For decades, community health workers (CHWs) like Mary Odhiambo have kept track of their clients using a paper register. “I used to bring my book from house to house, about 8 to 10 in one day,” Mary says. “I wrote down information about children’s immunization records and pregnant women’s antenatal care visits, but the books […]
Safe water and sanitation are the most basic of human needs–and are essential to good health. Yet around the world, billions of people lack access to clean water, the ability to wash their hands, or a working toilet. In Kenya, nearly 10 million people drink from contaminated water sources, 5 million people do not have […]
When it comes to improving health care, Lwala believes that communities should be in the driver's seat. “Many health programs are driven by donors and technical experts who don’t fully understand the local context,” says Doreen Awino, Lwala’s Director of Health Systems Strengthening. But no one can identify challenges and solutions better than communities themselves. […]
Most Lwala staff would agree that the hospital cafeteria–an open-air meeting space furnished with several picnicstyle tables, adjacent to a small kitchen–is the heart of the hospital complex. This is the place where every employee finds themselves at least once a day to take a cup of chai (tea) and a warm mandazi (fried bread) […]
As a nurse at Rongo Subcounty Hospital, Benter had seen countless women in need of a Cesarean section. Until recently, Migori County only had one public hospital offering surgeries to a population of 1.1 million. But like many hospitals across Kenya, Rongo Subcounty Hospital lacked the staff and equipment to provide surgical services. This meant […]
Over the past 15 years, Lwala has learned that improving health outcomes requires rebuilding trust. Imagine that early in your pregnancy, you travel 5 kilometers to your nearest health facility for antenatal care to check on the health of you and your baby. When you arrive, you have to wait hours in a crowded room, […]
