Location: Nairobi
Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa, is smaller than New York’s Central Park but is home to more than 1 million people, or one-quarter of Nairobi’s population. Sanitation is a serious issue, as there are very few toilets and about one pit latrine for every 50 shacks.
AMREF Kenya opened Kibera Community Based Health Centre (KCBHC) in 2001, and today the clinic serves an average of 4,500 people a month through its outpatient services. It has four in-patient beds for mothers in labor and offers 24-hour labor and delivery services. About 60 women a month give birth at KCBHC, which is about 40 percent of expectant mothers. Most women in Kibera choose to deliver at home with a traditional midwife.
Given the lack of sanitary conditions and access to clean water in the community, midwives are strongly encouraged to bring the mothers to the health center for delivery. At any given time, about half of the women of childbearing age in Kibera are pregnant - some by choice, so not, as alcohol and drug abuse among the men living and working in the region is high. KCBHC has responded by growing its family planning clinic.
Although well staffed, KCBH often runs out of essential medicines such as antibiotics, analgesics, malaria medicines, and oral rehydration solution. Since 2010, Direct Relief has provided $100,000 in needed medicines to help stock the shelves of Kibera Community Based Health Centre.