A STITCH IN TIME
What if, deep into the night, at a fairly remote location, a loved one suddenly falls ill and requires immediate medical attention or the neighbor next door goes into labor. Time is of the essence, but what are the available options? Walk, hire a motorbike or hitch a ride to the nearest health facility- five kilometers away. Faced with such a predicament, what life-saving action would you do?
This is the everyday life of Got Nyapong village, Siaya.
The nearest health facility is Gobei health centre, five kilometres away.
Were it not for our Vice Chair, Sally Atandi, the wait for a health facility would have taken even longer. This stitch in time will save nine.
A dispensary is indeed significant for the healthy development of a community. It is the first decent form of healthcare for emergencies in remote areas.
Who understands this statement better than Mrs Atila, a long time resident of Got Nyapong, a grocery vendor and a member of the Women United For Our Future (WUFOF ) network. Mrs Atila has lived in the area long enough to see the proposed site for the dispensary construction evolve from a once thriving nursery school. She fondly refers to the upcoming health centre project as “sipital “.
Mrs Atila speaks passionately of the prospects the new dispensary will bring to the quiet village of Got Nyapong.” They are immense,” she says; these are:
a) Employment opportunities as nurses, community health workers, cleaners, cooks, pharmacists and other hospital staff.
b) Business opportunities for fruit vendors and ancillary businesses.
c) Improved social amenities like a road network to the facility, electricity and water.
On May 4th, we went to the village where the Women United For Our Future (WUFOF) leader who doubles up as our national vice-chair, Sally Atandi, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony. This is the proposed site for a dispensary to cater for Got Nyapong. The project is funded partially by Proudly Kenyan, among other well-wishers. Proudly Kenyan is an association that has embarked on social and community outreach programs in collaboration with NALSA(K) since November 2021.
Good health is an essential requirement, a Social Development Goal and one of our key objectives: To enhance women, youth & children. Indeed, Mrs Atandi has got Got Nyapong going in the right direction. Her other initiatives at Alego Usonga include briquette making, equipping Mur Malanga’s only maternity health facility and tree planting to replenish the environment.
The groundbreaking has paved the way for the construction. We look forward to revisiting Alego Usonga to witness how the new health facility will save lives and impact Got Nyapong as envisioned by Mrs Atila.
By Anyanzwa Brian.
Photography by Julia Laval.