How Kupenda’s Disability Training for Community Health Promoters is Improving Lives: Edwin’s Story

One of Kupenda’s primary missions is to educate community leaders about how to support and care for those with disabilities in their midst. Although Kupenda has trained thousands of religious, traditional, nonprofit, and education leaders as disability advocates, we recently collaborated with Kenya’s Ministry of Health to adapt our disability training for Community Health Promoters (CHPs). CHPs act as the first point of contact between the public and the healthcare system, providing preventative health education, basic healthcare, and referrals to health facilities. Their efforts can dramatically transform the quality of life for children like Edwin.

Edwin’s Story

Edwin is a child who was born with limb differences that made walking challenging. Due to stigma surrounding disability in his village, his family experienced the pain of misunderstanding and isolation. According to his mother,

“This made me to carry him most of the times and even every day to school. He rarely played with his peers, because they always laughed at him, and this made him cry and stay lonely most of the times. All this affected him to the point where he did not want to go to school or play with anyone because of the stigma he got from other children. I had no support from family members, because they all believed that I must have committed incest to cause my child’s condition. This left me helpless and with a lot of pains.”

Fortunately, a Kupenda-trained CHP, Constance Dhahabu, learned of Edwin’s situation and met with his family. His mother reported,

“When Constance visited me, I was so much devastated and very low. She … counseled and encouraged me and referred me to Kilifi Hospital. As if that was not enough, she also accompanied me to Kupenda’s office. The environment there already gave me hope that I was at the best place. The welcoming and kind staff that I met listened to my story without any judgment of my feelings, and they reassured me that they were there to support me.”

With the support of Constance and Kupenda staff, Edwin’s mother visited the hospital and learned how to best support her son’s needs. Today, she continues to regularly take her son to doctor appointments and has already witnessed significant improvement. She stated,

“I no longer carry him on my back, but he walks by himself with a little support from his twin brother while going to school. He also has friends now, as they no longer laugh at him, and this has greatly improved his self-esteem. He is a happy boy now and working very hard in school, with ambitions and dreams of becoming a doctor when he grows up so that he can help others who have challenges. I’m so much grateful for the counseling from both the CHP and Kupenda’s staff. You caused emotional, psychological, and physical healing to my family.”

To date, Constance’s CHP efforts have not only improved Edwin’s life, but they have improved the lives of 365 residents in his community!

Continued Impact

Over the past year, Kupenda’s disability trainings have equipped and mobilized 61 CHPs like Constance as disability advocates, including 20 participants who will go on to teach this content to other CHPs. To date, these disability advocates have helped families like Edwin’s by:

• Educating 14,537 community members about disability
• Meeting with 178 stakeholders to advocate for disability justice and inclusion
• Referring 149 families of children with disabilities to parent support groups
• Inviting 565 family members impacted by disability to community events
• Referring 242 pregnant women to a health facility for care
• Counseling 150 children with disabilities and referring them for care, as needed

On average, each trained CHP improves the lives of 23 families impacted by disability and sensitizes 392 community members about disability justice and inclusion each year.

For children like Edwin, this means no longer living a life of isolation but being a valued member of his community with hope for his future! Would you consider supporting this work?

With your help, we can build upon this foundation to impact thousands more lives!

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