A local family are leaving behind their professional jobs, house, friends and family to move to the slums of Kenya to offer their services as volunteers.

The Ratcliff family have a history of serving others. Theano, a university lecturer, and Ian, a human rights lawyer, have worked in developing countries for periods. But their latest venture, moving to the slums of Kenya for a minimum of two years with two young kids in tow, is a whole other step into the unknown.

The Lismore App sat down with Ian and Theano on their lovely deck in Lismore Heights and spoke about the adventure they are planning to undertake.

Theano explains that her passion for working in third-world countries was sparked when, during a school assembly in year 5, somebody shared a story about an anthropologist working in an African tribe.

"I went home and said to my mum, I'm going to be an anthropologist. And she's like, that's nice. What's that? And I said I don't know. But that's what I want to do with my life."

Theano went on to do nursing (specialising in paediatrics), and health promotion, choosing uni degrees that would equip her with skills that she could take to the two-thirds world. She currently lectures in Nursing at Southern Cross University. She has previously worked with the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, which she describes as fantastic experiences that confirmed her love of humanitarian work and of working cross-culturally. 

"The big difference here is that we're resigning jobs; we're not being paid," she shared.

Theano will be working with Banda Health, a non-government NGO that supports low-resourced health clinics, mainly in slum communities and some rural communities.

There are 80 clinics in Kenya that she will help as a nurse educator. In Nairobi, where most of the slums are located, 65% of the population (about 2.6 million people) live in slums and rely on the clinics for all their medical needs. There is no access to doctors, and the nurses must be the minor surgeon and the community nurse.

"My heart is to go and to listen to what the nurses want, to ask them what their educational needs are, what resources they need, and then my job will be to find them those things because they're the ones that are the experts in their community. And they're the ones that are going to stay in their community for 30 or 40 years."

"So I see my role as supporting them - to really see them empowered and equipped to serve their communities. I mean, these nurses could be working and earning more money in hospitals, but they stay to reach out to these communities because the health outcomes are so poor there. It's really an act of compassion to work in these contexts for these nurses, who are the heroes. I really want to amplify their voices."

Ian is a lawyer and has always had a heart for justice. He has worked for the Community Justice Centre for legal aid in the Northern Rivers and for the Environmental Defenders Office for several years, which was focused on assisting people to obtain environmental justice. He will give up his law job here to go to Kenya and offer his services to the communities surrounding the clinics that Theano will be working with. 

Ian will be going into the slums to meet people and talk about their needs and will help them develop partnerships with the health clinics, churches and other charitable organisations, as these organisations are the only providers of services in the slums. The idea is that over time, he will 'do himself out of a job' by helping to build the local community into one that is able to seek justice for itself. 

One example of the issues that Ian hopes to help tackle is that of people mass-sharing toilets. The number of people sharing one toilet ranges from 17 to 232, depending on where they live in a slum. This presents a severe health concern and a financial burden as people are required to pay per use.

Ian's heart for people shines through as he says, "They are still people who are living their lives and working and rearing families and have dignity and pride in who they are. They're just in extremely difficult circumstances. I know the people of Lismore know about being in difficult circumstances because of the challenging times we've gone through as a community since the floods. But this is something that's been ongoing and will be ongoing for years, and we have the opportunity to go in there and use our skills to try and make a difference for these people."

So what of Theano and Ian's two young kids, Trinity (8) and Oliver (5)?

"They're really excited actually about going to Kenya. My five-year-old will tell you, "I'm gonna go to Kenya and help people!" so they've got a sense that we, as a family, are going to serve." Theano says.

"I think it will actually be a really beautiful experience for them. It will really help them to have a broader view of the world and the community in which they live. Trinity (8) has recently done a public speaking competition, and she spoke about 'Who is my neighbour?' in terms of that global community. So she's already got into her little head that it's a good thing for her to look beyond our local community here," Ian adds.

Theano, Ian, Trinity and Oliver are currently in the fundraising stage of their plans. Whilst Theano and Ian have self-funded previous short-term trips, this long-term commitment is impossible without funding. The NGO, Banda, sets a budget for their commitment, and any money donated goes directly to the organisation for the project - for health insurance, schooling and a small stipend for the family to live on for the week. (If you want to further their efforts, you can do so here.).

When asked where the impetus came from for this big move, Theano replies:

"I don't want to waste my one and only life that I have to make a mark and serve people. I don't want to get to 96 and go, "I never did that. I never left my comfort zone. I had this wonderful life in the beautiful Northern Rivers. But you only get one life, you only get to make your mark once, and it's such a privilege to be able to make this decision as a family, as a couple, to have the same heart and go, yeah, this is what we'd love. We'd love to give two years of our life to work in the slums."

"When you look at the health data coming out of the slums, especially for children, it really kicks you in the heart."

"One in six kids don't get to see their fifth birthday - one in six!! That is just unheard of unheard of anywhere except for in these types of contexts. Kids are still dying of diarrhoea diseases because there's open sewerage running through the middle of the slum."

"I want to throw myself behind doing everything I can to give these kids a chance. These kids aren't worth less than my kids. What would I want for my kids? That's what motivates me when it seems really hard and overwhelming. I can do it for the nurses. I can do it for the kids and the people that are living in these conditions. It gives me the courage."

While it's a loss for Northern Rivers for now, it's truly inspiring to see the Ratcliffs leave every comfort and set off into the unknown, intent only on aiding those in a highly disadvantaged situation. Our world needs more Theano & Ians.