Friends for life!
Taking stock of the BHESP USAID community project fifteen years later. We sat with Mary, our paralegal officer, community activist, and leader.
Mary:- It has been twelve years since you opened the BHESP-Kariobangi Drop-in Centre (DIC). We are going to miss our centre
Peninah: Actually, it has been longer than that The BHESP-USAID partnership is at least fifteen years old, so yes we knew it would come to a close. Actually, our shock is the execution and confusion with which the whole exit has been carried out.
Mary:- The USAID Drop-in Center has been more than an HIV project for us. Eastlands is not an easy place to live, raise children, and flourish, but our DIC has supported us in ways we cannot comprehend.
As a young mother twelve years ago, it is this DIC that the older mothers advised us in our motherhood journey. We laughed, cried, and sheltered in this center. Having the community run the center was a brilliant idea.
Since it is community-run, the medical and management staff must heed our counsel, for we know where the shoe bites, actually, even donors attend our community advisory board. It really is good to have a say in the running of our program, and you can see the results. With a minimum budget and less than six full-time staff, we have been able to run an HIV prevention program for over 20,000 women and have been able to support 2,000 2,000HIV positive women in Eastlands over a period of fifteen years.
Peninah: Mary what was your work at the drop-in center?
Mary:- I worked as a field officer and also a paralegal officer. I supported the women to understand their rights and defended them at the police station, at the courts ( in the case of civil cases), at the chief’s office, and at the bar owners’ and neighborhood associations.
Recently, we have had many cases of violence against women, including femicide, that have affected our community. I am a first responder. Immediately, a woman is violated in Eastlands, and I receive a call from community members, the BHESP hotline number, or my personal number. Some of the cases involve intimate partner violence.
I remember the case of Florence Wangechi, whose ribs were broken about one month ago. She suffered broken ribs, teeth, and a black eye. I took her to the hospital and assisted her in getting a P3. The hearing is on 14th /05/2025 at Makadara Law Court.
Florence was 7 months pregnant and had to undergo an emergency C-section. The delivery went well, and she is now the new mum in town. The violator is currently in remand at the Industrial Area prison. At our request, he was denied bail.
A community DIC provides privacy and reassurance for women who feel discriminated in public facilities due to their sexual orientation or as a result of their work as bar hostesses. It also provides social, psycho, and economic support to women who would otherwise feel isolated
When I joined BHESP as a young mother over a decade ago, I had no income whatsoever, and I was very desperate. The stipend I received helped to pay my rent, I was encouraged by other girls to get into saving groups (popularly known as merry-go-rounds).
I was also referred to places where I could get casual jobs. This supported me to pay my rent, educate my children, and furnish my house.I gained confidence, and in the last election, I vied for a political position to be a member of the County Assembly, and although I lost, this has provided more networks for me, and we are now good friends with the Nairobi women representative Esther Passaris.
I am also a community board advisory board member. As a member, we monitor the running of the DIC, the attitude of the medical and other staff. Quality and quantity of medication. Other members of the CAB are doctors, chiefs, police, pastors, and imams.
