What is this I hear? You guys are going to Africa? Where will you be?
We will be going to Kenya to work with the PCEA Chogoria Hospital. In the map above (and below), Nairobi is the orange pin, and Chogoria is the green pin. They are about 100 mi apart as the crow flies, but much more by road.
Tell me more about PCEA Chogoria Hospital.
The Chogoria Hospital is a mission hospital originally founded by Scottish missionaries from the church of Scotland in 1922. In 1956, ownership was transferred to the Presbyterian church of East Africa. In 1951, the Clive Irving nursing school was established.
The hospital now offers the following services: Surgical, Outpatient, Admission, Nursing training, CT scan, Ultrasound, X-rays, Maternity, Optical services, HIV AIDs counselling and Medication, and Dental services. The hospital has a 295 bed capacity. The hospital focuses services on the north central portion of Kenya (all the way to the Ethiopian border).
More information about the hospital can be found on their website.
What are you going to be doing?
Haley will be volunteering as a family medicine faculty, training African family doctors during their residency. This will include pediatrics, OB, clinics, and hospital medicine. Ryan will be volunteering his time as an engineer and project manager. Initially, there are plans to work on water treatment for the mission hospital and station. Subsequently, he expects to help continue work on hospital expansion/renovation. In addition, we plan to work and worship with a congregation, encouraging and being encouraged.
When are you going?
We are hoping to leave sometime in the fall of 2018. There are a number of things we will need to do before this departure – Haley finishing residency, selling our townhouse, training, raising funds, and many many other tasks.
How long will you be in Kenya?
We don’t know yet. We are currently planning on a minimum of two years, but we may continue longer, living and volunteering abroad.
What organization will you be volunteering with?
We are volunteering with Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC). It is a faith based inter-denominational organization that offers support services and logistics primarily for global health care volunteers. They currently support between 50-100 health care volunteers and spouses. More information can be found on their website.
Who is Ryley?
We are Ryley! Established in 2017 as Ryan and Haley. 🙂
How can I/we help?
We hope that you are. Please pray for us as we prepare for our service. We are ready and willing to go, but this is a poor community and cannot support the physicians it needs. Our time in Kenya volunteering at the hospital will have to be fully funded by individuals. Raising financial support for outgoing costs and living expenses is part of our next steps. We cannot go without a team of friends who will partner with us in prayer and giving. We need people who will encourage us by remembering us and keeping us in their prayers.
If you want to make a tax deductible donation (CHSC is a 501(c)(3)) you have a number of options:
1) If you wish to donate by check, please make it out to the Christian Health Service Corps and put our account number 152 on the memo line of the check. Send it to Christian Health Service Corps, PO Box 132, Fruitvale, TX 75127.
2) Similarly, for anyone desiring to donate monthly, an automatic bill pay through your financial institution can be mailed to the same address. Assign the account number as 152.
3) Alternatively, you can go online to the Christian Health Service Corps website, and under the OUR STAFF tab click on AFRICA STAFF and find our names. The DONATE NOW button will link you to an online donation page. You can also go directly to the page at https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=8e45ec.
4) Finally, you can text TEAMRYLEY to 71777 for a link and instructions.
Both of the last two options will have a 3% electronic processing fee.
For those that are interested, there is the chance that your place of employment may match the donation, potentially dollar-for-dollar. It is our understanding that CHSC will pass most “religious” tests and be able to qualify. We would be more than happy to chat about how to do this.
Feel free to pass along our information to anyone you know who is interested in medical missions, Kenya, or partnering with us. We would be willing to chat with anyone that you think might like to hear about us.
Other questions? Feel free to ask us! Maybe you will get your question in a future updated FAQ!
Ryan and Haley
Team Ryley 