An article from David Abbey, Chair Royce and Jean Abbey Vocational Scholarship Committee
Dr Benjamim Wachira, a Kenyan Emergency Physician, travelled to Australia in 2025 on a Royce and Jean Abbey Vocational Scholarship, hosted by the Rotary Club of Taree, NSW. Dr Benjamin is the Founder and Executive Director of the Emergency Medicine Kenya Foundation (EMKF).
The objective of the scholarship was to explore how emergency medical care was delivered in Australia and included visits to ambulance services, trauma centres, emergency departments and health coordination hubs across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
During the visit, Dr Benjamin also found time to speak to Rotary clubs, including Taree, Balwyn, Albert Park, Geelong and Burleigh Heads, sharing insights into the challenges and opportunities of developing emergency medical systems in Kenya. The visit provided a unique opportunity to explore how these systems could inform the ongoing development of Kenya’s emergency medical services.
On the 5th of August 2026 the Government of Kenya officially launched the SHA 922 Lifeline and the National Ambulance Dispatch Centre due in no small part to the work of Dr Benjamin and the EMKF. This was an event unimaginable ten years ago and is part of the Project 47, a practical blueprint for developing emergency healthcare systems across all 47 counties of Kenya.
In Dr Benjamin’s words: “For EMKF, this milestone represents more than a phone number. It reflects more than a decade of systems change—shaping national and county policy, strengthening emergency care centres, building coordinated public ambulance services through Ambulensi, supporting emergency care financing under ECCIF, and helping connect the different parts of the emergency healthcare system.”
In response to my congratulatory email on behalf of the scholarship committee to Dr Benjamin and Dr Grace Maano from the RC of Taree I received the following response:
Thanks for the kind words. I want to highlight that the scholarship played quite a significant role in this. We designed the Dispatch Centre for the 922 number and came up with the protocols, and this was based on my visit to the EMS centres in Australia, thanks to the Scholarship...so not a minor role but a really significant one. Thank you all for the great support.
On behalf of the Royce and Jean Abbey Vocational Scholarship Committee, I thank the District 9800 Foundation Committee and The Rotary Foundation officers in Evanston for helping make this happen and I congratulate Dr Benjamin, Dr Grace and the Rotary Club of Taree for initiating and hosting a scholarship which will have lifesaving consequences.
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