Medical Professionals
Medical Professionals- Final

Kupenda employs medical professionals, such as nurses and occupational therapists, to care for children with disabilities at their homes and schools. In addition to assessing and treating the children, many of these professionals provide parents and teachers with training on basic care skills to improve the frequency and quality of care these children receive. These professionals are able to provide care for several children each day, and do so even when the children’s schools are closed due to holidays, weather conditions, and teacher strikes. Since Kupenda secured its own vehicle in 2015, they have been able to visit even more children each day. As with Kupenda’s teaching staff, we work with leaders and communities to make these health care positions sustainable by shifting their salary payments to the local government. Each year we hire 1-3 medical professionals and each year the local government takes over employment of 1-3 medical professionals – thereby creating a continuous loop that feeds more trained health care staff into the local system.

SUCCESS STORIES

Physical Therapy Training for Parents

Daily physical therapy (PT) exercises are particularly important for children with cerebral palsy. Therefore Kupenda’s occupational therapists and nurses provide free PT trainings for parents of children with cerebral palsy. During these sessions, family members learn about proper positioning, daily exercises, and safe feeding. Our occupational therapist also provides these trainings to parent support groups like the Upendo Parent Support Group. The parents in this group also regularly receiving counseling, education, and medical referrals from Kupenda’s staff. Read more about our work with the Upendo group members here

Medical Training for Traditional Healer Disability Advocates

Our staff in Kenya train traditional healers on how to identify different disabilities, understand their causes, and refer children with these disabilities for care at medical facilities. Salome participated in Kupenda’s first disability training for traditional healers. During this training she also learned how some traditional practices like skin cutting, live burials and exorcisms can be harmful to children with disabilities. Salome now encourages her traditional healer colleagues to attend Kupenda’s trainings and works with medical professionals to lead the same kind of trainings. Learn more about our work with Salome on page 11 of our annual report here.

School and Community Therapists Support Hundreds of Children in Need 

Kupenda hires physical and occupational therapists who have helped to improve the health and mobility of hundreds of Kenyan children with paralysis, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy and other physical disabilities. These medical professionals are stationed at special schools where they provide therapy to students, trainings for caregivers, and conduct mobile therapy clinics to remote villages where such services are scarce. Learn more about our work with these professionals here.