Where it began...
In 2018, our founder, Meg, went to Kenya with her friend who ran a children's home in Chulaimbo, called Jemo House. While teaching school girls about women's and sexual health, we passed out The Pad Project menstrual pads. It was during this outreach that she became aware of the amount of childhood cancer, particularly Burkitt's Lymphoma, in this region of Kenya. In developed countries, Burkitt's has a >90% survival rate. When diagnosed late, as it often is in Kenya, the survival drops to 52%. As a pediatric oncology nurse in the US, doing nothing was not an option. This disparity was what lit her fire to create what eventually became Haki Health; Haki meaning justice, or right, in Kiswahili.
The Pad Project
While teaching school girls about women's and sexual health, we passed out The Pad Project menstrual pads and demonstrated proper use and care. In order to reach as many girls as possible, we walked through some rural villages and distributed the pads and "pad talk" to girls unable to afford school fees. On one of our village walks, I ran into young Novia walking home from school.
Novia's Story
Novia stopped to talk with us, showing off her perfect English and kindly correcting my elementary attempts at Kiswahili. She let us know she intends on becoming a doctor. She shared with us that she just finished treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, but this was her second time being in remission, as she had finished her initial treatment shortly before recurring.
Novia's Story
Novia, unfortunately, recurred yet again by the time I next revisited Kenya. She was transferred to a larger hospital in Nairobi for more chemotherapy and radiation. I asked how I could help Novia and her family and we agreed upon me paying for 1 year of their health insurance, transportation and accommodations to and from treatment and then bought Zofran, Benadryl, barrier cream and nutrition supplements from their local chemist. $250 USD was all it cost me. This was when I realized sponsoring sick kids in Kenya can, and should be, so easy.
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Novia sadly passed away from her relentless disease, but I hope her legacy can live on by helping others in Kenya faced with a cancer diagnosis.
Temarioh's Story
Temarioh ended up at Masaba Hospital on Christmas Day after acquiring oil burns while his family was preparing a Christmas feast. Pediatric burns are very common in Kenya due to the most popular method of cooking: frying oil in a large iron bowl atop a fire. When I met him, over a week later, his hands weren't healing very well. We went to the grocery store and bought some local honey, then separated his now webbed fingers and dressed his wounds with honey and gauze. We did dressing changes every other day for the duration of our time there and taught his mom, Rosebella, how to do them from home so he could finally be discharged, 1 month after his admission, and finish healing at home.
Temarioh's Story
When I returned to the US after meeting Temarioh I spoke with the occupational and physical therapists I worked with for exercises Rosebella can do with Temarioh to regain his hand function. I sent them via WhatsApp and Rosebella continued with his dressing changes, hand massages and OT/PT. The next time I returned to Kenya I got to see an older Temarioh with his fully functioning hand and met his entire, incredibly kind family. His mom, Rosebella, became a close friend and will serve as the Program Director of Haki Health.