Until last year, the students at Eliya Chimthengo Primary School in Dedza had never heard of digital learning. Their studies were conducted with one or two old and worn textbooks that were shared amongst a class of 60. Often, there would be only three or four in a class. Teaching is basic, with teachers instructing on a chalk board without visual prompts or the stimulation of creative teaching material.
This changed in 2020 when the UN Joint Programmes on Girls’ Education, funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, launched a digital learning platform in the school. This e-learning aims to ensure that adolescent girls and boys at the school have access to sexual reproductive health and rights and can access information and available services crucial to their development into young adults.
Harmful traditions fuelling teen pregnancies
Like in much of Malawi, adolescent girls in Dedza district are negatively impacted by sociocultural norms and harmful traditional practices in their area, and the risk of harm is high. In Malawi, 25 percent of young girls aged 15 to 19 have children. A startling 40 percent will have given birth before reaching the age of 18.
This joint programme is working to reverse this threat. By engaging girls early, it is impacting on the decisions young girls make about their sexual and reproductive health and rights. Students from standard six to eight are now learning comprehensive sexuality education to protect them from dropping out of school due to early pregnancy and shield them from sexual and gender-based violence.
Digital devices helping teens access SRHR information
Access to digital content and devices has excited many students at the school. Cynthia Kachepa (12) is one of the students taking part in the sessions.
“From the information I got through the lessons, I am now able to make decisions about my life and my body,” she says. “In addition, I have also learnt much about how to take care of my body as I grow up and how to keep clean during my period.”
Esnart Lyton (16) also sings the praises of the digital learning forum. “For me, the most important thing I learnt is how to avoid unplanned pregnancies. I wish we had many girls in the area taking part in this course as the problem is very big in this community,” she says.
Apart from girls, many boys are also taking part in the digital learning classes. One of the boys is 16-year-old Macdonald Oliyeri.
“Some boys my age are already married. It could have been the same for me if it wasn’t for this course,” he says. “It has opened my eyes and helped me stay focused on my education.”
The early success of the pilot in 26 schools has led to plans to scale up the initiative to another 20 schools in 2022, when more young girls and boys will be able to access more information on their sexual and reproductive health and rights and access content that will help protect them from harmful practices that threaten their healthy development into adulthood.
I recently came across an intersting video about neighbourhood learning groups in Kenya that are aimed at helping young school-going children sustain what they have been taught at school, more so in mathematics and Kiswahili subjects.
A neighbourhood group comprises learners, who could be a mix of different grades and schools, and who sit together every evening after school for various play activities connected to what they are taught at school. The groups encourage peer and self-learning.
The neighbourhood learning groups are being piloted by an organization known as Teaching at the Right Level Africa (TaRL). Of what benefit is this model to the learners? Does it improve their performance at school? What about the parents? How involved are they in this learning model for their children?
To understand this concept more, watch the video below. What do you think about this initiative?
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Today, I share an article on child abuse in Kenya. Through the experience of one Kenyan mom, I wish to create awareness about the act of sodomy upon a child, and a local organization in Kenya, CREAW, that offers assistance in such cases.
Also, if you work in an organization in the area of sexual reproductive health and rights and you’d like your work highlighted, email me on maryanne@mummytales.com or reach me on Twitter @MaryanneWaweru
“It was on Friday August 28, 2017 when I got back from work and found Dan laying down the floor. He was unusually quiet and was not engaging in any talk with any of his siblings. Normally, he would run over to me with bubbly smiles and continuously talk of about his day at school. This time, he was sad, depressed and dispirited.
When I asked his siblings, they stated that he probably did not want to shower hence the frowning. I insisted to know from him why he had not showered like the rest. He hesitated but finally mumbled some words.
All I heard was ‘mom I’m in pain.’
Gasping in fear
His eyes were red and swollen with tears. He was in shock and gasping in fear. When I told him to sit up he asked: “Would you beat me if I stood up?”
I asked, “why I would beat you for no reason?”
Seeing that I was calm, he gained the courage to speak up. Dan narrated how the neighbour called him to his house and sent him to buy airtime at a shop that was down the flat. When he came back, he again sent him to buy kangumu (hard cake) before he could allow him into the house.
In all, Dan did not realize that the neighbor was preying on him. The neighbor inquired if I was back from work. When he learnt that I was not around, he proceeded to actualize his evil plan. He offered him kangumu to eat.
Threatened with death
While at it, he grabbed him, forcefully removed his clothes and sodomized him. He screamed through the ordeal, but his mouth was blocked to muffle the screams. None of his siblings in their house could hear his cry.
