“I joined the volunteer team because I wanted to start giving back to my community. The training was inspiring: such a parade of bright, heartful people sharing their knowledge on palliative care. And the volunteering has been rich: meeting good people in their time of need and giving them as much of myself as I can. I come away from these experiences feeling I’ve gained at least as much from the time spent as the patients may have.”
A malindi community volunteer shares her experieces of working in her commmunity
Community health volunteers play a vital role in providing daily care for hospice patients in their homes, between visits from hospice nurses. This is essential in rural Kenya, where hospice catchment areas are large and hospice budgets are small.
Last year we helped Malindi Palliative Care Unit train a further 30 volunteers, providing them with basic skills in home-based palliative care. With just two palliative care nurses covering the entire area of the north of Kilifi County, volunteers are a valuable support to both patients and nurses.
Read more here about how trained community health volunteers help change lives across Kenya