In November 2019, our now third year members, Grace, Che and Megan visited our long-standing project the Ruben Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
We weaved down the dirt track in the Mukuru slums between the chaos of motorbikes, people crossing and wild chickens and goats. We made it to the Ruben centre and as we headed inside the gates, the environment changed into a more peaceful scene in comparison to the outside reality. The Ruben centre is an oasis within the slums. We were warmly welcomed by Zipporah who gave us the bigger picture of the non-profit, faith-based organisation and ministries within it that provided a more holistic purpose to the Ruben centre with a vision to empower the Mukuru community. The Ruben centre has a health clinic (average of 250 patients per day), nutrition clinic (average of 100 per day), school (2500 kids), maternity wards (average of 3 births per day), radio station (reaching the community with empowerment programs), ever-expanding gardens and creative arts initiatives. This is just to name a few of the many areas that the Ruben centre serves the Mukuru community. Ubuntu Through Health has supported, in part, the nutrition clinic for many years and it was incredible to hear how it has impacted and continues to impact the lives of those living in the Mukuru community and how it is such an integral part.
Day by day, we grew a greater understanding and appreciation of the wonderful work that the Ruben centre does. We rotated through various parts of the Ruben centre including the antenatal clinic, nutrition clinic and occupational therapy. As mothers would come into the antenatal clinic, they were educated on what to expect, red flags and the importance of good nutrition for themselves and their baby. In the nutrition clinic, there was a steady flow of 4 mothers with their babies coming into a small room where they were measured and weighed with appropriate advise and supplementation given as required. There was a whole spectrum of weights although this was skewed towards the lower end which was most likely a consequence of the nature of the low socio-economic community. Story after story showed the weight of the child increasing towards a healthy level for their age and height with the support of the Ruben centre. Meanwhile, in occupational therapy, I saw a small child with hydrocephalus who was unable to walk unaided initially. He was given a walker and I would run ahead calling his name and cheering him on as he would come towards me with a big smile on his face. After some time, while initially hesitant he took a few steps without the walker and occasionally would fall down but he didn’t give up. It was incredible watching the progress over such a short amount of time.
We were guided by the community members through the Mukuru lanes and alleyways to home visits. It was quite the adventure as we hopped over water channels, jumped from stone to stone and managed to stay on the steady solid soil. We crossed bridges, avoided touching the tin metal of the houses that may be live and were warmly welcomed into each of the homes we visited. We visited three homes each with a story of how the Ruben centre nutrition clinic had helped their child and more widely their family. We met a mother and her child with 4 other siblings. This child had a severely low weight for her age and after some investigations were carried out, she was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. She was immediately started on the TB treatment at the Ruben centre, given nutritional supplementation and is now gaining weight. As we left her home, she came running out to thank us for coming which was very touching. It was incredibly encouraging to see the wonderful work that goes on at the Ruben centre and beyond.
