As we celebrate World Humanitarian Day on August 19, get to know Margaret Nguhi, Humanity & Inclusion’s country manager in Kenya.

Q: Could you tell us briefly about your background?

I’m Kenyan, from Nairobi. I initially worked as a healthcare manager and then moved into the humanitarian sector. I worked for the different INGOs in South Sudan and Kenya before joining HI. I’m now Country Manager of HI in Kenya.

Q: How did you come to work for an NGO?

Having grown up in a place where I was constantly confronted with suffering, I decided to become a nurse. I wanted to work with communities. I couldn’t get over the huge gap between the medical staff and the patients who needed care. They’re given very little medical information, so they know nothing: what they have, what they should do, how to protect themselves from illnesses, or what medication to take. They see doctors as saviors—the ones who know everything. They say, "please help me.” They never ask questions. That's how we grew up: we didn’t ask questions.  I was really touched by this vulnerability. I felt a strong desire to provide people with information and to empower them to be actors in their own lives. I wanted them to know how to protect themselves from certain diseases, how to care for themselves, and how to identify certain symptoms. So, I decided to do public health in South Sudan—with Samaritans Purse organization at the time—I visited people in villages and talked with them. It was my vocation, my drive, my motivation.

Q: Then you joined Humanity & Inclusion?

Yes, I returned to Kenya and worked in the Kakuma refugee camp in the north of the country where there were some 200,000 refugees, first with IRC, then with HI, where I occupied various positions, and finally as Country Manager of HI.

Q: What really motivates you?

Being able to change someone's life. Our projects —rehabilitation, maternal health, etc.—have a big impact on people’s lives. My motivation has always been the people we assist. I am not an 'office person'. I'm someone who needs to get out there and who wants to see and experience life. HI's approach, which is centered on individuals, on their personal needs, suits me down to the ground.

Q: Which memory stands out for you?

I remember this woman with disabilities I met when I was managing a maternal health project in Nairobi. In Kenya, women with disabilities suffer a lot of stigma. Some medical teams even think they’re asexual. People think they don’t and can’t have a sex life and bear children. So, when they get pregnant, they don’t go to the clinic because they don’t want to be judged or criticized.

I remember talking with one woman. We talked for a long time, and she finally agreed to go to the health center for pregnancy care, she was assisted and she had a hospital delivery. After that I asked her to give her testimony to health staff during disability awareness sessions. They realized this woman was like all women, and so they changed their attitude toward women with disabilities. It was a small victory—for me, for her, for all of us. It helped her gain confidence, and now she’s an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities with HI. She’s become an activist.

Q: You’re a woman, a Kenyan citizen and a Country Manager, don’t you face a lot of challenges?

Of course, it’s difficult to be a woman and a Country Manager in a patriarchal country like Kenya. It would be easier if I were a man. You need to “build the attitude.” And there’s also size. In Kenya, size matters. I’m small. And there’s also the security situation in the country. We work in the Dadaab refugee camp, for example, where the security situation is highly volatile and unstable, and it’s difficult to recruit staff to work there.

Q: What’s your ambition as head of HI in Kenya?

I am proud to be Kenyan and to be able to give it my best shot, with the whole team, on the projects run by HI. I like the idea of a Kenyan woman representing HI, an international organization, and coordinating the humanitarian response in my own country. 

Saisa’s leg was amputated after an unknown critter stung or bit her foot, causing a serious infection. With help from Humanity & Inclusion, she is learning to get back on her feet and has already returned to school.

Saisa, 10, lives with her parents and seven brothers and sisters in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. At a birthday party near her home, Saisa was bitten or stung on her left foot. After the injury, her leg became gangrenous and required a life-saving amputation.

"Saisa was 2 years old when we arrived in Kakuma,” says her mother, Rihad. “My daughter was in good health. And then this happened. One day she went to play with her friends and the next morning she told us she’d been bitten or stung by something. We don't know what. At first, I thought she’d had a nightmare, but then things got worse.

“We took her to hospital, but we were under lockdown because of Covid-19, so we were sent away before she could be treated. Back home, her leg started to swell up and got worse, so we returned to hospital."

The doctors spotted the first signs of gangrene and, to save her life, amputated her leg below the knee.

A support network

Humanity & Inclusion’s physical therapists immediately began providing Saisa with the care she needed. She was also given psychological support to cope with the distress of losing her leg. Saisa continues to visit Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation center, where she is supported by a multidisciplinary team.

“I first met Saisa just two days after her amputation,” explains Stella Mwende, a physical therapist. “We initially focused on treating her stump and giving her emergency psychological support. She was then referred to the rehabilitation center, where she was given rehabilitation care once a week. We started by doing exercises with her to increase her flexibility and strengthen her muscles. We also gave her a pair of crutches.”

Saisa has already learned to keep her balance and get around using the crutches. Humanity & Inclusion also built parallel bars at her home to help in her recovery.

