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The Walk Home

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Fourth Win The last bell rang, and the school yard boiled with shouts and running feet. She waited, a quiet figure by the wall, until the big crowd thinned. Walking home alone was asking for trouble, but walking with everyone was just a different kind of trouble, too many eyes, too many elbows. She picked a family she knew from a nearby shamba, a mother with three younger children, and followed them at a careful distance. Their noise was a good cover. The hard knot of worry in her belly, which had loosened a little during lessons, pulled tight again. Getting home was its own fight. The red-dirt road was hot and open. Up ahead, near the broken-down tractor, some older herd boys from the secondary school were kicking a plastic bottle. She saw them see her. Her face went still and faraway, like she was looking right through the baobab tree at the side of the path. She slowed her steps just a little, letting the family ahead get closer. A boy whistled, low and long. She didn’t turn her hea...
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A Fragile Sanctuary

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Third Win The school compound, with its chipped plaster walls and dusty courtyard, was not a place of ease, but a different kind of battlefield. Her first victory had been surviving the night. Her second, conquering the treacherous path. The third win was to be wrested from the school day itself, a prolonged exercise in navigating a minefield of academic, social, and bodily threats. Her refuge was her desk at the back of the classroom, where she fought for a fragile concentration, forcing her mind from the memory of the morning’s river current to the lesson on the blackboard. The social landscape was its own subtle gauntlet; her mended uniform and wary silence marked her as separate from the girls with newer bags and easy laughter. A wrong answer that drew snickers felt not like a simple mistake, but a crack in the essential armor of invisibility she relied upon. Yet, the most profound and intimate danger was a silent, internal one: the ever-present fear of her own body. The threat o...
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Always Holding Breath Series

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Second win. The moment she left the relative safety of the compound, the true scale of the morning's danger revealed itself. The path to school was a gauntlet of natural and human threats, each segment presenting a new test of her courage and wit. The first challenge was a river that swelled during the rainy season, turning from a gentle stream into a rushing, brown torrent. She had to carefully choose her crossing, her worn shoes slipping on the wet, submerged rocks, the current tugging fiercely at her legs. One misstep could mean being swept away, her schoolbag dragging her under. On the other side, the path wound through a stretch of dense brush where wild dogs sometimes prowled, and rumors of snakes kept her eyes glued to the ground. The rustle of leaves could signal a fleeing lizard or something far more dangerous, forcing her to freeze in place, heart pounding, until she was sure it was safe to move. Beyond the natural obstacles were the ever-present human dangers, which we...
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Always Holding Breath Series

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First win, The girl lies perfectly still on her thin mat in the corner of the room, the darkness of the small house pressing in around her. Every sound from the other side of the cloth hanging that serves as her door sends a jolt of fear through her body. Her entire being is focused on listening, interpreting the noises from the main living area where her uncle sits. The heavy sound of his footsteps, the gruff tone of his voice, the sharp clink of a bottle, these are the signs that tell her what kind of night it will be. She has learned to categorize the sounds, to distinguish between the normal settling of the house and the movements that signal danger. When his footsteps move toward her room, her heart hammers against her ribs, and she holds her breath, praying the footsteps will continue past. This state of high alert lasts for hours, making real sleep impossible. She drifts in and out of a shallow, restless doze, her mind never fully switching off its guard, always ready to snap ba...
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FASHION AND PADS WORKSHOP

  An existing foundation can be a pillar to other great emerging concepts. This is what I engaged the department of fashion in Narok County.   I joined forces with the First Lady of Narok County, Her Excellency Agnes Ntutu and DTB Bank-Narok branch. Together we engaged 120 qualified tailors in a reusable sanitary pads training workshop.   This was an empowering menstrual hygiene activity that will also see the skilled tailors have oncome generating ventures
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APPEAL FOR MEN'S INNOVATION

During the same ‘Wigs and Wings drive’ program visit at the Kenya National Hospital, I also interacted with male cancer patients. They did appreciate the visit and education around sanitary pads. Men experiencing prostate cancer raised a need concerning an innovation(s) that can sustain their health treatment and healing process. I am appealing to friends and well-wishers who can join me in this mission to come up with an innovation solution for the men. Reach out to me and let us continue creating avenues that boost healthy lives.    
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CANCER AWARENESS AND SANITARY PADS

Opportunities that see me join other like-minded groups in conducting impacting causes always delight me. October being a cancer awareness month, in collaboration with other partners through the, ‘wigs and Wings drive’, had me spend quality time with the female cancer patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital-shared the reusable pads which are plastic free. The pads will provide a healthy chemical-free living and also create a sustainable livelihood to the patients. October 27 th was a day well spent, I appreciate the organizers and other partners on board.
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