After he took Dan’s clothes and wiped himself, he chased him away warning that if he told anyone he would kill him. Dan hurriedly wore his clothes and left.
At this point I wanted to scream for the world to hear what a beast my neighbor was. I could not imagine that this would happen to someone so dear to me. I was disgusted and wanted to make the world knows the perpetrator but first I had to let justice take its course. I did not want to scare him away before the law caught up with him.
Confronting the neighbour
My first point of action was to look for the caretaker who was manning the flat where we reside.
The caretaker remembered that Dan had bought airtime and kangumu from his shop. He said the man in question was a friend of the neighbour and was new to the premises.
The caretaker accompanied me to the neighbour’s house to confront the perpetrator. He however hesitated to open the door, forcing the caretaker to knock off the door and an altercation ensued.
As the fracas was ongoing, I dashed out unnoticed to report the incident at the nearby Kitengela police station. Minutes later, I arrived with the police but a huge crowd had already gathered outside making it difficult to access the premises.
Test turns positive for sodomy
At this point word was all over the streets that my son had been sodomized. The crowd was baying for the blood of the perpetrator. They wanted the police to move with speed and arrest him or let them have their way and lynch him.
There were only two policemen and the crowd was overwhelming, more officers were called in and they shot in the air to disperse the crowd after which they made their way to arrest the perpetrator.
I was relieved but I knew it was not yet over. The next procedure was to take my son to the Nairobi Womens Hospital in Kitengela. The results turned out positive for sodomy; his anus had been raptured and had to undergo a surgery to correct the situation.
When I got back from the hospital, a neighbour informed me about the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) and how they provide free legal aid to the survivors of gender-based violence. The next day I set out their offices in Kibra.
Court case
Meeting CREAW officers was very helpful, I got the much-needed support to push through the ordeal. When the case was coming up in court for the first time in Kajiado, CREAW officers were at hand to offer their support.
At that point, my son was still traumatized. He stammered through his testimony in court and did not want to speak or get close to any man. All was set for the hearing of the case.
Pain while passing stool
Through it all, my son could not eat solid food, for a week he survived on milk and was experiencing pain while passing stool. The court process was draining as well; it was difficult to afford bus fare to courts every time but I’m thankful that CREAW supported me all through.
After a month and a half, justice came knocking. The perpetrator was found guilty of the offense and sentenced to life imprisonment. I was relieved and thankful. I thought cases like mine would take years to come to a close.
I have since transferred Dan to another school and he continues to undergo psycho-social therapy to help him gain a sense of life and deal with the feelings of guilt and shame from the abuse.”
If you have found this article helpful, please share it with a friend.
This story has been republished with permission from the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), an organization whose work is premised on the foundation that everyone deserves a dignified life, and that this is attainable. If you need support, including counseling and legal services, you can call the CREAW toll-free number: 0800 720 186.
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In late May 2022, the International Disability Alliance (IDA), in partnership with the African Disability Forum (ADF), the Inclusive Futures consortium, and the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), hosted a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, that brought together persons with disabilities, international NGOs, governments, donors and private sector partners to discuss what is needed to equalize access to employment for persons with disabilities in the open labor market.
The workshop was organized in the backdrop of the Inclusive Futures employment program coming to an end in June. This is a 3-year UK Aid funded program that focused on how people with disabilities can have enhanced access to and be better included in formal waged employment. The sessions, reflective in nature, had participants sharing how various interventions had worked to support systemic change in the labor market, which made it more inclusive for workers with disabilities.
“Placing individuals with disabilities into jobs does not create sustainable inclusive employment, so what else should be done?” was a key question addressed.
Discussions following from this revolved around how inclusive employment has to consider holistic transformation processes of employment as a system: recruitment processes that address barriers faced by persons with disabilities, workplaces that are accessible, employers that understand the added value of diversity in the workplace and promote positive attitudes, career development strategies and support for jobseekers with disabilities, as well as supportive employment laws and policies informed by data.
“Retrofitting jobs that were not designed to be inclusive does not work. You need to think about jobs being inclusive from scratch, especially for underrepresented groups of persons with disabilities,” said Kimber Bialik, the Director of Programs and Network Development with Inclusion International.
Central to the discussion was the question of how all groups of persons with disabilities can access the open labor market and the recognition from participants that many groups of persons with disabilities are out of decent work. Underrepresented groups face even greater marginalization and exploitation at work.
