Tuesday 27 August 2013

SEXCAPADES AND ESCAPADES OF MTWAPA

Mtwapa is known for its flamboyant night life.It is one of the major tourists at the Coastal Province of Kenya, both local and international. Unlike many other towns in Kenya Mtwapa comes to life during the night. Everyone can be seen going about their own business; even the vegetable vendor.Talk of a 24 hour economy in a mall area found in Kilifi County.
However some businesses being transacted here are raising eyebrow: sex work and sale of narcotics. Meet these two ladies from Mtwapa.

‘People in the neighbourhood know me as Awori. I dropped out of school when I was in Standard 7.I was caught with a stash of bhang. That led to my expulsion. I started fending for myself when I was 14. I was a drug dealer and user I used hashish, bhang and cocaine. My cousin advised me to join sex work since she thought I am beautiful. She said I could sell my body to white men. I agreed.’
Wanjiku on the other hand confidently says that she is a sex worker. She claims she started that job when she started doing drugs.

According to the 2012 UN report 230 million people are using drugs in the world. This means 1 out of 20 is a drug user. The Lancet says that in every 20 persons within the age of 15-64, one is a user. Many times the user is a man.  their female counterparts are catching up.It is said that the number of females using drugs has risen by 3% from 2012-2013. Mtwapa is known to harbouring such. Taib Abdi-Rahman is the co-ordinator of a correctional facility , Reach Out Center Trust.

‘There are 1500 women at the Coast who are drug addicts. They used to be in hideouts. Right now they are bold enough to get out and buy their own drug doses to satisfy their appetite. They used to send their spouses but some don’t trust their partners any more. Peer pressure has also contributed to this growing number of women using narcotics. Bad culture has led to more women taking to mnazi, a local Coastal brew,’ explains Taib.

Awori, a mother of one is HIV+ is a mother of one. She says that her family despises her. She explains bitterly  that her only son hates her because she is an addict and a sex worker. Awori says she fights a lot with her family.

‘Once I did not have money to buy drugs. I was feeling restless and uneasy. I decided to sell my sofa set, but my mother refused. So I poured paraffin on the sofa set and threatened to burn the seats. My reported the incidence to the police and I was locked up,’

Drug users who do sex work are at high risk of contracting the HIV virus. Taib says that their minds are unstable are they are at risk of being involved in irresponsible sexual behavior.

Wanjiku agrees with Taib. She says that when she uses drug she has this unexplained good feeling. She says she feels that amepona. This is a Swahili term that means someone has been cured of a disease. Wanjiku adds that she sleeps with any passerby  to get money to buy drugs even when they do not want to use protection.

Awori says that when she is looking for that extra shilling her clients treat her badly especially when they know she is intoxicated with the narcotics. She says they even offer lower prices and do not opt for protection. She adds that she feels disrespected .She says that she tries her best to stop the vice but always relapses.

Beatrice Munyuri is a  Community Health Worker who works with an NGO known as SOLWODI. Munyuri gives advice to these girls and helps asks to look for alternative ways of fending for themselves. She says that she understands it is not easy to stop using drugs but asks them to reduce their intake daily. She adds reducing the intake gradually reduces chances of withdrawal symptoms.


Monday 1 July 2013

DEWORMING THE CHILDREN





It’s almost 7am in Mtomondoni Primary School, Kilifi County and the place is abuzz with activities. Students look excited and teachers can be seen co-ordinating a few activities to make sure everything runs smoothly. A few officers from the ministry of public health and sanitation are unpacking their medical supplies. It is a deworming day in the public primary school.


The Ministry of Education has come together with the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation to come up with a project to deworm school going children. According to the deworm the world website  cases of absenteeism are reported where 1 in 4 students aged 2-14 miss school because of the adverse effects caused by worms.


Joseph Kimwele the provincial director of Public Health and Sanitation,Coast Province explains why the two ministries came together for this venture, ’Worms mainly affect school going kids and they are under the ministry of education. We supply the drugs because that is one of our primary roles. Government policies also encourage ministries to come together for particular projects.’
Dr. Charles Mwandawiro, Assistant Director  Kenya Medical Research Institute KEMRI says children are more vulnerable to catching worms because they often eat sand when playing. ‘’They are also more susceptible to get worm infections in case the schools they attend do not have toilets and latrines. 5 million children are infected by worms countrywide  and at the coast the figures have reached 600,000.’’


