PROVIDING HEALTHCARE TO CHILDREN IN RURAL KENYA

Wafula, is 15 years old and in class 7. He is the 1st born in a family of two siblings, he has a younger brother aged 14 years. His mother abandoned them when he was in grade two and immediately his father re-married. Unfortunately, his step mother was unkind and mistreated them a lot. Currently, Wafula is suffering from a severe injury after being beaten severely by his step mother. He has constant pain that requires special attention and care. He was not taken to hospital for attention, but now he has been treated by CHEP. After his father learnt of the injury, he chased away his wife, but again and almost immediately, remarried and now lives with the children and his third wife who is a house wife, while Wafula’s dad is a watchman.

The struggle in the family is so much that he cannot afford exam fees or buy school books and has to depend on the school or well-wishers. Recently, the school head teacher realized some students were fainting for lack of food. Wafula on his part would go for days without food. The head teacher therefore pursued a well-wisher who donated packets of porridge flour. This is what keeps Wafula going. Once in a while his family will get money just enough for dinner but mostly the cup of porridge is what he survives on and what keeps him going. Wafula’s goal is to work very hard, get to a good Secondary School and eventually go to college and get a job in order to help his family especially his younger brother.

Wahu, is 15 years old and in class 6. She is the 2^nd born in a family of four siblings, three brothers, she is the only girl. The 3^rd and 4^th born are her half-brothers.  Her father left her mother when she was very young, her mother then remarried and got two more children.

Her life has been very rough because her step father chased her and her first born brother from home because he is not their biological dad.  They then fled to their grandmother who is very old and is not able to take care of them.  She is therefore forced to leave school very quickly, go to her mother’s house, help with the house chores, which include cooking, washing dishes, bathing her younger brothers etc. before her step father comes back home.  Her mother is then able to send her away with a packet of flour or rice. Should her step father find her home he becomes very angry and beats both of them.

She leaves her mother’s house at 7pm, goes to her grandmother’s house and continues the process with similar chores before settling down late at night to catch up with homework.

Elizabeth was suffering psychologically, she felt rejected and unwanted.  The CHEP program is offering one on one counselling sessions to help her deal with the traumas she faces, and now she can smile.

John is an 8-year-old student at Limuru Mission School in Kiambu County. He is the 4^th child in a family of 7 children, one girl and 6 boys. John’s mother is a house wife and his father is a casual worker who works away from their home town in the city.

During a recent checkup at his school, John was diagnosed with scabies. The medical practitioner who tended to him prescribed a salve which he will apply on his skin to cure the disease. Because of the nature of the disease, which is highly contagious and because John lives in close quarters with a number of siblings, she also made a point to follow up with John’s mum to ensure that none of his siblings also have scabies as well as discuss with her how to care for him.

When we first met Hannah, she was sad and had lost hope in life. This is because her mother would mistreat her forcing Hannah to spend most nights in school to avoid her mother. To sustain herself, she would go around collecting discarded bananas at the market in Limuru. When we found out about Hannah during one of the regularly scheduled health check-ups at her school, we reported the case to her head teacher who then forwarded our concerns to the area chief. The chief took action and immediately arrested her mother. Hannah and her younger sister were temporarily housed at a nearby children’s home. During her time in prison, Hannah’s mum got a chance to go through counseling sessions. Her Mother was released from the prison and Hannah and her sister were safely taken back home.

We followed up with Hannah and her sister and their countenance was greatly improved. Hannah is very lively and happy. During her interview, she told us that her mother now treats her well and that she is well fed every day.