For example, a study by Down Syndrome International in Bangladesh showed that employees with intellectual disabilities were sometimes paid less than 25% of the wage of a person without an intellectual disability, doing the same job.
In Kenya and Nigeria, a study by Inclusion International showed that some people with intellectual disabilities are only being paid 1/10th of the standard wage. In addition, persons with disabilities often face segregated work settings where they are employed separately from others, sometimes with exemptions from labor standards and not adhering to minimum wage requirements.
“Persons with deafblindness are not aware of the existence of job opportunities on the market because jobs are being advertised in inaccessible formats. In Uganda, no jobs are advertised in an accessible manner, people use radio or billboards which are inaccessible, therefore we don’t know about opportunities,” said Agnes Abukito, a woman with deafblindness who had carried out a study on the status of persons with deafblindness in the open labor market.
To challenge this situation, participants exchanged learning and good practices to work on the whole employment system and transform practices, addressing the missing link between employers and jobseekers, and ensuring rights-based approaches for persons with disabilities to access the job they want and get paid a fair wage.
“To organizations that are thinking about inclusive employment, we will say learning starts from where you are. Don’t look at others and be discouraged, just take the first step and hire that one person with a disability. It is a journey and to be successful you will need to have leadership buy-in, in order to get the right resources and support,” said Tabie Kioko, Senior Manager of Diversity and Inclusion at Safaricom PLC.
The Inclusive Futures employment program mobilized the private sector as allies in this direction. Industry leaders in different countries are now committing to support this urgent call to ensure workplaces are inclusive of persons with disabilities. Through Business and Disability Networks established as national platforms convening businesses, OPDs and other development partners, a growing number of private companies, are leading the way.
“Unilever, Safaricom, and Coca Cola are partners who made commitments to become disability-inclusive, which can now motivate other employers to become disability inclusive,” said Betty Najjemba, the ADF Organizations of Persons with Disabilities Engagement Officer.
Inclusive Futures employment program is a consortium of 11 organizations and implemented in four countries – Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. IW engaged a wide group of stakeholders to test models of inclusive employment practice and generate robust evidence and data which can be used to influence change at a national, regional, and global level.
The program approached the supply side by doing job training, so that job seekers had skills and confidence and approached the demand side by working with employers to support capacity and commitment for inclusion in the workplace. The program also worked with governments, civil society, and Organizations of Persons with Disabilities to strengthen the collaboration.
Lianna Jones, the Program Manager of Inclusive Futures employment program at Sightsavers, noted that the program has worked with more than 2,300 jobseekers with disabilities and that 22% of these jobseekers have succeeded in finding jobs.
“The [Inclusive Futures employment program] is coming to an end but has been an important and successful program and we have to look at the way forward. Keep holding the system accountable. Africa is large, 54 countries and we worked only in four. Unemployment rates of persons with disabilities are high in many countries. So, for us, the [Inclusive Futures employment program] is a small component of a broader approach to improve our lives, alongside social protection, cash transfers, self-employment, access to microcredit,” said Shuaib Chalklen, Executive Director of ADF.
This is the story of Miranda, an eight-year-old girl who died suddenly while playing with her brother and cousin. The narration below has been written by Miranda’s father and shared with me by her mother, Njeri Orora. Miranda’s parents are sharing this story to create awareness about the condition that led to the sad demise of their daughter.
“Miranda was born in 2013 and had been healthy all through. However, in 2021, she collapsed in school. The school nurse called and informed us of it. She asked us to take Miranda to hospital where we saw a paediatrician who checked her and told us she was fine.
Miranda fainted again after some time but this time we didn’t take her to hospital.
In July 2021, we moved to Bungoma where she joined a school and started classes. After a few weeks, she fainted in school and we were called. We rushed there and found she had already come round. We took her to hospital and the doctor told us to observe her for a while.
When she fainted again after about two weeks, we took her back. This time the doctor asked us to do some tests. We went to Kisumu and the tests were done. They all showed she was okay.
She again fainted for the third time. We went back to hospital but did not get the paediatrician. The doctor we found prescribed an epilepsy drug. I asked my wife Njeri to pass by a different hospital and see a paediatrician. The paediatrician ruled out epilepsy and asked us not to give it to Miranda.
What was triggering Miranda’s episodes?
When she collapsed three days later, we were advised by a doctor to take her to a paediatric neurologist. We went to see one in Nairobi who performed some tests and ruled out epilepsy. He however could not figure out what was troubling her, so he asked us to go again after one month.