“During a deworming day all pupils are given a dose of deworming pills. Teachers will administer the drugs to the pupils. We also advised parents to make sure the children have had some breakfast so that they do not experience side effects of the medicine. However the side effects are very minimal and include a mild stomachache,’’ adds Kimwele.


 ‘Teachers will administer the drugs since the schools they have to attend to are very many, hence the ministry of public health and sanitation officers will not be able to cover all schools if they do not delegate this duty to teachers. The health officers have trained the teachers on how to give the medicine to the pupils. The teacher student relationship is very good .Teachers are very good in demonstrating and it will help the children understand how to take the drugs easier. During the assembly I also demonstrated on how to take the pills,’ says the headmistress of Mtomondoni Primary School, Margaret Baya.


Anthony Kalenga, a standard 6 pupil from the school expressed excitement saying that the project would help reduce absenteeism in his school. He adds that the project would help to improve health standards amongst his fellow pupils.

Thursday 27 June 2013

Dialling down



Not the usual scenery you would expect when in Mombasa town as I head to Mwanahawa Chai’s homestead. Mud houses thatched with makuti and an occasional permanent building could be seen with a hint of cow dung in the air.
I reach Ms. Chai’s homestead in Utange  village in the Shanzu area of Mombasa . It’s a school day and I can see children of school going age doing their household chores. With a smile Chai greets me. It’s very difficult to know the difficulties she faces until she speaks to me.
‘I am HIV positive and I have 7 children. My 6th child is living with HIV. He was born with the virus.  I think I transmitted the virus to him when I was pregnant with him.’ Chai says. “During this pregnancy I never attended pre natal clinic.”
Chai’s last child is almost a year old and he is HIV negative. Chai says she attended the pre natal clinic, during her last pregnancy.  “The health experts advised me preventive measures to take, so that I could not transmit the virus to my baby.”
Dr. Christine Katingima from the International Centre for Reproductive Health (ICRH) speaks of the dangers of being pregnant when one is HIV positive.
‘The HIV virus targets the immune system. Getting pregnant reduces immunity. She becomes vulnerable to opportunistic diseases. If she does not attend pre natal clinic she risks transmitting the virus to her baby. It’s better for a HIV positive woman to carry out family planning.’
Chai says she used to be susceptible to contracting many diseases which made her very weak. Community Light Program is a community based organization in Shanzu that deals with people living with HIV and AIDS. Edward Ponda is the program’s co-founder and a community health worker.
‘When Mwanahawa sought help from our organization she was pregnant. Her biggest challenge was carrying out family planning,’ Ponda recalls.
Chai used injections that caused her harmful side effects. She received assistance at the Community Light Program where she delivered her baby and underwent a tubal ligation. “An effective family planning method.’ Ponda observes.
According to mademan.com tubal ligation involves cutting the tubes between the ovaries and the uterus.
‘Family planning entails planning on how many children one will have and how to space them. It does not target the woman only but also the man of the family, says Dr. Katingima.
She adds that the practice helps a woman ‘breath’ after a pregnancy. She says that getting pregnant often adversely affects the mother.
‘Children well spaced are healthier. Always consider the future when deciding on the number of children so that you can comfortably cater for their needs, adds Dr. Katingima.
Chai says using injections as a method affected her health. She says she experienced nausea, dizziness and discharge during sex. She adds that she embraced tubal ligation as a method of family planning.
Tubal ligation reduces the chances of getting pregnant as compared to other methods and it is safe. This method is irreversible. However there is a myth that claims this method keeps a woman cold hence the partner does not get satisfaction during sex. ‘There is no scientific evidence to this, says Dr. Katingima.
Family planning is an issue that elicits emotions and many religious communities are divided when it comes to this matter. Pastor Zachariah Mwagandi of the Community of Christ church sheds light on this matter.
‘According to the Bible God gave us power to multiply and fill the earth. This means one has authority to decide how many children to have. It is not wrong to carry out family planning.’ Mwagandi concludes.

