A better future for children in Kenya
A better future for children in Kenya
“Here, in the recent drought, they lost 80% of the livestock,” Harun Mutuma Ringera, Country Director of World Concern in Kenya, remarks as he points across the arid landscape of Samburu County in the north of the country. “That is food and income for these communities.”
Life in Samburu is difficult. The devastating effects of climate change are most evident in regions like this in Kenya—and much of the Horn of Africa—which is still experiencing its longest drought in four decades. In March and May this year, Kenya also witnessed a prolonged rains season, resulting in rivers overflowing. Severe flooding and landslides followed, affecting 42 out of the nation's 47 counties. Yet more thousands of livestock were lost and key infrastructure was affected. Samburu is a region of extremes, bearing the brunt of a climate crisis it doesn’t contribute to.
Above: Samni, one of the community chiefs at Resim Village in Samburu.
For the semi-nomadic pastoralists who call Samburu home, these extremes are more than environmental—they are existential health risks, driving malnutrition, waterborne diseases, and deepening poverty. “There seems to be a lot of new illnesses that I haven’t seen here before,” Samni, is one of the community chiefs at Resim Village in Samburu. He witnesses the women and children of his community bear the brunt of this illness, with young ones particularly vulnerable.
“There are a lot of diseases that affect [them]… common colds, chest infections, coughs and malarial symptoms. There is limited food, water and medicine for them.” In this precarious landscape, it is the health and futures of Samburu’s children that hang in the balance, as clean water grows scarce, and food insecurity threatens their growth, development and survival.
These climatic extremes impact the population not only directly but also indirectly, fostering a conducive environment for the spread of endemic tropical diseases. These further compound the already considerable threat to a child’s survival and well-being.
How soil and sanitation fuel infection in Kenya
Kenya is endemic for a type of intestinal parasitic worm known as soil-transmitted helminths. Most often transmitted by the ingestion of the parasite eggs, Soil-transmitted helminth infections are among the most common infections worldwide, but they are diseases of extreme poverty, affecting vulnerable communities due to inadequate sanitation, limited access to clean water and poor hygiene practices.
Children are often the most susceptible to infection because of their frequent exposure to contaminated soil during play and their developing immune systems. “Households don’t have enough water, and because of that, it affects their hygiene,” Delphina, the Chief Nutrition Advisor for Samburu County told us. “Sometimes the population does open defecation. When a person who is infected with worms defecates outside, and maybe a child plays in the soil, that is how it gets spread from one person to the other. Sometimes, the way they handle their food is how we get a worm infestation.”
Above: A herdsman looks over his livestock. About 80% of the Samburu population relies on livestock rearing for their livelihood.
Over 6 million children in 27 counties in Kenya are currently at risk. These worms are spreading and thriving in Samburu due to the stagnant water and contaminated soil of its weather-ravaged landscape.
Adult worms will live inside the digestive system and feed off the nutrients from the infected person, producing thousands more eggs each day. Delphina talked us through some of the symptoms: “One that we see most, especially in children, is when you observe the skin, you can see a fungi-like infestation. The other immediate symptom is swelling of the belly.” If untreated, the long-term health repercussions for children are much more severe, “Worms deprive the patient [of] the nutrients from the food they are [eating], so the patient [becomes] anaemic. They also end up malnourished because of the lack of appetite.” Compromised immunity, impaired mental and physical development, intestinal obstructions and even severe chronic illnesses are common for untreated children.
Fighting worms, fuelling futures: How deworming helps Samburu's children thrive
“I’ve been in this school for twelve years,” Florence, the Deputy Headteacher at Nkisin Primary School says proudly as children rush by her to their next lesson. “The best thing about my job is when I’m teaching in class, seeing the children learning.” When asked to recall some of the challenges her faculty is facing, it doesn’t take long for Florence to mention some familiar issues. “The signs of malnutrition and worms are there. You get many children that have ringworms in their head and their skin. They are not active, they sometimes sleep in class, and they are not even learning at all. This makes me very sad when I know that the child is fainting because of an empty stomach or running out of energy.”
The current situation in Nkisin is common across many schools in Samburu County. What Florence describes is a best-case scenario for infected children, the majority are often too sick or weak to even attend school. With the future of 25% of the under-18 population at stake, it underscores the urgent need for preventative measures.
Above: A boy receives Mebendazole, a deworming tablet, at a mass drug administration in Samburu.
Preventative medication is a critical and cost-effective tool in combating STH. A safe, effective, and low-cost solution does exist: a small deworming tablet taken twice a year. Regular deworming not only reduces the parasite burden but also improves children's overall health and educational outcomes. However, despite its importance, funding and resources for these programs remain inadequate.
IHP has been partnered with the Seattle-based humanitarian organisation World Concern since 2020, supporting their deworming programmes in Kenya and Somaliland by shipping a treatment called Mebendazole. In that time, we have reached almost 10 million people with this essential treatment. “[Mebendazole] helps patients become free of the worms,” Delphina reflects on the importance of deworming for communities. “In the long term, we are able to take care of the nutritional health of a person, we are able to get a population that is healthy.”
Mass drug administrations across Samburu schools and villages have been essential to keeping children in education and realising their potential.
Above: Leswan, a World Concern Community Health Promoter, conducts a mass drug administration at Resim Village, Samburu.
“When my children get sick, they often feel drowsy and have a high fever. This often means that they miss school, particularly the younger ones who go to preschool. This makes me feel uncomfortable as my children miss a lot of lessons.” We met Sabina and her two children four-year-old Naserian and two-year-old Leshorai, at a World Concern-run mass drug administration in Resim Village where IHP-donated Mebendazole was given to children free of charge. “Thanks to the health outreaches like this one today, the health in our community is improving. If we didn’t have access to Mebendazole through the health outreaches, we wouldn’t be able to access it as we would need to look for transport to be able to reach the nearest healthcare facility which is very far away.” The transformation in the community since the availability of Mebendazole has shown its effectiveness: “I have noticed symptoms in my children that they have worms in the past, but since taking the Mebendazole, they haven’t had any.”
Above: A boy shades under a tree during a mass drug administration at Resim Village, Samburu.
The mass drug administrations taking place in the schools across Samburu have also made a tangible difference for Florence. “Deworming has really helped us,” she told us. “When [the children] have been dewormed, they become [so much] sharper. The little food they get, the body utilises very well. They are ready to learn and that means their learning outcomes get better and better each and every day.”
As well as the opportunities this treatment provides for the students, it also brings Florence joy to do the very thing that brought her to teaching originally. “We are looking for a better future for these children when they are in classes. I’m so hopeful that we are [creating] a very conducive learning environment, and therefore, the children are going to be better; they are going to have a brighter future ahead of them. That really means a lot to us teachers.”
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