She fainted once in that period, and we noted down all information we could gather on how it happened. Miranda had never collapsed at home, so we did not know for sure what happened during the fainting episodes.
When we went back, the doctor again did some tests and told us he could not find anything wrong with her. His advice was that there had to be a trigger, so we needed to find out what that was and then mitigate it. Thankfully, the episodes went away and did not recur.
Birthday party
Schools closed on 4th March 2022 for a long holiday to allow final year candidates in primary and secondary schools to sit national examinations. The children had missed their grandmother very much and we took them to Kitale over the weekend.
Our son’s fifth birthday fell on 19th March and he had asked us to hold two birthday parties for him: one in Kitale and one in Bungoma. He however changed his mind and decided he would not be coming back to Bungoma.
Njeri travelled to Kitale that week while I travelled on 19th March. We bought a birthday cake and took the children out to a local hotel. They spent the afternoon swimming and jumping on a bouncing castle. Miranda in particular enjoyed the swimming bit. She was not a good swimmer but what she lacked in skills, she more than compensated for with enthusiasm. We had to drag her out of the swimming pool. She went to the changing room and spent a long time. Njeri went to check on her and found her just staring at the older girls. We had lunch where they all asked for their favourite dishes. It was generally a day spent having fun.
In the evening we went back home, danced and cut the birthday cake. That night Miranda slept with her mum. They talked late into the night.
The last goodbye wave
In the morning, we all woke up and had breakfast. Njeri and I left Kitale for Bungoma at around 11am. The kids were all watching television as we left. Miranda was so engrossed that she didn’t reply to our goodbyes. We had to call out to her again and she dismissed us with a wave and a shouted goodbye. This was unlike her, usually she would escort us to the gate and sometimes hitch a ride to the main road first, but we didn’t read too much into it.
On the way back we discussed how her health had changed and we agreed it must have been the change in climate. We got to Bungoma some minutes after midday. After a few chores in the house, we left for town.
The shattering phone call
At around 6pm I received a call from Kitale. I handed over the phone to Njeri since I assumed she was unreachable on her phone and the caller was looking for her. The caller was her mum and she asked what we do when Miranda faints.
Njeri explained and asked for details of what had happened. After a few calls we were asked to immediately go to Kitale. We left without even paying our bill, jumped into the car and drove off. Luckily, I had fuelled earlier in the day and did not need to stop anywhere.
On the way, Njeri kept calling different people asking them how Miranda was.
Just as we got to Sikhendu, she called a family friend who informed her that Miranda had passed away.
We stopped at the bus stop to compose ourselves then drove off. We got to hospital and found her lying dead on a bed in a consultation room. Later we were told what happened.
Miranda was playing hide and seek with her brother and cousin. Muthoni, Njeri’s sister was in the main house when the two boys came calling her that Miranda had fainted. It is Cruz who had found Miranda. Muthoni rushed to where she was and tried resuscitating her. She then called a neighbour to come and assist her. When she saw that Miranda was not responding, she carried her and rushed her to hospital.
The postmortem
At the first hospital, she was told Miranda had no pulse. Not believing it, she took her to a second hospital where she was told Miranda had passed away. She still didn’t believe it and again took off. At the gate she met her mum who put them in a car and they drove off to a third hospital. Here again she was told Miranda had passed away.
We could not understand what had happened. A child that we had left healthy and full of life at 11am was dead by evening. We started making funeral arrangements and booked an appointment for a post-mortem.
Cause of Miranda’s sudden death
The report indicated cause of death as ‘sudden cardiac death secondary to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.’ In her case, the left ventricle had thickened, and her heart was unable to keep up with her body’s requirements. All the time we were checking to see if her neurons had an issue, it was actually her heart that had an issue.”
Njeri adds on to her husband’s narration by saying:
“If you know of any parent, whose kid might have fainted or convulsed and their kid’s electroencephalogram (EEG) is normal, kindly ask them to visit a cardiologist for an electrocardiogram (ECG) test. (EEG is a test that measures electrical activity in the brain using small, metal discs (electrodes) attached to the scalp. An ECG on the other hand records the electrical signals in the heart. It’s a common and painless test used to quickly detect heart problems and monitor the heart’s health).
When you see a kid faint at school and nothing is detected by a neurologist, kindly visit a cardiologist. This heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is mostly confused with epilepsy, anxiety and hysteria. No parent should go through what we are going through.”
