!
Thank you to everyone who donated! Our team was able to provide essential food products to over 1,100 families and to the homes of 50 shut-ins. See our Projects Page…
As part of our Covid-19 Relief Program, we have been able to distribute 130 pairs of new shoes to children! Check out our Projects Page for more info!
The 2nd COVID Food Distribution Program has completed! Thank you to every single person who donated and allowed us to exceed our goal and providing basic food to 1,226 families,…
On August 11th, we began our second food distribution program in the Vihiga region. This time we will be giving basic food supplies to 1000 families PLUS 100 shut ins!…
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…
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…
Below you will see another wound, as well as Jeff treating Jiggers. Johnstone moves around so fast I haven't got a picture of him! Jerry is so great with that line…
Today, clinic was alongside of what seemed to be a main thoroughfare rather than a more isolated location. The hustle and bustle of Saturday traffic was an added attraction for…
After traversing some crazy, bumpy roads we arrived at the village of Itegero. Lots of constructions means the nation is developing so, how can we really complain? We were terribly…
Habari from Kakamega! Brief intro. I am Michelle, Gail's niece, and I have the privilege of doing the blog this season. Quick update: We picked up the medications today from…
This was day 11 and the last day of our series of clinics. We treated well over 500 patients today and provided treatment for those infected with jiggers. We conducted…
We had a very successful clinic today. It was held in the Kigami Friend’s Church, a larger space than yesterday, which made working much easier. We treated 538 patients in…
Today’s clinic was held in a Friend’s Church, which is actually a Morman church. It was a typical Kenyan church, with corrugated iron roofs and a very dusty concrete floor.…
At times, we are too busy to remember to thank people who helps to make our lives better. So before I slept yesterday evening, I wrote a small reminder on…
Another sunny and hot day in Kenya…I see from photos that North Bay has snow…brrr. We showed the pictures to our Kenyan staff and the general consensus was that it…
A successful clinic today in a Friend’s Church…it was roomy and even had glass in the windows. We treated 690 persons, held our jigger’s clinic, treated 12 wounds, and picked…
The word Jiggers has been mentioned in this blog on several occasions. This week we have treated well over 400 persons but the joyful news is that because of prior…
Canadian Nurses for Africa is holding our second annual Out of Africa Gala in support of our work in Kenya. It will be held on February 23, 2013 at the…
We held our tenth clinic of the mission at a Friends Church in Kedohi. If you are an old blog follower, you may remember that last year our van, after…
This morning we set up our clinic at Viyalo in the Viyalo Friends Church. It was quite a large building and so we were able to at least navigate without…
Now that we have had our day off, it is time to get back to work. We travelled to the area of Chavakali, which is near Evojo School. This is…
Today was a “sleep in day”. Like most days when you plan on sleeping in, you find yourself awake at the usual time. The nice thing was the opportunity to…
One of the most difficult things to see in Kenya is the suffering children. Whether it is from malnutrition, malaria, or worms, it is always a heartbreaking thing to witness.…
Hello and love to all my family and friends. Once again we are having an amazing trip. The impact of what we do here each year never seems to amaze…
Today we drove to a small church in the community of Margoli. We had initially been scheduled to work at a previous years location in Kakamega. The church, which was…
Today was a good day. No one was arrested; no one ran out of gas; and the police ignored us. Even the ATMs are working. We drove to the area…
What a day we had! We left the Sheywe Guest House shortly after 7:00 am and travelled to a bank to get some money. The ATMs were down and had…
This morning we left Kakamega at the usual time and travelled about 40 minutes from the city into a very rural area. The foliage was very thick, green and heavy…
This morning we left the Sheywe Guest House shortly after 7:00 am and drove into a very rural area of Kenya. There are no businesses around this area, and the…
We have spent the day organizing ourselves. We had to bully the staff here a little to have them remove both beds from the room we use to store the…
Mary has a range of experience both in the hospital and industry settings. She received her Post Masters Acute Care Nurse Practitioner diploma from the University of Toronto, and spent her nursing career in cardiology, critical care and electrophysiology, caring for patients and managing nursing and technical care teams.
She has a BSc and an MSc in science and molecular biology (also UofT). She retired from a career in clinical research with an international medical company, initially managing cardiac medical device marketing, and then later assuming responsibility for research in Canada and Latin America. She looks forward to volunteering with CNFA, and assisting wherever possible with the mission experience, data management and fundraising.
Lisa Keenan-Lindsay graduated from the University of Toronto in 1983 with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and in 2003 with her Masters of Nursing. She has worked as a staff nurse in a pediatric ICU as well as in all areas of obstetrics (prenatal clinic, labour and birth, postpartum). Lisa has spent the last 20 years of her career working in post-secondary education, teaching nursing students. Her passion is maternal-child health and she has edited 2 Canadian nursing textbooks in this area. She is a past president of the Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health Nurses (CAPWHN).
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.