Volunteering in Kenya

Psychiatric and other mental health professional vacancies at Tumaini Counselling Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

Since 1991 Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and Wycliffe Bible Translators International (WBTI) have worked cooperatively to provide counselling and mental health support services for missionaries at Tumaini Counselling Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.  ‘Tumaini’ is a Swahili word meaning ‘hope’.  In 2002 we moved into a beautiful facility designed both for our confidential counselling and mental health ministry, as well as our more public preventative care work; we even have beautiful and restful gardens for quiet reflection.  Today Tumaini is a world-leading centre specializing in missionary mental health care.
 
While we serve the members of AIM and WBTI, we also support missionaries and their families from over 160 like-minded agencies throughout Africa, seeing 350 – 400 people each year.  Much of this work is face-to-face consultations at Tumaini, but we also offer distance services, travel to mission conferences around Africa, run seminars and offer a variety of other resources.
 
Currently we are preparing to open a new smaller centre in Kampala, to better serve missionaries working in Central Africa.  Our team leader for Kampala will be arriving in October 2015 and the centre will open in 2016.  Other centres are being considered. CAN YOU HELP?


 

Our staff

 
All our mental health clinicians are experienced and professionally qualified in their home countries.  In addition, they are missionaries themselves, co-workers in the Great Commission, working to strengthen God’s servants as they follow His call.  The current team includes psychiatrists and psychologists, psychotherapists, marriage and family therapists, and counsellors coming from the US and Canada, UK, Germany and South Korea. The Tumaini clinical team, March 2015.
 
Africa Inland Mission currently has vacancies for additional experienced adult or child psychiatrists and for psychologists and therapists, including people with administrative / leadership experience in clinical settings.  Come to work with us – for a year or for much longer – and help us respond better to those who need our services.
 

For more information and applications

 
To work at Tumaini is a calling, not just a job.  You need to apply to AIM as a short-term or long-term missionary (which includes raising your own funding for your work here), and putting in a professional application to Tumaini.  Dr. Douglas Ghrist is our point of contact and can give you further information, as well as guide you through the application process.
 
Contact: Douglas Ghrist, M.D., 737 Hampton Hill Dr., Tyler, TX 75703, USA
Email: doug.ghrist@aimint.org
 

Useful links

 
Africa Inland Mission website: http://www.aimint.org
Tumaini Counselling Centre website: http://tumainicounselling.net
Two videos about Tumaini: http://tumainicounselling.net/about-us/tumaini-video/
Article about the work of Tumaini: http://www.aimint.org/usa/heartbeat/?p=670
 
Mark Phippen
Clinical Team Leader, Tumaini Counselling Centre: clinicalteamleader.ac@aimint.org