Thank you, Baba and Mama Miranda, for sharing your story. We wish the Orora family God’s strength and comfort during this difficult time, and thank them for telling their story, which is helping raise awareness about the condition.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Salome Muthoni Ogutu became a house girl at the tender age of 15 years. After meeting her boyfriend (now husband) who was working as a watchman then, together they grew, and he supporter her academic ambitions. He too is currently pursuing his PhD! Watch Salome tell her inspiring story of hope and determination. Watch her story below or on You Tube here.
In case you’d like to get in touch with her, Salome can be reached on salomewahito@gmail.com
Do you have a motherhood experience you’d like to share? Email me at: maryanne@mummytales.com
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
A few days ago I met Belinda Adhiambo, a mother of one. Her son is three-months old. Belinda has a physical disability; she is an amputee. Belinda lost her leg at the age of three years when she was involved in a road accident. Her leg had to be amputated. You can read her story here: The pregnancy and childbirth experience of an amputee woman in Kenya.
During our conversation, Belinda mentioned something that piqued my interest.
A few years ago, as Belinda interacted with fellow women with disability in Kibera, where she grew up, something interesting dawned on her.
Belinda realized that most women with disability, who were mothers, never got married. They never seemed to have partners. Most were single mothers. She wondered why. To understand the issue better, Belinda decided to hold a community dialogue where she brought together other women with disabilities to discuss issues around their sexual reproductive health.
Among the things that Belinda found out during this dialogue was that many of the women were in relationships. Because women with disability also have feelings and desires, something that society doesn’t seem to be comfortable with. Many people assume that people with disability have no sexual feelings, have no desire for intimacy, and should not have children or start their own families.
Now, what Belinda established is that for many of these women in relationships, their male partners would come into their houses in the dead of night –at around 1am. They would then have sex with them, before sneaking out at about 3am. Two hours of passionate rendezvous. Belinda labelled these men the ‘midnight lovers’. These are men who are in relationships with women with disability, but can never be seen with them during the day. They are kept as a little secret.
At least someone desires me
Belinda noted that the women would entertain the ‘midnight lovers’ because they felt that they did not have a choice.
“Like who will love me with this condition of mine? Like shouldn’t I just be grateful that at least someone desires me, even if it’s in the cover of darkness? Isn’t that better than nothing?”
From the dialogue, Belinda established that most men are afraid to come out openly with lovers who are disabled. It’s embarrassing. It doesn’t fit right with society. What will their family members say? Their friends? It’s not something they are prepared to deal with. So they would rather keep it discreet and meet their lovers clandestinely. They prefer to keep them as their little secret; the one that nobody ever has to know about.
Now, unfortunately, by the time the women are realizing what’s going on, they have two, three, four children. Sometimes, the children have different fathers.
Their midnight lovers of course have their own girlfriends and wives whom they are proudly seen with during the day. At night, they continue coming to see them. The women with disability are left holding the short end of the stick. Used, denied and unsupported by their midnight lovers…
The good thing is that nowadays, Belinda says there are increasing empowerment programs for women with disability that educate them on their rights, including those pertaining to their sexual reproductive health. Programs that educate them on protected and safe sex, and the need for them to use contraceptives so that they can have children when and if they want them. Their exposure to these empowerment engagements are enabling them make more informed decisions about their sexual activities. However, she says a lot more still needs to be done. I will continue writing about this #WomenwithDisabilities topic, so keep following this blog and on my social media pages as well.
If you are a woman with disability, or know a woman with disability who would like to share their/your pregnancy and childbirth experience, please reach out to me on wawerumw@gmail.com
What are your thoughts about Belinda’s observations? Had you known about it? Please share in the comments section below.
Mummy Talesby Maryanne W. Waweru is a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Let’s talk about women with disability today. What are their pregnancy and childbirth experiences? You see, I have always been curious to find this out, and how I have always intended to do so is by talking to different women with disability and documenting their stories. This has been on my mind for years, but for some reason, I have never gotten round to doing so.
Until now.
I am now on a quest to document the pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with disability. You see, 10% of women with disabilities are of childbearing age. Unfortunately though, many women with disabilities are assumed to be sexually inactive, and therefore unlikely to have children. Which is a false assumption. Women with disability are not asexual; they have feelings and desires. They are sexually active and their experiences are significant, if the healthcare system is to offer them quality services. Their stories therefore need to be told, and I am here to do that 🙂
So, I will talk to women with different types of disability and seek their experiences regarding their access to antenatal, labor, birth and postnatal care services in health facilities or otherwise. Are there aspects of this care they they would like to see done differently? What are their stories, their experiences?
