Polish aid

Like the rest of the world, Kenya is struggling with the SARS COVID-2 pandemic. Fighting the virus on the African continent is particularly difficult. Health service is underfunded and lacks basic equipment and qualified personnel. Following basic hygiene rules vital for COVID-19 prevention is a challenge, too. Access to clean water, bathrooms, toilets, disinfectants, and personal hygiene products is scarce. It is also difficult to keep social distance and respect the movement ban while most of the society earn their living through jobs that require movement and intensive people-to-people contact (such as selling produce in a market). Travel restrictions make many families face hunger and malnutrition. The mission in Kithatu takes the effort to address these challenges.

Since 1990, the mission run by the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family in the Kithatu village, about 200 kilometers from Nairobi, has been catering to the needs of the poor inhabitants of the mountainous Meru county. The mission houses a kindergarten, primary school, sewing school, and a health centre, which admits about 7,000 patients per year. The clinic also runs vaccination programmes and helps pregnant women. In 2015, a maternity unit was opened and two years later a clinic in Mwichiune was established. Polish Aid has been supporting the mission’s relief operations for years.

 

The project by Redemptoris Missio Humanitarian Aid Foundation implemented in Kithatu in 2020 and funded by the MFA under the “Polish humanitarian aid and development assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” supports the health centre run by the mission and its Holy Family Children Centre built in 2017, also with Polish Aid money.

Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, the health centre in Kithatu had to manage increased number of patients, as other local facilities closed for the fear of the virus. According to the missionaries, at the beginning of the pandemic both private and public clinics did not admit any patients due to lack of disinfectants and personal protective equipment. The facilities reopened as late as mid-May 2020, but the fees increased dramatically. Most of the local community members could not afford such expensive healthcare. For the missionary clinic to operate in the first weeks of the struggle, was only possible with external support. To sustain the positive effect of preventive measures, the health centre and the children centre had to be adapted to handle increased number of people in need, and provided with protective equipment and hygienic products. Additionally, this kind of support was also provided to the local community.

Under this project, the two establishments will also be furnished with additional toilets and bathrooms. The children facility will also house additional bedrooms. Once the construction works are over, they will be equipped with basic personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies and disinfectants. Moreover, as part of this project, local residents receive safety packs including disinfection liquid, soap and a face mask. Women after delivery and mothers with small children also receive a blanket and a reusable nappy.

 

It should also be noted that local workers are employed at the construction and adaptation of the buildings. Thus, the locals who lost their jobs due to mandatory isolation are being professionally activated, and gain an important source of income in these troubled times.

The project will have finished by the end of December 2020.