Jocelyn Macharia Becomes First Kenyan RN to Benefit from BBI-TNAP Partnership

Posted on May 04, 2009

Jocelyn Macharia is the first Kenyan registered nurse to receive money raised by The Nurses’ Apron Partnership and channeled to Burning Bush Inc. TNAP and BBI are partnering to fund additional training and education for nurses in Central Kenya.

Jocelyn is 50 years old and lives with her husband in the Central Highlands of Kenya, near Mt. Kenya. She is a registered nurse and nurse midwife, with specialization in maternal child health and reproductive health. Jocelyn owns and manages a health center that offers maternity, antenatal, and youth services, especially focusing on sexually transmitted diseases and persons affected by HIV/AIDS. In the past 20 years, over 1.5 million people in Kenya have died of AIDS, leaving 1.8 million children orphaned and another 1.4 million infected with the disease.

“I have been dealing with the infected and affected—that is, orphans, people living with AIDS, and also the widows, and I feel inadequate with so little knowledge of HIV/AIDS,” says Jocelyn. “I have felt a call to deeply expand my knowledge and help the community at large in Kenya.”

Jocelyn will begin work soon on her master’s degree in Community Pastoral Care & HIV/AIDS through the distance-learning program at St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya. St. Paul’s is affiliated with the University of Wales Lampeter, which will grant the MA degree upon completion of the three-year program. Students continue in their professional practice while enrolled, traveling to the Limuru campus for a total of 46 days and receiving instruction remotely the rest of the time.

The total cost of the program is about $7,200 in U.S. dollars, not including travel and accommodations. TNAP has provided $250 to secure Jocelyn’s acceptance in the program and will use proceeds from the sale of its book, Gotcha’ Covered, to continue funding her education.