St. Paul’s University is a premier Christian university in Kenya, just west of Nairobi. Fully accredited and chartered by the government of Kenya, the University was founded in 1903. Based on the great demand for nurses in Kenya, the University added a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program in May 2019. The program currently has 113 enrolled students and over 50 students are on a waiting list for admission. Six of the current students are part of MBF’s Mary K scholarship program which helps students with fees, tuition, supplies and books. Upon graduation, St. Paul’s University nursing graduates who have benefitted from the Mary K Scholarship program will work at a mission hospital for two years.

The nursing program has proven to be so popular that the teaching facilities and staff cannot accommodate the demand. Today the skills lab can only hold 10 students at a time. This makes teaching all 113 students a challenge. Over 50 students are wait-listed as the University seeks to expand lab space, equipment for training, and add staff. The school is working to acquire some of the equipment required for anatomy, microbiology and biochemistry labs. In the future, the school hopes to establish a medical skills lab that meets accreditation requirements, so the students won’t have to ride buses to the hospitals for their clinicals.

St. Paul’s University has an agreement with three hospitals for clinical training of the nursing students. All students are housed on campus, both for their comfort and safety and because the courses are very hands-on and intensive.

MBF has worked in partnership with St. Paul’s University even before the inception of the nursing program. Because of MBF’s volunteers, donors, and the skill and will of the St. Paul’s team, great things are happening for the students. An e-learning platform has launched, and the staff and students at St. Paul’s have become champions and tutors for other schools who are on-boarding to the same platform.

The school is hosting the 3rd Annual Building Capacity for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership in Africa Conference in June, 2022. The event, which features leaders in nursing education will draw nursing educators from across Africa together. It is sponsored by the Center for Global Nursing Development.