Dr Salim Jivanji is a paediatric cardiologist and an Editor of Challenging Concepts in Congenital and Acquired Heart Disease in the Young: A Case-Based Approach with Expert Commentary published by Oxford University Press. He specialises in diagnosing congenital and acquired heart conditions in children and has more than 13 years of experience behind his back. After earning his medical degree at the University of Sheffield, he trained in Sydney, Australia and London, UK, before becoming a consultant at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital in 2019. A trustee of the charity Healing Little Hearts and Director of MyMoyo, he dedicates his free time to organising medical camps in Kenya, working toward establishing the country’s first dedicated Congenital Heart Centre.
Read about his volunteering journey and how it has been transformational for him.
Born and raised in Kenya, Dr Salim knew early on he wanted to give back. His family played a key role with their own community uplifting work. Though they come from a business background, they never pressured him to follow suit. “They gave me the freedom to find my own path,” he said.
Growing up, he remembers how attending community events like Ashara Mubaraka shaped him, even if he didn’t realise it at the time. Values such as humanitarianism and community service were deeply ingrained in him throughout his upbringing both from his family and community.
Specialising in paediatric cardiology, which is the treatment of congenital heart conditions in children, he became one among many of the field’s distinguished practitioners. Despite learning to solve plenty of medical problems up until this point, a single question kept lingering at the back of his mind: what about home?
The spark
“As I began researching, I found that the infrastructure for pediatric cardiac care was inadequate in Kenya. That was the catalyst for my journey in volunteering,” shared Dr Salim.
In 2016, he teamed up with his colleague, Dr Graham Derrick, to host their first medical camp in Kenya. Just two doctors who came with little experience in volunteering but a great sense of purpose.
“You only have to volunteer once to realise how important it really is.”
Since then, the medical camps have become a biannual tradition. Each trip brings an increasing roster of volunteers, including teams of thirty doctors and nurses over a range of specialities from across the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, and India.
Diversity of professionals is something Dr Salim is particularly proud of. Where different chapters of his charity, Healing Little Hearts, maintain a recurring team of familiar faces, he makes it a point to have a different team on each visit to encourage cross-cultural and cross-professional dialogue.
To maintain this growing operation, Dr Salim has developed a system that covers all logistics, from arrival to accommodation to ensuring volunteers are fully invigorated to run the camp.
But beneath the machinery is a very human mission.
“In rural Kenya, care for children with heart conditions is at a bare minimum and extremely expensive. Many children die without any treatment. Others live with immense difficulty,” he said.
The camp has a simple guiding policy: medical urgency comes first. Though local pressures to prioritise patients with influence or connections crop up now and then, Dr Salim remains steadfast.
A transformational experience
Volunteering in the camp has proven to be a transformational experience, not just for Dr Salim, but for anyone who participates.
“We’ve had so many people who have repeatedly wanted to return. Pre-med students who had joined us to volunteer and later secured spots in competitive medical schools because they found a real, strong passion and sense that medicine is about service.” he said.
Looking ahead, Dr Salim envisions a dedicated pediatric cardiac centre in Kenya — a specialised facility designed to complement existing healthcare services and expand access to quality cardiac care for children. His hope is that this centre will not only serve families in Kenya but also support pediatric cardiac needs across neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Tanzania.
In a region with a growing demand for specialised care, such a centre would strengthen regional capacity and reduce the need for referrals abroad.
For those who have never volunteered, Dr Salim has a simple message:
“Just go. Do it. It is an experience like no other. My words won’t have such an impact as what you will feel when you are there. It is worth it.”