Meet Our Team
The Kenya Health Team
The team here at Kenya Health are dedicated to providing help to those in Kenya who need it most. We make regular trips to Kenya to provide desperately needed aid and health education.
With 6 board members in Australia and 3 permanent staff in Kenya, we work closely together in all of our efforts. Every member of the Kenya Health team has a unique reason for their involvement; we encourage you to have a look at our amazing team members and read about their involvement with Kenya Health.
Ivan Leahy
I worked as the operations manager for a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. I also spent many years chairing an Australian women’s refuge charity with a supporting op-shop.
On my first visit to Kenya 2013 I had the opportunity to experience both the free medical clinics and individual outreach visits to AIDS sufferers and sick patients who were not able to leave their homes to seek medical treatment. This was a life changing experience to witness the poverty and inability of so many to gain any medical help, especially the women bed ridden with AIDS.
Whilst in Kenya I was involved in the applying for and the subsequent registration of Kenya Health as an NGO. Kenya Health has come a long way and helped so many people, but we still have our work cut out for us.
Judy Leahy
I have a professional background in Public Service management. During my first visit to Kenya in 2013 I was privileged to work in an orphanage for eight weeks and with Kenya Health free medical clinics for a further four weeks. The poverty of the average Kenyan was overwhelming. Women’s rights and the plight of children are major issues. With no free medical system, many people are unable to access any kind of medical care.
Another major memory for me was our visit to the women’s prison in Nakuru. The women are allowed to keep their children with them until they turn 4 years of age. Even in prison they do not receive adequate health care so the Kenya Health clinics held biannually are very much appreciated both by inmates and staff.
Ann Prendergast
I am a Registered Nurse and Midwife and have worked in Emergency for many years and currently work in the Emergency Department at the John Flynn Hospital.
In 2008 I volunteered with Operation Open Heart in Rwanda and saw how this work changed the lives of so many children by providing surgery, that they would otherwise not had the opportunity to have had done.
I worked with Lyle Burgoyne, the founder of Kenya Health and saw his passion for helping the people of Kenya by providing medical clinics and medications. I first visited Kenya in February 2014 and have returned each year since, with every trip being both rewarding and a different experience. These clinics change the lives of underprivileged Kenyans and their families by providing medical treatment and medications that they otherwise could not afford.
I am also the Project Manager for Kenya Health with the Rotary Club Mt Warning AM and a Board Member.
Grant Prendergast
Intensive Care Paramedic with NSW Ambulance for 45 years
Front Line Manager at Murwillumbah as Officer in Charge of the Local Ambulance Station
Semi – Retired in 2023 and now working as a Casual Paramedic with Royal Flying Doctor Service
I became involved I Kenya Health through my wife Ann who worked with Founder Lyle Burgoyne, and I also worked with Lyle in my role as a paramedic. I have travelled to Kenya as a Team member on several occasions.
Working in the role of a volunteer with this organisation is a great experience from both a service and personal development perspective. To be able to provide medical care and assistance to the underprivileged people in Kenya is very rewarding
Jeannie Anderson
I am a proud mother of four children and grandmother of seven, and currently reside in Murwillumbah, NSW.
I am also a qualified accountant & CPA. I have now retired after more than 25years in public practice, and so bring my love of numbers to the Kenya Health Management Committee.
In 2023 my husband and I travelled to Kenya as a part of the team, and loved the Kenyan people, and the work that Kenya Health is doing there. I have been a Rotarian for more than 10years, and so have been a part of the Rotary support for Kenya Health, and have seen it grow and thrive over that time. I look forward to being a part of Kenya Health’s future, and to making a difference in the lives of the Kenyan people we help.