In honor of Jayne Kamau, a true child life hero. We will continue to hold her legacy strong and provide compassionate work to children and families.
Previously published at PediaPlay.com
The Sally Test Pediatric Centre in Kenya is proud to have the first sustainable child life program in East Africa. By sustainable, I mean that rather than mission-based services that come and go, it is staffed by citizens of Kenya who have obtained child life certification through the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP). Morgan Livingstone of Toronto, Canada, saw the need of such services and has worked tirelessly over the years to train and support the staff at Sally Test.
Over the next several blogs I am spotlighting the work of the child life specialists in Kenya. The team has faced many challenges in becoming child life specialists, and they are doing extraordinary work to humanize medical treatment for children and families in their care. A special thank you to Morgan Livingstone and the Sally Test Child Life team for taking the time to answer my interview questions and send along great photos.
Jayne Kamau
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST?
I had worked in pediatrics unit as a social worker and was so comfortable and passionate with the children and their families. I had not heard about the Child Life profession until when Morgan Livingstone (CCLS Canada) came to Kenya for a one day workshop and introduced the concept of Child Life. An interest was triggered there and then and my mind and heart were in agreement that this profession though new to me was what I wanted to do. I started doing my own research about the profession and what qualification was needed to become a certified child life specialist. So when the program was set up in our hospital and people were called for interview, I was among the very first to apply and now here I am.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO ATTAINING YOUR GOAL?
Integrating Child Life as an integral part of medical team in the management and care plan for the patients and families was not easy and till today it is challenging . Due to the fact that Child Life is little known in our set up being a valued team player of the larger health care management was not easy. Convincing the staff that pre procedure preparation, play, psychosocial support, among other activities had health benefits was tough. Recognition by the clinical staff for easier referral and collaboration was and still is hard.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Being able to bring a smile to my patients and hope to their families is a feeling I really treasure. The journey from admission to the day of discharge is one which is filled with beautiful memories, courage, learning and mastering of daily routine of a totally new environment which calls for a lot of adjustments. Even at the most difficult situations, just being there for the child and family, to listen, empathize and advocate for their needs makes me happy.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE WORLD WIDE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR PROGRAM?
Kenya Child Life program empowers children and family to cope with a diverse challenging experience related to hospitalization. Being the only Child Life program in East Africa, the Kenya Child Life program is working to ensure that these very valuable skills also go to other hospitals. International and local internship programs are what we are working on now. Despite all the challenges we meet in the line of duty, we have a strong commitment to support children and family during hospitalization and reduce negativities and trauma that many children experience during their hospital stay.
PLEASE SHARE A BRIEF STORY ABOUT A CHILD WHO TAUGHT YOU SOMETHING.
A six year old patient taught me how to treat everyone as equal and how to build rapport. Our first encounter was not a great one because he was having his cannula (IV) fixed and I tried many tricks of distraction to no avail. After the procedure was over, I followed up with play to bring everything to normalcy. In his room there were other patients and he called all of them to come and play. The first thing he did before we all engaged in play was to ask all of the children to introduce themselves and me too,….As we continued with the game we were all like old friends and we could call each other by our names, laugh and high five each other. This was a big lesson for me because I realized when I came to distract him I was not so connected to him like I was here in play. The first thing I do now is to always introduce myself and get to know a little bit of the patient and family and this has always made my entry point more easy thanks to my six year old patient.
Thank you so much, Jayne, for all that you do for children and families at Sally Test. You are part of something so important, and your role modeling is inspiring for us all.
Click here, if you would like to make a contribution to World Eye Cancer Hope in honor of Jayne’s life.