“Saisa can go out and play with her friends at last without me running after her all the time,” her mother says.

Humanity & Inclusion teams also supported Saisa’s family through this tough time, explaining the different stages of grief that Saisa was experiencing. Her family learned how to reassure her and encourage her to learn new skills and become more independent.

“I found the hospital really stressful because I thought I was going to lose her,” Saisa’s mother explains. “Once we got home, some people from Humanity & Inclusion came and now my daughter feels more hopeful about the future.”

Back to school

Humanity & Inclusion’s inclusive education team also helped find a place for Saisa at an inclusive school near her home.

“We’ve put a plan in place so Saisa can return to school under the right conditions,” explains Caleb Omollo, an occupational therapist. “The first decision, which we took with Saisa and her family, was to transfer her to a school closer to home, where the teachers are trained in inclusive education and are used to assisting children with disabilities. We have assigned an educational assistant to monitor her progress at school and to look after her welfare both inside and outside the classroom.”

Saisa walks to school each day with a classmate named Ana.

"We’ve also put in place a system to make sure Saisa feels safe on the way to school,” adds Caleb. “We want Saisa to feel she belongs to her school and her community as soon as possible, so she can play a full role in every aspect of society.”

She also attends psychotherapy sessions to help her rebuild her confidence and reconnect with others.

“We work on her interaction with other children, and we help them learn from each other,” Caleb says.

Saisa is now waiting to be fitted with a prosthetic leg from another service provider, which should happen soon. Humanity & Inclusion will continue to support Saisa with the services she needs to move forward.

“It’ll be good to play with my friends again when I get my prosthesis,” Saisa says. "I'm really glad to be back at school again now. I want to be a businesswoman when I grow up and sell a lot of things!”

Header image: Saisa completes classwork at school. Inline image: Saisa with her mother. Copyright: A. Patient/HI

Faiso’s right hand was burned severely by hot water in 2017, causing her to lose the ability to complete basic tasks like writing, bathing and getting dressed. Two years later, Faiso’s mother reached out to Humanity & Inclusion for support.

In 2019, Humanity & Inclusion hosted a routine awareness event, informing people living in the Ifo Refugee Camp in Kenya of the rehabilitation services its team provides. After the session, Faiso’s mother decided to take her daughter to Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation center.

The team assessed Faiso’s hand and determined she would need surgery to regain full range of motion. Before surgery, Humanity & Inclusion provided psychosocial services to Faiso and her family to create a supportive structure for her recovery. 

After the procedure, Humanity & Inclusion conducted home visits to provide additional counseling and rehabilitation, helping Faiso gain the ability to independently feed, dress and bathe herself. After 22 at-home rehabilitation sessions, Humanity & Inclusion’s team determined Faiso had regained the use of her right hand.

Faiso's care was supported by a multi-year project funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, with the goal of strengthening the environment for refugee and host communities in Kenya through the provision of community-based services including protection, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support.

Faiso, now 10, is in grade one at the Sunlight Primary School. During Humanity & Inclusion’s most recent home visit in January 2021, Faiso was joyful and bonding with her siblings. 

“I am very grateful for the support I was accorded by the Humanity and Inclusion team from Ifo camp.,” she says. “I was at first afraid of the surgery but after the counseling session by the Humanity & Inclusion team, I accepted to undergo the procedure. My mother was also very supportive. She would always encourage me to continue with the counseling sessions for recovery. Now I can move my right hand without any challenge or discomfort and eat comfortably, I can even draw using my hand and also help my mother in doing light house chores like sweeping the floor.”

Saisa developed such serious health issues after being pricked by a poisonous thorn that her leg had to be amputated. Humanity & Inclusion is providing rehabilitation and psychosocial support for Saisa.

Saisa, 10, was attending a birthday party in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya last year when she was pricked on the left foot by a poisonous thorn. After a week of traditional treatment, Saisa’s condition continue to worsen. Her leg was turning black and her skin was peeling. Her mother took her to the International Rescue Committee hospital, where doctors determined Saisa was experienced gangrene. She was admitted to the hospital and, two days later, her leg was amputated.

After surgery, Humanity & Inclusion’s pediatric rehabilitation workers worked with Saisa to shape her stump, help her manage phantom pain and teach her exercises to expand her range of motion. She also received psychosocial support to process the trauma and grief of losing her leg.

Saisa continues to receive care at Humanity & Inclusion’s rehabilitation center in the refugee camp, focusing on physical exercises to strengthen her muscles and train her balance, as well as psychosocial support to improve her self-esteem.

Soon, Saisa will be equipped with a prosthetic leg. In the meantime, Saisa has learned to walk with crutches. Saisa’s parents and her six siblings are also learning about the stages of grief so they can support Saisa on her journey to recovery.

