My name is Mary Lentumunai, I have lived in Sirata Oirobi (Samburu for cool plains) all my life. I did not get trachoma, but I have witnessed age mates and some of my children suffer from the disease. We did not know that it was an avoidable disease. We thought that it was a curse brought to us by the gods. I am 93 three years old, and some of my children have passed on. Two of them died blind. We were ignorant then, and we did not know that washing with water would save us from the trachoma scourge.
We were not educated, at least not in the formal way of Western education. As you can see, this is a remote place, and it has always been like that. The environment was not always like you see it today.
When I was a young girl, there were many trees in the region. It was an arid area alright, but it was green. Then our people started cutting down the trees, using them for firewood and burning charcoal. After the deforestation, cases of drought increased and water became scarcer. At first we did not connect the two, but we later learnt that the flies came in swarms to our houses since we did not have sufficient water to keep ourselves and our homes clean.
Things are changing now. AMREF has come in with a life saving initiative, and the whole community is experiencing the change. When my grandchildren came to me with stories about the importance of washing my face and hands, I thought it was just another classroom lesson they had been taught. I tried it and sure enough, the flies disappeared from my face.
AMREF has been training my grandchildren in school on the basics of hygiene. They have learnt that trachoma need not afflict them if they observe basic hygiene rules. It is very simple: wash your hands and your face. They also trained me on the importance of using latrines.
We used to go to the bush, but now we know better. There were so many ailments like diarrhoea and we did not know that the cures or prevention methods were in our hands. Many of my age mates have died blind or are living with blindness, and it is all due to our ignorance. We did not know.
It is a good thing that AMREF has now come in to stop this preventable disease. AMREF has ensured that all people in the area know how to prevent this terrible disease, and now we can literally look forward to a brighter future.
The WASHMan Blog 