Reduce Suffering in Kenya Via Health Care Services

Susan is a dynamic community minded woman and has been partnering with CHAT as a family planning mobiliser for over ten years. Born and brought up in a remote Samburu community, Lodonokwe, and a mother of four children, she goes on to add “When I met CHAT then, I was not aware of family planning (FP) as I was born and brought up in a “Catholic environment”. CHAT provided me with access to an innovative FP training containing a strong component of ecological awareness – this was facilitated by another partner of CHAT’s, the GoK – so, together with about 14 other mobilizers from 7 different counties I was introduced to FP services. I tried for myself using Depo-Provera - an injectable contraceptive protection method that provides 3 months protection, for the first few months before changing to a long term method, a 5 year Implants; the benefits of this for me as a Samburu women was profound – henceforth, I became eager to educate other women in the neighboring communities and sub-counties about these methods”.
To meet her targets Susan is guided by the performance based MOU she has with CHAT, she has a schedule to visit the communities she serves, and an activity guide. “After meeting with the locum nurse to make a plan for the nurse to assist with the technical work, I visit the communities to mobilize about fp/ecological awareness and TB.”
I live and work in a usually hot, dry environment that is experiencing an alarmingly rate of land degradation. “ I see no more grassland – just dust and stones due to our overstocking - water shortages are being experienced today more than ever before”. Susan will trek through this to reach these communities, many of whom still practice a very traditional nomadic life styles. Some of these practices are harmful, especially to a girl or woman “My tribe experience many unwanted pregnancies that often result in harmful abortions, and many are even desperate enough to commit infanticide – however, I KNOW, that if my people could access contraception, this horrific suffering can end….our whole quality of life would begin to change for the better - and I am eager to inform others that there is a ‘ choice’ – they do not have to bare all this suffering….but many of us poor and marginalised Kenyans still are challenged with not having access to FP services”.

With access to FP which is enriched with environmental sustainability knowledge being the major drive towards a health community, Susan creates awareness of the importance of a sustainable population - also explaining about the positive improved impact to their ecosystems as a result -emphasis is put on how each species needs the other for peaceful co-existence. “Lack of information is harmful if a community is to strive to be healthy - if our ecosystems are not in harmony, are not well taken care of, our economy will become increasingly poorer and hence, my community will continue suffering,” she explains.
She lamented, “the need of my people to plan their families in accordance to their available natural resources is urgent - such as manage our land back to being grasslands – no longer accept a future of dust bowls, our dry river beds to trickling streams, our eroded mountainsides to forested slopes – I dream and pray for us to return – of a sustainable life – accessing FP services provides the foundation to this recovery – without this basis we will just continue to destroy ourselves and all around us”