Esther Nafula Wekesa
Oxford Brookes University | Kenya
Biography
Esther Nafula Wekesa is a registered Medical practitioner in Kenya working with M.P Shah Hospital, Nairobi. Her passion for palliative care started in 2011 when she was a fourth year undergraduate medical student at the University of Nairobi. She attended a one week induction course organized by the Nairobi Hospice and her interested sparked. She volunteered for three months at the Coast Hospice and was truly amazed by the difference palliative care brought to patients’ and families lives. In 2014 while undertaking her internship period, she joined the Diploma for Higher Education in Palliative Care coordinated by the Oxford Brookes University and Nairobi Hospice. She also started volunteering at the Kakamega Hospice and later on at the Nairobi Hospice. Working with palliative care patients has been truly fulfilling. She always aims to be honest, to communicate effectively and to help patients have quality of life despite their illnesses. She currently pursues a Master of Science in Palliative Care at the Oxford Brookes University since January 2016. Her goal is to join the small world of palliative care specialists in her country in order to advocate for integration into the mainstay healthcare. She believes that she can help in creating awareness and availability of the much needed palliative care in Kenya.