Healthcare News South Africa

Kenya: Bringing health services to Kibera's poor

During her average 12-hour day at the Senye Medical Clinic in Nairobi's Kibera slum, Dorah Nyanja wears many hats alongside her stethoscope. Not only is she Senye's only nurse, pharmacist, midwife and occasional therapist, she also owns it.

Nairobi - "After nursing school I did not want to go into the hospital set-up," she explains in her three-room clinic near Soweto Market. "I wanted to go into the community." After spending eight months canvassing Kibera in search of a location that would not only provide reliable access to water and electricity but also security and enough visibility to attract clients, she set up Senye.

The next challenge for this mother of three saddled with a student loan debt was to find three months' advance rent. She approached the Sustainable Healthcare Enterprise Foundation (SHEF), a franchise network with 64 clinic/pharmacies in Kenya.

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