There remains a critical gap in Kenyan palliative care provision, with an absence of hospice and palliative care for children. In Kenya, only 5% of children with terminal or life-limiting illness/disability can access palliative care. There is no dedicated children’s hospice and just one facility providing a dedicated paediatric service.
Child palliative care has the potential to transform the lives of children and their families living with a wide range of conditions from cancer and HIV to cerebral palsy and other congenital conditions. Without palliative care these children experience distress from unmanaged pain and symptoms, negative emotions, anxiety about death, suicidal thoughts and fears of rejection, preventing them from attending school and participating in play. Caregivers suffer catastrophic financial expenditures associated with their child’s care.
We believe that no child should ever have to suffer from avoidable pain and emotional distress. Using funds raised in the UK, we are working with trusted partners in Kenya to change this. In 2023 we started training paediatric and oncology doctors to manage child pain correctly. We are also training community volunteers to meet the every-day needs of children and support families with the emotional challenges of living with life-limiting illness. We plan to run workshops for children and their families for psychosocial and peer support. Home visits from hospice nurses will provide quality child palliative care, pain relief and support the whole family to make the most of every moment with their child.
Many children living with palliative care needs experience stigma and exclusion, but we intend to change this. We have already reached hundreds of teachers, school children and community leaders with positive messages around children with life-limiting illness and disability, creating a more supportive and inclusive environment in which these children can thrive.
To see this project through, and bring this vital work to even more areas of Kenya, we need to raise more funds.
Please donate today and help us make every child count.
Just £5 buys crayons, paper or books for play therapy
£10 buys medicines and supplies needed for a home visit to a child
£20 trains a doctor to correctly manage pain in children
Read the stories of some of the amazing, resilient children we have helped:
