Nairobi, April 30 -- By 7.25am on a chilly Wednesday, most Kisumu residents are still finding their footing for the day. Inside the emergency department of Kisumu County Teaching and Referral Hospital, Nurse Lilian Adembo is already in her uniform, gathering her team of student nurses for a morning prayer.

"We always pray for positive clinical outcomes. Our motto is simple: We treat, but God heals," she says, before heading for the acute room opposite the outpatient department.

She is joined for prayer by Nurse Shuah Otieno and the medical students, a routine they adopted to seek divine blessings through the day's work. Afterwards, Lilian heads for the acute room, while Shuah takes charge of the outpatient department, the two getting th...