In January 2014, Johnson & Johnson, in partnership with Phillips Healthcare Services, the Kenya Education Fund (KEF), and three institutions of higher education (Africa Nazarene University, Kenya Medical Training College, and the University of Nairobi), launched a new BTE program in Kenya. Targeting 25 girls and 25 boys from two different boarding high schools in Kenya (St. Ann’s Gichocho Girls High School and Tala Boys High School), the program aimed to help Kenyan high school students enrich their academics and set realistic career and academic goals. Indirectly, BTE-Kenya reached a broader audience of hundreds of family members and classmates who benefited from the wealth of knowledge and experience that the BTE students gained during the program.
Over the three-year grant period, BTE students participated in the following program activities:
- Projects and Presentations. BTE students discovered practical applications for improving health outcomes by learning to identify a need in their community, researched solutions, and proposed projects to deal with the problems.
- Community Service. The choice to enter a career in the health sector should come from an individual’s desire to improve the well being of others. In this spirit, BTE students engaged in community service activities and “give back” to their local communities.
- Corporation and Hospital Tours. BTE students visited healthcare facilities and health care companies and obtained a better understanding of what lies ahead of them if they choose a career in the health sector.
- Health Clubs. BTE students established “Health Clubs” at their school as a way to share the knowledge they acquired through BTE with their fellow classmates. These clubs, which continue to exist beyond grand funding, serve as a sustainable source of health information and awareness for generations of students.
- BTE CAMP. University students from ANU, as well as participating teachers from Tala High and St. Ann tutored BTE students during their holiday recess each August.
- Guest Lectures & Health Resource Speakers. Guest lecturers visited each school and educated students about the different careers that fall under the umbrella of health care. These lectures benefited all the students at the respective schools and helped BTE students make informed decisions about a career path.
- Job Shadowing/Career Days: BTE students spent a day with employees from PHSL to get a better sense of the roles and responsibilities of various employees and were coached on different career options.
- Campus Tours: BTE students toured local university campuses where courses in medicine and healthcare are offered; professors and students of each institution lead the tours and held Q&A sessions with the students.
