Volunteer Destinations · Kenya
KENYA: Mama Maria Kenya Clinic
Village Bulletin · 2011
Mama Maria Kenya Clinic (MMK) provides healthcare to underserved communities in Kenya through an essential package of health services offering basic ambulatory and short-term inpatient care, prenatal and maternal care, immunizations, pediatric care, and emergency transport. Working beyond clan and common tribal trappings, Mama Maria is dedicated to providing opportunities to all who stand in need.
Medical professionals are encouraged to volunteer their services in the clinic. MMK also offers volunteers the opportunity to work with children, assist in the local schools, and promote public health awareness and education. Volunteers have many opportunities to work in the clinic, hospital, local school, and in the community.
Program Overview
Mama Maria is an indigenous, community-centric organization that provides low-cost healthcare services to aid the disadvantaged people of rural Kenya with accessible and sustainable healthcare. Mama Maria offers volunteers the opportunity to work in the flagship clinic in Muhuru Bay.
Mama Maria focuses on providing primary preventive measures through routine health maintenance, in tandem with cure and management of disease and illness.
Mama Maria clinics are run by locally trained professionals with a keen understanding of the healthcare challenges and needs each community faces. Widows and others in need, with little or no opportunity for income, are also trained in the daily operation and management of the clinic.
Mama Maria Goals
- To continue to offer and expand basic ambulatory and short-term inpatient care, maternal and perinatal services, HIV/AIDS testing, care and treatment, pediatric care and childhood immunizations, and emergency transport for urgent and critical cases.
- To further develop sustainable healthcare services for people in need, including curative and preventive health services that are typically not provided by hospitals.
- To serve all people, regardless of tribe, station, clan, religion, gender or health status. This includes a fundamental philosophy dedicated to building a diverse workforce in all the communities we serve.
- To provide patients with fair, affordable, and quality healthcare, using systems built on operational excellence.
Volunteer Opportunities
Medicine
- Work in the community health clinic
- Provide pediatric care and childhood immunizations
- Conduct HIV/AIDS testing, treatment and care
Public Health Education
- Public health awareness, including HIV/AIDS, nutrition and malaria
- Participate in community outreach programs
Capacity Building
- Training and workshops in healthcare management, nutrition and maternal care
- Leadership and entrepreneurial training
Education
- Preschool to 5th grade teaching: English, basic use of computers, writing, health education and physical education
Meet the Director
Program director Peter Kithene tells his own story:
Childhood and Family
“I was born in a loving family in rural Kenya. As a child, I witnessed a lot of suffering resulting from lack of healthcare. I lost six of my siblings from diseases that I believe were preventable and treatable if there was a reliable health clinic. I lost my parents at age 12, again from preventable causes. I vowed to pursue education and in turn to create a reliable healthcare solution for rural communities.”
Challenges to Getting an Education
“I loved being in grade school but I was discouraged by the fact that I didn’t know how I could pursue secondary education because of the financial burden. At that time secondary education in Kenya was extremely expensive, and more so to an orphaned child like me. However, I never gave up, worked hard and earned a scholarship to Kenya’s premier high school, Starehe Boys Center in Nairobi, and later to the University of Washington, Seattle.”
Hopes for Mama Maria Kenya
“My goal is for Mama Maria to become a scalable and sustainable health care model across rural and low-income African communities.”
Our Partnership with Village Volunteers
“Village Volunteers helps us with fundraising, project support and sending volunteers who donate their time and resources to advance our cause. Also, Village Volunteers helped with partnership opportunities. We thank them for that! The ability for a closed and remote community like mine and many others to come into contact with people from other cultures, other regions, and other backgrounds is eye opening and educational for the community.”