Meet the Team 2019-04-04T18:23:03+10:00

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.

Harold and Maree Hardy

We are Harold and Maree Hardy and we have just become members of the Kenya Health Board. We have known the founder Lyle for over 40 yrs. Lyle and I spent quite a bit of time talking about Kenya Health and the dreams he had for it. It’s a pleasure to work with Ivan and the Kenya Health Team knowing that they have continued to make Lyle’s vision a modern day reality. We have 5 children and 4 grandchildren, and have also bought up 5 other children. We live in a beautiful part of NSW. I do massage and my wife is an aged care nurse who currently manages my practices for me. We love to travel around Australia in our motor home camping in the bush. Maree loves to make bears and baby dolls to raise money for Kenya Health.

Jen Burgoyne

I grew up in a family of six in an average sized NSW country town. In 1979-80, I worked as a volunteer nurse in Thailand and Cambodia, living in both countries for 8 months after I had completed my EN training in Sydney. I found the experience changed my life and made me aware of the needs of those less fortunate, and especially those who were being mistreated.

Shortly after marrying, Lyle and I with our 4 children spent 3½ years on Pitcairn Island. Here Lyle worked as a medical officer and church pastor in the mid-1990s and early 2002.

After the first time Lyle went to Kenya and with each of his subsequent visits, I realised through the reports that he brought back to Australia, the desperation that the women of Kenya feel for themselves and their children in relation to their health needs.

Currently, I live in Murwillumbah where I work as a receptionist in a local medical practice. Even though our children have all left home, we are a very close family who spend time together often. Most of my spare time is taken up with Kenya Health administration & the day-to-day running of the charity.

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.

Hannah Burgoyne

My name is Hannah Burgoyne, I am the daughter of Lyle Burgoyne, the founder of Kenya Health.

I was lucky enough to go to Kenya on one of the trips through Kenya in May 2013. During that trip I helped dispense the medication, and have been involved with Kenya Health ever since! I am a member on the board and endeavour to continue Kenya Health in a manner that would make my father proud.

Ivan Leahy

I work 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.

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.

Lynelle Burgoyne

Hi, my name is Lynelle Burgoyne. I met Lyle when I began dating his son and eventually became his daughter in law. I was always very moved by Lyle’s passion for everything he threw himself into and when he began Kenya health it was no different. It was his absolute dedication to Kenya health and his unwavering desire to help others that compelled me to become involved in any way I could.

While we still have a long way to go I am so proud to be a part of such a committed team. Thanks for your support.