A few days ago, I decided, as one of my first steps in this journey, to talk to Judy Kihumba. Judy is a sign language interpreter, and an advocate of maternal mental health and wellness of deaf mothers. Judy is also the founder of the organization Talking Hands, Listening Eyes on PPD (THLEP), which she started with the aim of addressing the maternal health issues of deaf mums and breaking the silence on postpartum depression (PPD).
My discussion with Judy about the pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with disability helped me gain invaluable insights as I begin my journey of documenting the pregnancy and childbirth experiences of women with disability.
Judy will link me up with deaf moms, who I will talk to and learn more about their experiences. I will be sure to share their stories here on Mummy Tales.
For now, I would like to ask that if you are, or know of a woman with disability who is pregnant or who has given birth within the last year and would be willing to share their experiences, kindly connect me to them.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Last Saturday, I attended a baby shower. It was such a special event for me, in many ways.
First, the last time I attended a baby shower was donkey years ago. It’s like all my friends and I all stopped giving birth because, age. I felt so good being in the company of my close friends again because wow! We have really missed these kinds of functions.
Second, the expectant mom is a first-time-mom. At 43! Absolutely amazing! Ehh, when I tell you this was such a great baby shower, believe me it was because all of us there, her friends, were aged 42 – 43. Mumamaz ?. This is a baby we have waited for and prayed for, you can only imagine the excitement that comes with that.
Third, si we danced! And sang! And kigoco’d! And played games. And reminisced on our good old days of youth. When we were invincible, indomitable, indestructible and all that. We laughed so much until you could see the little tongues behind our throats. But life has a way of mellowing one down. Nowadays, my idea of having a good time is napping on the couch, novel in hand. I couldn’t be bothered to lift these weary bones to take them anywhere.
But the bones gladly lifted themselves for this baby shower. We all let our hair down and danced ourselves sore. We made lots of merry, singing and yelling ‘wapi nduruuuu’ until our throats hurt. We truly had a blast.
Your guess is as good as mine on how the following day was like. We slept in all day, our heads pounding and muscles aching, unable to move. But si ni life?
Anyway, the point of my article today is not about the fun that my girls and I had. Though we did have lots of it. The point of this article is to let you know that you can still conceive naturally after 40 years, and that it can be a smooth pregnancy. For those women and couples who are trying to conceive, don’t despair. Receive your blessing in Jesus’ name.
Congratulations my friend. We bless this child. We are here to support you. And we love you lots!
Have you had a baby after 40? How was your experience? Would you like to share it? You can email me on maryanne@mummytales.com
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Hi friends! Today, I’m really excited to share information about a new children’s book that has been authored by my dear sis-in-law Nabubwaya, who, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ll have already met her through her motherhood experiences here.
Nabubwaya, who is based in the US, has authored her first book titled: “Kwaheri Sandy Footprints, Habari Hiking Trails” . The colouful and well-illustrated book is about a boy called Likizo, who was born into a biracial family and enjoys sharing his love for exotic foods and adventures with his friends.
The synopsis is as below:
One day, Likizo learns from his father that his family would be relocating from sunny California to a small city in Ohio due to work obligations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Likizo was scared to move far away to start a new life, unsure of what the future would hold for his family. The unforeseen future did not seem that exciting especially since it meant that new changes would disrupt his preferred routine.
Would things ever be the same in the new town? Would his new friends in Ohio want to learn more about Africa, his mama’s original homeland? Would they enjoy his mama’s African delicacies cooked with so much love and warmth? Will he fit in a small town and make good friends?
The themes represented in this book include friendship, diversity, inclusivity, kindness, value, family, acceptance, generosity, persistence, and growing up. See the world through the eyes of Likizo, an eight-year-old boy. This story shows the value of facing the big, scary steps that families are making during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s about celebrating our good friends and family even when they are far away.
Reading age: 3 – 12 years
Number of pages: 41
“Kwaheri Sandy Footprints, Habari Hiking Trails” by Deborah Nabubwaya Chambers is currently available for sale HERE on Amazon Kindle Edition for $9.99 and Paperback for $16.99.
Once again, congratulations sis and looking forward to more of your books!
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
On the way back we discussed how her health had changed and we agreed it must have been the change in climate. We got to Bungoma some minutes after midday. After a few chores in the house, we left for town.
We could not understand what had happened. A child that we had left healthy and full of life at 11am was dead by evening. We started making funeral arrangements and booked an appointment for a post-mortem.
