Ms. Margaret Odera knows what it means to work hard and manage a family. She starts her daily routine the night before, preparing breakfast in advance for her three boys before dropping them to school in Nairobi by 7.30 am. She then walks five kilometers to begin her day’s work at the local hospital as a trained Community Health Worker and mentor-mother focussing on reaching HIV positive mothers and children in her area.
“In all of this I don’t feel tired. I have passion for my children, for those in hospital, for my community. Something pushes me when I see a malnourished baby, or a mother who won’t take antiretroviral medication (ARV).”
As an HIV+ mother, Ms. Odera has set herself the goal of eradicating mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Remembering her positive status diagnosis in 2000 is traumatic. She was infected by a married man who later returned to his family. By then, Ms. Odera was pregnant with her first child.
“I felt like I was dead. At the time, it was a death sentence. HIV positive women were committing suicide, people were dying.”
Over time, she got so ill that she couldn’t walk. With no means to pay rent, the church offered her a small room after her baby girl was born, but it was extremely cold at night and soon her daughter got pneumonia. In the cab to the hospital, Ms. Odera breastfed her baby in an attempt to alleviate the child’s convulsions, but it was too late. When she arrived at the hospital, she discovered that the baby was dead.
For five months, Ms. Odera avoided contact with a mentor mother in her area, who repeatedly called to tell her about the availability of ARV treatment and how she could help. She fondly remembers the persistence of her mentor mother, who has become a close friend.
Today, Ms. Odera’s three healthy boys are HIV negative. The transformation in her own life inspired her to become a mentor mother herself
– a role that energizes her and that she is very proud of. Despite her passion for the work, the lack of fair compensation has meant that she hasn’t been able to lift herself out of poverty. Ms. Odera has campaigned for CHWs like herself to be recognized as essential members of healthcare teams and to be fairly compensated for their work.
“We all work on contracts for very little money. It’s not fair for women to have such job insecurity. They want to feed their children and pay for their school fees. We don’t have anyone to fight for us and women are bearing their burden alone. The protection is not there for us. When a doctor or nurse reports a beating or rape, they have protection under the law. If mentor mothers or CHWs report abuses in the community, we are open to attack. I know of a nine-year-old girl who is pregnant, but I am not empowered to protect her.”
Ms. Odera’s main focus is to form a national association for CHWs in Kenya. She successfully spearheaded the establishment of the CHW CN (Community Health Workers Champions Network), a network of CHWs in Kenya who are advocating for their rights to compensation and respect within the healthcare system. Her testimony has inspired over 1000 fellow CHWs to train as advocates, and she started a WhatsApp Group where CHWs could voice their opinions and advocate jointly.
“If mentor mothers and community health workers were empowered, we could contribute not only to Universal Health Coverage but to strengthening health systems and providing proper protection for women.”
Despite the challenges faced, Ms. Odera is positive about the future.“Continue shining, because the universe is watching! The heavens are watching! You can shine wherever you
are. Even in a hole. I am living in a slum and still I shine.”
