Our Journey
What we do | Meet the Team | Our Founder | The Board | Partners | Media |
WHO WE ARE
Safari Doctors is an award-winning, proudly women-led social enterprise. We provide innovative, community-driven healthcare solutions that promote well-being for marginalised communities through health service delivery to the last mile in Lamu County, Kenya. The indigenous communities we serve, live within the archipelago and on the mainland near the border with Somalia, where insecurity, neglect and remoteness prevent them from accessing vital health services.
WHAT WE DO
Our team conducts monthly mobile clinics by boat and road across up to 20 remote villages. Together with outpatient services offered at the Safari Doctors Medical Centre, we reach up to 2,000 patients every month.
Safari Doctors believes that Kenya's efforts to attain Universal Health Coverage by 2030 must include a mobile model of health service delivery and the engagement of young people. Our Youth Health Ambassadors programme trains young men and women to become Community Health Workers (CHWs) and agents of positive change in their communities.
As part of our One Health approach, the Safari Vets programme cares for hundreds of animals. During our outreach, we provide free veterinary services and community education on animal welfare and zoonoses. Our private Safari Vets clinic supports this work and runs TNR and vaccination campaigns.
Our team has also operated a civic education programme to build indigenous women’s capacity to engage in County health budget processes and to inform policy.
In 2020, Safari Doctors was the proud recipient of an SDGs in Action Solidarity Award for its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2017, the UN in Kenya awarded the Safari Doctors team the United Nations Person of the Year award, “for the outstanding efforts and commendable work providing medical care to marginalized communities in the far reaching areas of Lamu.”
Meet the team
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AMINA MOHAMED
PROGRAMS OFFICER
“I enjoy seeing the results of our work, which is informed by our data collection and analysis.”
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ANTONETA AKUOM
SAFARI VETS ANIMAL HEALTH OFFICER
“Ever since I was small, I have had a passion for animals.”
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AUGUSTINE MUSULWA
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
“Hope is a good thing and I wanted to be part of a good thing.”
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FAHMI SAID MAHIBU
BOAT CAPTAIN
“I like using football and sport as a way to engage vulnerable young people.”
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HARRISON CHARO KALU
NURSE
“I enjoy helping the very marginalised communities.”
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MARIAM ABDALLA
PROGRAMS MANAGER
“I am motivated to help the neglected communities in my homeland.”
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SHANGA NZOLE ANDERSON
OFFICE ASSISTANT
“Giving back to the community is my passion.”
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ISSA ABDULRAHMAN
COMMUNICATIONS & DEVELOPMENT
“I’m proud to work with a team that shares a vision and can apply individual successes to organisational goals.”
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SYLVIA WANJIKU
LABORATORY TECHNICIAN
“I joined Safari Doctors because I was looking for a challenging yet fulfilling role, offering the community friendly and accessible healthcare.”
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VIOLET WANJERI
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
“Accessible and affordable healthcare is a necessity and a source of joy for many in remote areas. Contributing to this motivates me.”
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MWEMA JOHN
NURSE
“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal. As a nurse, I'm always generous with kindness.”
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REHEMA CHARO
OFFICE ASSISTANT
“I enjoy when our team works together in harmony. I look forward to seeing more of that and growth.” -
Nuru Ismail
CLINICAL OFFICER
”One kind act can warm up three winter months. It's never too late or too early to be kind. Let's create autumn and spring in people's hearts.” -
KHADIJA HAFIDH
PHARMACIST
“Only when everyone you encounter along the way learns something from you will the road to success be genuinely extraordinary.”
Our Founder
Umra Omar, Founder & Director
“Marinating in comfort is not an option. Fear is not an option. With a leap of faith we can all be the change our world screams for.”
Umra Omar is from Pate Island in the Lamu archipelago and was raised in Kenya. After completing graduate school and working in Washington, D.C., Umra decided cubicle life was not for her. She returned to Lamu to explore her purpose and learned about a life-saving medical aid project that had been abandoned because of security concerns. In 2015, she launched Safari Doctors.
The following year, Umra was selected as a CNN Hero for her work. In 2017, she won the United Nations in Kenya Person of The Year Award. Umra is an Africa Visionary Fellow, Aurora Forum Goodwill Ambassador and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She featured among the United Nations #RealLifeHeroes for World Humanitarian Day 2020 and was among the 100 Most Influential Young Africans of 2020.
In 2021, Umra also became an Amujae Leader- the flagship programme of The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development, which aims to shift the landscape for women in public leadership in Africa, to one that truly values women leaders.
“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try spending the night in a room with a mosquito.”
Our favourite African proverb
THE BOARD
DR. AMINA ABUBAKAR, Owner of RX Clinic and Pharmacy | North Carolina, USA
KARIM ANJARWALLA, Managing Partner at Anjarwalla and Khanna | Nairobi, Kenya
TAHRENI BWANAALI, Management Consultant and former Department Manager, KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme | Lamu, Kenya
ANNE GATHUMBI, Health and Rights Consultant and former Director of Sexual Health and Reproductive Health at Open Society | New York, USA and Nairobi, Kenya
DR. VICTOR TOLE, Director of Lamu County Department of Health | Lamu, Kenya
SUMAYYA HASSAN, CEO of Takaful Insurance of Africa
