06 May Rescued as a baby from the roadside
Occupational Therapist, Becky Chaplin from East Grinstead still had her umbilical cord attached when a vet discovered her in a bag on the roadside in Kenya.
Today, Becky volunteers with Mercy Ships, using her skills as an occupational therapist to mentor Sierra Leone’s first cohort of physiotherapists trained in the West African nation.
Rescued at birth
“I think God was looking after me and sent a voice to the vet to find me,” says Becky. The veterinarian felt a nudge to check a bag by the roadside whilst he was out jogging, and there she was. The vet took Becky to New Life Home, an orphanage in Kenya.
It was at the orphanage that her parents adopted her at seven weeks old.
“Mum said when she picked me up that she felt that God was saying, ‘This is your daughter,’ Becky says. “The love that they brought me up with and instilled in me was just what I needed, and God knew that.”
“I’m Kenyan by birth but British by adoption,” Becky continues, with a proud smile. “I think it was really important for my parents that we knew our history and where we came from, and to fall in love with our Kenyan side.”
Those formative years shaped her identity and helped her appreciate her roots.
Becky received her early education in Kenya and the UK, experiencing both school systems. At 10 years old, her family moved to the UK, where she continued her education.
A calling to help
“Living in Kenya, I was exposed to extreme poverty and the opportunities you can have with education,” says Becky. “I was fortunate to be adopted into a family that gave me that opportunity.”
This awareness sparked a desire to help. Becky decided to pursue a career in healthcare. “I’ve known since I was little that I wanted to help children and adults with disabilities,” she says.
After completing her degree to become an occupational therapist, Becky pursued a master’s degree focusing on hand therapy, burns, and working in low-income countries.
Joining Mercy Ships
After working for four and a half years in the UK, specialising in hand therapy and some experience on the burns unit in East Grinstead, Becky heard about a therapist who had volunteered with Mercy Ships.
“I left my work in the UK to volunteer with Mercy Ships because I’ve always had a heart to come back to an African country, and I wanted to do it once I had the skill or experience to be able to help,” she shares.
Originally, Becky served as the rehabilitation team leader on the Global Mercy, working with burns patients recovering from free surgery on the hospital ship.
But when the Global Mercy moved to the port of Freetown in Sierra Leone, Becky’s role began to change.
Training and mentoring a new cohort of physios
In 2018, Sierra Leone established its first university-level physiotherapist course.
“This was a fantastic move forward in access to training,” explains Becky. “Before the degree programme was started at the Tonkolili District College of Health Sciences, anyone wishing to become a physiotherapist would have to fly to Ghana, Cuba, Kenya, or further afield for training.”
With an estimated population of around nine million people, Sierra Leone had six fully-trained physiotherapists. But in 2023, 15 new graduates emerged from the batchelors programme with another 15 under the Diploma programme and Becky had the privilege of working alongside them.
“We started by bringing the first 15 trained physios onto the Global Mercy for exposure to the rehabilitation centre,” explains Becky. “Gradually, we built up a mentorship programme in partnership with the Physiotherapy Association and Connaught Hospital in Freetown and were able to host four physiotherapists for six-week periods throughout our reconstructive plastics surgeries. Each mentee physio had their own patients and we mentored them throughout.”
Now Becky’s role has transitioned to working more in Connaught Hospital whilst the ship is in the port of Freetown, assisting with mentoring and upskilling physios around burn patients.
“The high proportion of burn patients are under five years old,” Becky explains. “You see many accidents from boiling water or soup spilling onto small children. I work alongside the physios to build their methods of treating patients; it’s a partnership.”
Together with a new Burns Unit that is soon to open in Connaught Hospital, Becky is excited with the great development that is taking place.
“I’m really enjoying being involved in these projects as it helps build infrastructure,” explains Becky. “As Sierra Leone develops their resources, we’ll begin to see less contractures come to the ship when we next visit Sierra Leone.”