9th May, 2008
14 Feb 2008
20-year old Evelyn Amati and her newly born daughter are still nursing a vicious cough. Like many other children in Kibera recently, Baby Sylvia has a blistering skin and rash covering her tiny mass.
The cough and the other complications have lingered on for six weeks-the entire time that Baby Sylvia has spent in the world.
“We have suffered like this since she was born. We haven’t had any (medical) help,” Amati says.
Amati explains that moments after baby Sylvia was born, she and her mother woke up to find Kibera slums burning. The announcement of the Presidential Election results touched off a wave of rioting in the vast slums. Mobs baying for blood were razing down houses and businesses, and police had reacted fast, clobbering people and throwing teargas canisters into the rioting crowds.
Alarmed, the nurses attending to her and the baby took off and bolted the door from outside. The two were “prisoners” throughout the terrifying dark night, with no food and no company. Fumes of teargas and smoke from burning tyres and property filled the tiny maternity choking her and her bundle of joy. But there was no escape.
Last weekend, Amati was all smiles as she lazily walked to the AMREF mobile clinic in Kibera slums. She radiantly hoped that all would be well for her and the child.
Single and unemployed, she says that despite the disturbing cough, she did not a have even a single cent to pay for treatment at the nearest private clinic. Besides, she has been too scared to venture far away from her shack in Makina slum in Kibera for fear of tribal gangs that roam the area brutalizing people and destroying property.
Proudly showing an assortment of drugs she received from the pharmacy at the AMREF mobile clinic, she said in an interview, “I am very happy with AMREF. The doctor has reviewed my case and I am sure we will get better now.”
AMREF is offering treatment for diseases but also teaching local community members on ways to avoid common diseases through simple hygiene; the clinics also offer child health; VCT; laboratory and family planning services.
Apart from the physical trauma, many are seeking counselling services.
George Olali, a counselor with AMREF says, “Since the wave of violence started, there has been a lot of burning of houses which has affected communities. People have been displaced, others relocated on their own will. Many have witnessed people being killed or beaten and are extremely traumatised.”
Majority of those seeking services at the AMREF mobile clinics are women and children. 12 cases of measles have already been reported. Other notable diseases diagnosed at the AMREF mobile clinics in Kibera include rheumatism, intestinal worms, diarrhoeal diseases, tuberculosis, eye infections and urinary tract infections.
In Kibera, most of the residents are employed in the informal sector or in low-paying jobs. In the present chaos many have lost employment and are relying on well wishers for food and basic services.
For further information please contact: •Bob Kioko – Communications Manager, on +254 20 6993111 or Cell: +254 735 546440, email: bob.kioko@amref.org |