Wednesday 26 June 2013

USING FAMILY PLANNING TO ACHIEVE MDGs



Margret Karisa Kombe’s house spells poverty. The bed has no mattress. It is raining. The roof is leaking. She takes a container where water will collect to prevent the house from flooding. The house is dark and the weather makes it worse since light cannot penetrate the creaky window. It is 3pm.She takes a lamp and lights it.

Margret,who lives in Kisauni area of Mombasa county has to hustle to make ends meet since she cannot get a decent job. She reached standard 5 in her primary education. She recalls that she used to be a bright girl but her neighbours bewitched her. She could not concentrate in class. Her parents then advised her to drop out of school. She now does domestic chores for a living, mainly washing people’s clothes. She gets sh.130 a day. This is not enough to raise her children. Margret cannot afford to work every day since she has to attend medical checkups on particular days of the week. She complains that sometimes her children sleep hungry. They even go to school on an empty stomach.

“I have 5 children, 3 are dead. I am HIV+. I never spaced my children. I always got pregnant even the last child I had, did not even start walking .I have no knowledge on family planning. I do not intend to take any pills to prevent pregnancy because I have no man in my life. I lost him to a woman who sells illicit brew for a living.”

Victoria Kapune is the co-ordinator of Reproductive Health Services in the ministry of health in sub counties Mvita, Nyali and Kisauni. These areas are in Mombasa County. She says that family planning is having of desired number of children at a particular time a couple prefers. Kapune says that family planning improves the mother’s health.

“It helps to rebuild her body since she requires a lot of nutrients during pregnancy. It also gives time for her to take care of her child. Spacing helps a mother regain energy. It is advisable for a mother to gap her children by a minimum of two years. In case the mother is HIV+ she should consult with the doctor before getting pregnant. She should have a high CD4 count and high immunity for to carry a baby. The doctor will also advise on how to prevent the baby from becoming HIV+,” adds Kapune.
Family Planning has been mentioned to help in achieving The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) MDGs are eight international development goals that were officially established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 189 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve these goals by the year 2015. The goals are: Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women ,reducing child mortality rates, improving maternal health, combating HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.

Sammy Tanui, Senior Population Officer from the National Council of Population and Development, Coast Province says that Kenya’s population stands at 40 million. He adds that it keeps growing by 1 million annually and by 2030 this country will record a population of 75 million people. Tanui is quick to say that family planning helps to improve maternal health and health of the baby which is one of the MDGs.



‘It helps to avoid straining of resources in case of overpopulation. Overpopulation leads to pollution of the environment and rural- urban migration. This leads to congestion, rise in crime levels and vices like prostitution which might lead to spread of HIV and AIDS in urban areas. Depletion of natural resources which brings about economic development is experienced. This will lead to high poverty levels in the nation,’ adds Tanui.


 The UK has population of approximately 60  million people. It covers 242,514km2 .Kenya has 40 million people and covers 582,000 km2.This translates that England has a larger population than Kenya,yet England is smaller. Despite England being a smaller country and having a higher population development has been experienced.


Administrative Division
Area Size
(sq km)
Population density 2003
(people per sq km)
England
130,281
383
Northern Ireland
13,576
125
Scotland
77,925
65
Wales
20,732
142
United Kingdom
242,514
246
Source: http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk


Administrative Division
Population
(mid 2004)
Population
(mid 2005)
Population
(mid 2006)
Population
(mid 2007)
England
50,093,800
50,431,700
50,762,900
51.1 million
Northern Ireland
1,710,300
1,724,400
1,741,600
1.8 million
Scotland
5,078,400
5,094,800
5,116,900
5.1 million
Wales
2,952,500
2,958,600
2,965,900
3.0 million
United Kingdom
59,834.900
60,209.500
60,587,600
60,975,000
Source: Office for National Statistics; National Assembly for Wales; General Register Office for Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk

‘The MDGs are a good idea but I think African countries has been brainwashed to think they have high populations. I do not think those countries have a high number of people. A good example is England with a population of 60 million yet they are a developed nation. The problem is not the number of people but the exploitation and utilization of resources,’ concludes David Kebenei a development consultant based in Mombasa.