File photo shows a doctor making Chinese medicine at his clinic in Gaojiazhuang Village in Zhangye City, northwest China's Gansu Province, July 26, 2015. Shu Youshou, 48 years of age, is the only doctor at the village. Since graduation in 1990, he has been a doctor in the village and serves more than 1,000 people. (Xinhua/Chen Bin)

NAIROBI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A Kenyan doctor trained in China is planning to promote the use of Chinese medicine in Kenya.

Dr Mwamaka Sharifu, who is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, told Xinhua in Nairobi that Chinese medicine offers numerous benefits over conventional medicine.

"Chinese medicine tends to focus on the whole person and can promotes long-term well being of the person," Sharifu said during a ceremony where Sino-Africa Firefly Charity donated foodstuffs to victims of a fire that occurred in the Kibera slums.

During the event, Sharifu was appointed as an ambassador of the Sino-Africa Firefly Charity.

"I will use the platform to promote people to people Sino-Africa relations," she added.

Sharifu said that Chinese medicine is even more relevant in Kenya today because it is effective in curing and controlling non-communicable disease whose cases are on increase.

Sharifu, 31, is of Afro-Chinese ancestry.

Over 600 years a Chinese ship sunk off the East Africa coastline close to port of Lamu. Sharifu traces her roots to the Chinese survivors who swam to the shore and married locals.

Her journey to study in China began in 2004, when she finished high school and her parents could not afford to pay her fees to study in university.

"I decided to write a letter to the Chinese embassy in Nairobi for scholarship to study in China," she said.

She left for China in 2005 after receiving a scholarship to study in the Asian nation.

Sharifu completed an undergraduate degree in Chinese medicine in 2012 and her masters three years later in Western and Chinese medicine.

The Kenyan doctor hopes to complete her doctoral studies in 2018 and thereafter relocate to Kenya.

"I hope to work in hospitals and universities from where I will help to increase awareness of the advantages of Chinese medicine," she told Xinhua.

She explained that a number of Kenyan universities have decided to start programs in Chinese medicine.