Annual Child Life Training starts again in Kenya!

We urgently need your help to raise funds to continue to offer the annual child life training program in Kenya post-pandemic as costs have significantly increased. The need for funding for this advanced clinical child life training remains the only way to continue building child life supports for all children in hospital in Kenya and beyond. This year we have expanded training to the local children's hospice where child life supports and programs are provided to children receiving palliative care. Here at our training at the hospice we hope to welcome child life interns from Ghana and South Africa as they complete the steps towards becoming the first child life specialists in Africa. This new location requires additional funding to ensure a well executed and thorough training for the entire team. We can't do this without your help and donations!

Picture description: A child life specialist provides blood draw focused medical play with a young patient using a special rabbit doll and medical equipment.

Since 2008 World Eye Cancer Hope has been supporting the annual child life training in Kenya. This locally sustainable week-long training teaches advanced child life skills to the local child life team supporting children of all ages in their healthcare experience. This year is our BIG step into supporting the growth of child life specialists and child life practices in Paediatric healthcare beyond Kenya into other African countries. 

Picture description: Members of the Kenyan child life team

Over the many years, this training has allowed the Kenyan child life team to implement a wide variety of enriched programming for children in hospital and has expanded to include: 

2 certified child life specialists that lead, supervise and teach others how to provide child life supports

5 child life specialists that deliver preparation for procedures, medical play, coping support for children and youth during procedures, non-pharmacological pain management and provide illness specific education and information to help children better understand their healthcare experience.

5 child life assistants to provide normalizing bedside play opportunities and creative arts experiences.

4 playroom supervisors that offer daily unique play activities in each of the hospital ward playrooms.

1 child life technology specialist that manages all technology including tablets for preparation and distraction, video game systems and music options. Organizing daily group video game play times and large scale art projects this unique technology position is 1 of only 50 worldwide.

We built a special low profile playground for children with visual impairments to enjoy safely with other young patients.

We have trained and continue to train local child life team members and medical professionals as certified infant massage instructors to best support the comfort and care needs of babies and young patients with serious medical diagnoses such as retinoblastoma.

We have expanded child life services into the local Hospice helping children be supported through play and legacy building and live their best lives at the end of their lives. 

Our child life team has developed child life courses for medical professionals to build skills and learn strategies for child and family friendly practices and providing coping supports during hospitalization, and is working on the creation and implementation of the required child life courses needed to be eligible for certification within the local hospital college. 

This year our child life team, including Morgan Livingstone and Liz Kabuthi, are poster presenters and speakers about psychosocial oncology for children and families experiencing retinoblastoma at the First Meeting of the International Society of Ocular Oncology in Africa (ISOO Africa 2023), which will be held in Mombasa, Kenya, from August 21 to 23, 2023.

With your funding and support we can continue to support child life specialists in Kenya and build child life programs across Africa thanks to this one-of-a-kind annual child life training that teaches clinical child life skills that improve the coping and quality of life for children facing illness, trauma and end of life in hospital.  

  Picture description: a child life specialist uses a rainbow coloured toy to play for a child and provide a positive distraction as the child looks on from the hospital bed.