Jasmine is a nursing student who came to Sega for a class project. Her reflections capture the human side of maternal and child health work better than we ever could.
Wow, I am so in love with Kenya, I feel it will be the first of many! We arrived in Sega safely after a 6 hour drive and were greeted by the best staff ever at our hotel. Our first full day, we had the opportunity to visit homes in Sega with CHPs (community health promoters) who are individuals who donate their free time, providing care to patients throughout the city. Each CHP has about 107 houses they tend to. It was amazing to see each house and see how personalized and detailed care each CHP offers.
The following 2 days we got to shadow nurses at the Sega Dispensary and Home Pearl Hospital, where I was able to witness the vaccination process and intake for pregnant mothers and patient nearby and give a motor vehicle accident patient pain medication via injection. The afternoons of the days were our implementation time for our project, Know Your Birth. It was a challenge, attempting to educate and teach staff who have been nurses for 20+ years on new and updated practices. Although the feedback presented our group with obstacles, we worked early the following morning to modify our implementation and had an extremely successful day 2.
I rode as many piki piki (motorbikes) around as possible, scaring the life out of my mom, but was such a highlight. 
The 4th day was our other groups implementation for their project which was educating adolescents on safe sex practices. Kenya, but Sega specifically has extremely high rates of HIV, so educating the adolescents was a dire need for the community. Both groups provided amazing support and were key parts in our success.
The 5th day, we got to drive out of Sega and went to the sub county hospital in Ukwala. It was a large facility, and all nurses and staff were so welcoming and excited to talk about US healthcare vs what they provide in Kenya. That afternoon, we got word that a mom was 8cm at the Sega Dispensary, so of course we all mobbed there. I was able to witness the birth that was performed by my OB professor Amy Ciralou. There were no physicians or PAs around, and due to the mother having 3 previous children, the time between the mom’s water breaking and the birth was under 2 minutes. Naturally, my professor stepped up and delivered a beautiful baby girl, named Precious. I was BLESSED to be able to perform baby care, including weighing her, cleaning all the vernix and blood off and swaddling. The mom was so strong and resilient with no pain medication and immediately walking after she gave birth.
That night we had a big celebration dinner at a goal4.org board members’ house where we introduced many card games that, when mixed with a little alcohol, got everyone laughing and dancing. I took a few minutes to sit back and take in the experience of my nursing career and lifetime I was able to have. I’m extremely sad to leave the community and friendships that I’ve built. One might say I left a lasting impression and impact on the Sega community, but they have left the lasting impression on my heart. I have found a new love for such a small community that may be filled with poverty and little to no resources, but have more love than any other place I’ve been too.
My heart is and will forever be grateful for the experience and a huge thank you for supporting, loving and cheering me on during my nursing career that has just started, but is the brightest light in my life.
With so much love and gratitude
Jasmine
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Janerose is a trained Community Health Volunteer, a counsellor, and a farmer. She joined the Sega health volunteer team in 1988 and is currently responsible for 134 households, going door-to-door with health education and support aimed at preventing common illnesses.
Monica Akinyi Odongo is the head of Sega’s public health facility, Sega Dispensary. She is a registered nurse whose broad responsibilities at the Dispensary include administration of the facility, managing the staff, and treating patients.
Rabin is the nursing officer in charge Sega Dispensary, the only public (free) health facility in Sega. He manages the facility, coordinates all health services, sees patients, and is responsible for community health. He was recruited to Sega to help develop and grow the Dispensary’s maternity service, including promoting the service to mothers in the community. In his past job, at a similar small, rural dispensary, he did just that – improved the maternity services and influenced a shift in the number of women who give birth at the health facility rather than at home. He is a skilled mentor, manager, and communicator.
Albert has worked in education throughout his professional career. He began as a classroom teacher, later rose to the position of headmaster, then Approved Graduate Teacher. He went on to become an inspector of schools in Uganda and Kenya. He was born and raised in western Kenya where now, in retirement, he dedicates his time and skills to supporting local schools and community organizations.
Colm is a technical project manager on Google’s robotics team. Throughout his career, he has specialized in large-scale, multi-national telecommunications projects, in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. At Inveneo, a non-profit social enterprise that delivers low-powered networks to rural Africa, Colm participated in the post-earthquake response effort in Haiti, supporting the field team as they set up emergency communications for first-responders in the field. Prior to a decade managing non-profit projects, Colm managed global telecommunications projects for Ericsson in Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Botswana, Macau, Canada, and the USA. He helped establish Ericsson’s US presence, building the technical support organization and managing the build-out of Ericsson’s US network.
