After a very slow November and December, work has picked up
a little bit in January. I have two little projects I will be working on over
the next couple months, an evaluation of the CHE program and adapting some
materials to use in the child survival program. In addition to these, I also go
out regularly with the child survival staff on their home visits or participate
in other CHE team activities.
It is good to be part of the home visits even if I can’t
contribute as much during the visit due to language barriers. It gives me a
sense of what is happening and afterwards I try to share some of my knowledge about the
issues that arise during the visit. For example, exclusive breastfeeding for
the first six months is an important protective practice, yet studies show that
only 2% of people practice this in the informal settlements in Nairobi. Through
my observations, this seems to be accurate! A lot of the reasons for early
cessation of breastfeeding could be addressed through good counseling and
support. While some staff know that exclusive breastfeeding is good, they don’t
seem to believe or try too hard to promote it when people stop very early. So I
try to emphasize the benefits and provide information that might help in the
counseling and support.
Some of the situations we see are so difficult; it is hard
to know how to help. I thought I would share a few stories from recent home
visits. As you pray for these specific households, you can pray for the many
others in similar circumstances that we meet each day.
In one household, there are three teenage daughters. All three
are now pregnant and in different trimesters. Only one of the three has
finished secondary school. Mary*, who is in class 8, will likely be unable to
finish the school year and take the big exams that all students in Kenya take
after class 8. She seems to be struggling the most emotionally. Agnes* is the
middle daughter; she hadn’t yet been to the clinic so my colleague was able to
go with her to start her antenatal care. The oldest daughter, Sarah*, is due
this month. The other day on our visit, one of the staff members came and
shared the gospel; Mary and Agnes prayed to accept Christ. As we continue to
follow up with this family, pray for their physical health as their pregnancies
progress, for their emotional health as these are challenging circumstances for
any teenager, and pray for their spiritual health, that Mary and Agnes would
grow in their relationship with Christ and seek out fellowship and that Sarah
would come to know the Lord.
Another woman, Ann*, recently gave birth to her fifth or
sixth child. Currently, there is a doctor’s strike in Kenya. This has made it
difficult to access care at the government health facilities. When she went
into labor, Ann went to one of the government maternity centers. She was turned
away; it is unclear exactly why, but it seems to be due to lack of space and
health providers. She went home to her one room house and delivered there with
the help of a neighbor. We have visited a couple times now. The baby still has
a low weight. We encouraged Ann to breastfeed regularly and provided some
counseling on good positioning and latching. We also encouraged her to go to
the clinic so the baby could be checked and get immunizations; thankfully she
was able to do that. Pray for Ann and her family as they live in difficult
circumstances and pray for baby and mama to grow healthy and strong.
Finally, last week we visited a household where Jessica* had
twin boys about six weeks ago. She did not know she was carrying twins, so was
surprised at the delivery when the second one started coming. One of the twins
was born larger than the other and feeds better now. She had started feeding
the babies porridge and pumpkin already, so my colleague encouraged
breastfeeding to support the growth and health of the children. Both boys have
also had a lot of respiratory infections so she provided some counseling on
care and prevention of respiratory infections. Last week when we visited, Jessica
had a young girl, Paula*, helping her. We learned that Paula was 13 and had
finished her class 8 exams last year but was unable to start secondary school
this term. One of the staff members shared the gospel with her and encouraged
her to try to get into school. They also referred her to a youth skills
training program in the meantime so she has something to occupy her time. Pray
that Paula would come to know the Lord and also that she would be proactive in
taking up the opportunity of skills training or getting back into school.
Sometimes when I start to stress about my own baby, what we
need to do to prepare or how we will survive being new parents, I remember that
these women are having their children in some of the harshest conditions. I
have the opportunity to give birth at one of the best hospitals in Nairobi, we
have a clean home and good food, and I have an education that has left me
well-equipped to handle what parenthood brings. The two comments I often hear
staff make on these visits are that babies (and people) are resilient and that
God’s grace is sufficient. While our circumstances may be very different, we
have this in common. When I worry, I am reminded of these two truths and
encouraged that whatever happens He will see us through.
*Names changed for privacy.
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