Rehabilitation Center of Kikuyu Hospital

Kikuyu, Kenya

The rehabilitation center at Kikuyu Hospital in Kenya is a project of PC(USA), the goal of which, is to assist the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA), to provide an opportunity for physically disabled persons to move from dependency toward independence through programs of surgical, physical, social, spiritual, and vocational rehabilitation. The center provides a model for rehabilitation and conducts training courses for health professionals in rehabilitation.

The Kikuyu Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center is a pioneer project that ministers to tens of thousands of children and adults from across Kenya and parts of Tanzania. It also serves refugees coming from Somalia and Sudan, providing surgical restoration, adaptive devices such as braces, and education which allows people to recover from and/or live with their disability — all in the name of Christ.

The center provides basic reconstructive surgery for children and some adults with such problems as club foot, polio deformities, malunion, contractures, burns and congenital musculoskeletal diseases. It is linked with other agencies caring for disabled children. Many of the current patients are from the some 100,000 Somali refugees now in Kenya. They are coming with old gunshot and land mine wounds as well as neglected fractures.

The center provides training in orthopedic surgery, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and appropriate technology for limb/brace/wheelchair construction. A relationship has been established with The Wilson Leprosy and Rehabilitation Center in Korea through both grants and volunteer personnel from Wilson. A number of international agencies are supporting patients fees.

The Rehabilitation Center at Kikuyu Hospital, Kikuyu, Kenya, is assisted by PC(USA) Extra Commitment Opportunities funds account #862754. The Medical Benevolence Foundation is raising funds for medical equipment and charity care.