Woman abandoned as baby returns to Africa to help others

By Amy Reast

A woman abandoned in a bag on the side of the road as a baby in Kenya and rescued by a British couple is now volunteering as an occupational therapist in third-world countries.

Becky Chaplin, 30, was found abandoned in a bag on the side of the road as a newborn in her birthplace of Kenya in 1995.

She was found and rescued by two British missionary workers stationed there - who took her to an orphanage before adopting her.

She was raised there in Kenya with her British parents, until they moved back to East Grinstead, London, with her aged 10.

Having been motivated to help others by the poverty she witnessed in her early years in Kenya, Becky pursued a career in healthcare and became an occupational therapist to work in low-income countries.

After working for four-and-a-half years in the UK, specializing in hand therapy and getting experience on the burns unit in East Grinstead, Becky heard about a hospital charity called Mercy Ships.

She left her job in the UK to volunteer on board the Global Mercy in Sierra Leone as a rehabilitation team leader, before becoming a mentor to trainee physiotherapists.

Becky said: "Mom said when she picked me up that she felt that God was saying 'this is your daughter'.

"Living in Kenya, I was exposed to extreme poverty and the opportunities you can have with education.

"I was fortunate to be adopted into a family that gave me that opportunity.

"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.

"I wanted to do it once I had the skill or experience to be able to help."

Becky was so young when she was found, abandoned, that her umbilical cord was still attached to her.

A missionary was out jogging when they spotted the bag and looked inside to find the newborn girl.

Seven weeks later, the same couple adopted her from the orphanage.

She was educated in Kenya until the age of 10, when she headed back to the UK with them.

Becky was inspired to work in healthcare after spending her early years in Kenya.

Becky said: "I've known since I was little that I wanted to help children and adults with disabilities."

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.

So when she left her job in East Grinstead, she headed to Mercy Ships to volunteer.

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.

In 2018, Sierra Leone established its first university-level physiotherapist course at the Tonkolili District College of Health Sciences.

She said: "Before the degree programme was started, 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 bachelor's programme with another 15 under the Diploma programme and Becky had the privilege of working alongside them.

Over time, they built up the mentorship programme, and now she works in a local hospital close to where Global Mercy is docked in a port of Freetown.

She assists with mentoring and upskilling physios around burn patients. 

Becky said: "The high proportion of burn patients are under five years old.

"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.

"As Sierra Leone develops their resources, we hope we'll begin to see less contractures come to the ship when we next visit Sierra Leone."

Mercy Ships is a pioneering international health charity which deploys hospital ships to some of the poorest countries in the world, delivering vital, free healthcare to people in desperate need.