By Emily Mendosa
Through the Breman Global Health Immersion Fellowship, I am spending 4 weeks in Kenya working with a Nairobi-based organization called Action for Children with Disabilities (ACD). ACD is a network of approximately 30 organizations in Kenya working to promote a more inclusive society for people with disabilities. During my first week in Kenya, we visited one of ACD’s member organizations, The Action Foundation (TAF). TAF has been working to provide holistic healthcare, inclusive education, and career development opportunities to people with disabilities living in some of Kenya’s most marginalized communities. We visited one of their centers in Kibera.
Kibera is the largest informal settlement in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated population of 250,000 people living in approximately one square mile. It is an extraordinarily difficult place to live, with most residents surviving on the equivalent of $1 per day with limited access to clean water, healthcare, education, and stable employment.
Despite these hardships, or perhaps because of them, the people of Kibera are known for being creative and entrepreneurial. As we walked through the narrow streets in Kibera to reach the TAF center, we passed more small businesses than I could count, from single chair barber shops inside tin-walled structures to individual women selling chai to passers-by with nothing but a portable stove in an alleyway.
TAF’s center in Kibera provides occupational and physical therapy for free to children with disabilities. These services are otherwise only available at a high cost in certain well-equipped hospitals, none of which are easily accessible from Kibera. TAF serves as many as 25 children per day in a colorfully-painted building filled with soft carpets, sensory toys, accessibility devices, and caring, skilled therapists.
TAF was the first brick structure to be built in Kibera, and because its location is not accessible by any type of vehicle, bricks had to be passed into the construction site one by one by an assembly line of neighbors. It is a true community organization, founded by, integrated within, and protected by the community – despite its very visible location in a high-crime area, the center has never needed to hire a security guard! This reminded me of the importance and necessity of partnership with the local community in any global health effort.
Of all the amazing things I saw at TAF during my visit, the one I have not been able to stop thinking about is this chair. At first glance, it looks like any assistive device that a child with disabilities might use, but I was amazed to learn that this chair is made almost entirely from recycled cardboard and paper glued together with a wheat-flour based paste. Two talented artisans can produce 10 chairs like this per month, each made with precise measurements to fit a specific child. Their biggest challenge is the rainy season, when the wheat flour glue takes a longer time to dry. TAF has embraced the creative and resourceful spirit of Kibera and challenged me to do the same. The world of global health too often asks how to bring outside supplies to people to solve problems. Instead, perhaps we should ask ourselves how we can empower people to find unique solutions we could otherwise never see.
More information about The Action Foundation’s incredible work can be found on their website:
https://theactionfoundationkenya.org/
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