Author: maryannewaweru

I am a Kenyan journalist. I write about social issues, women's issues and health matters.
Africa, child health, Children, featured, kenya, mHealth

How health workers in Kibera are assessing sick children using a new digital health tool

By Maryanne W. Waweru l maryanne@mummytales.com

Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa. After two days of nursing her two-year-old daughter at home, an anxious Maximilla Kangahi made her way to a clinic in her neighbourhood for help.

At the health facility, Maximilla was received by Waida Kasaya, clinical officer at the Beyond Zero clinic in Karanja, one of Kibera’s 18 villages. Located in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi, Kibera is the country’s largest urban slum area with the highest density of any settlement in the country, with an estimated population of 250,000 (UNHabitat).

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Blog, Breastfeeding, Children, Food Security, Maternal Health, newborn health, Poverty

Turkana Children in Kenya Continue to Suffer Malnutrition Amid Poor Health Services

Last week, I travelled from the capital city of Nairobi, Kenya, to Turkana County which is in the northern part of the country. Turkana is a largely pastoralist community with a population of 855,000 people. The county faces major problems, chief among them recurring droughts which has for years crippled the county’s economic development.

The lack of adequate rainfall continues to be a source of conflict for Turkana and her neighbours –the Pokot community, as well as the neighbouring countries of Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia as they fight for the scarce resources of water and grazing pasture. With the main economic activity being livestock farming, cattle raids are a frequent occurrence in Turkana, which is classified as a High Hazard Probability (HHP) of food, conflict and drought.

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Africa, Blog, Breastfeeding, Food Security, HIV / AIDS, Maternal Health, newborn health

Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates in Kenya Still Low

By Maryanne Waweru-Wanyama, Kenyan motherhood blogger and maternal/child health journalist based in Nairobi. As Kenya joins the rest of the world in marking the World Breastfeeding Week, health experts in the country are calling on more stringent efforts to be put in place that will encourage more women to exclusively breastfeed their babies. Though the country has noted an increase in the exclusive breastfeeding rates … Continue reading Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates in Kenya Still Low

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