“Saisa can finally go out and play with her friends without my supervision,” says Rihad, Saisa’s mother. “In the hospital, I was stressed and I thought my daughter had become useless. I never knew that someone would help me. When I went home, the Humanity & Inclusion people came to my house and now my daughter is a person again.”

When schools reopened this year, Humanity & Inclusion made sure Saisa was transferred to an inclusive school within her neighborhood.  Her confidence is growing each day, and she has big dreams for her future.

“I want to be a businesswoman when I grow up and sell many things,” Saisa says. “I am very happy that I can go to school now.”

Image: A young girl named Saisa uses crutches as she walks with her friends at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Copyright: HI

To mark International Women's Day on March 8, we talked to Reiza Dejito, a strong woman who is deeply committed to both her family and her role at Humanity & Inclusion. Currently serving as the Program Director for Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, Reiza has worked in numerous countries affected by humanitarian crises for two decades.

Why did you decide to join Humanity & Inclusion?

I graduated in science and physical therapy, and I earned diplomas in teaching and then management. I also completed several volunteer missions in the Philippines (my home country) and Ethiopia. And then, three months after leaving Ethiopia, I joined Humanity & Inclusion as a victim assistance project manager in Bor, South Sudan. Since then, I have worked in Kenya, Bangladesh, the Philippines and now Nepal.

Is there one experience that really stands out?

Working with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. They’ve suffered so much. One woman told me how she watched helpless as her husband was murdered and her house was burned down. A 9-year-old child, who was injured in the arm by a bullet after being caught in the crossfire, told me he’d forgiven the attacker for hitting the wrong target. Men, women and children walked for days and days to cross the border with little food and water. Awful. 

As a director in the Philippines, I joined the emergency team to help the victims of Super Typhoon Goni. I was extremely impressed by the resilience and generosity of Filipinos. And the commitment of my team and partner organizations to provide assistance to those who needed it most.

What’s the hardest part of your job?

As Program Director, I’m responsible for the security and protection of my teams and ensuring they are safe and sound, and in good health, especially during emergencies, crises and conflicts. In 2016, I had to manage the evacuation of Humanity & Inclusion’s teams in South Sudan following a series of deadly clashes between armed groups. It was the most trying experience of my career.

What's really important when it comes to working with your team?

Trust. Transparency. Empathy. And being able to laugh together.

Humanitarian and mother: how do you strike the right balance?

For many women, achieving this balance is a huge challenge and often prevents them from taking on more responsible positions. I’m extremely fortunate to have a supportive family and a husband who takes care of our child when I’m working. Thanks to their support, I can do the job I do. My family is my biggest incentive. They really inspire me to do better every day.

Is gender equity a challenge in the humanitarian sector?

I’ve been personally fortunate to work with male colleagues and team leaders who are advocates for women's leadership. But while many women work in the humanitarian sector, there are still too few in senior positions. Many organizations have made a lot of progress, but not enough. There is a great deal of work to do before we achieve greater equity. It’s not an easy task, because these inequalities run deep. They’ve been entrenched in cultural, social, financial and political life for generations. It’s not simply a question of empowering women and advancing their rights, but of changing corporate cultures. Men also have a role to play here. I want to see women access positions of responsibility just like men. I think we'll get there...slowly but surely.

Header image: A Filipino woman named Reiza (wearing the blue visor) and another woman carry a tub of supplies after Typhoon Goni in the Philippines. Copyright: HI

Inline image: Reiza squats down to talk with a girl who has an artificial leg at a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, in 2015. Copyright: Xavier Bourgois/HI

Families of children with disabilities in Dadaab refugee camp are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis. They can no longer afford to buy the food they need to survive.

Hamze is a four-year-old refugee with cerebral palsy. He lives in Dadaab and Humanity & Inclusion’s physical therapists have provided him with rehabilitation care since birth. His mother, Maryann, was also born in the camp in 1999, after her parents fled the war in Somalia. Her husband left her when Hamze was born and she now raises her child alone.

Every week, Hamze and Maryann attend rehabilitation sessions in the orthopedic-fitting center run by Humanity & Inclusion in the camp. Maryann is learning to provide her son with the care he needs to protect his health and well-being. Our team has given Hamze a splint to prevent knee joint contractures and a specially adapted wheelchair to support his posture as he moves around.

Since March and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Humanity & Inclusion has also been teaching Maryann how to protect her family against the virus. She now understands the need to take precautions such as regular hand washing and wearing a face mask in public.

“Humanity & Inclusion has provided me with information on the steps to take to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in the camp,” she explains. “It's a deadly disease that can affect anyone.”

She and her parents are extremely poor and depend on humanitarian aid from Humanity & Inclusion and other NGOs to survive. Before the epidemic, she used to clean her neighbors' houses.

"Unfortunately, my neighbors are also afraid of getting sick, so I can’t work there anymore. I no longer earn an income, and I cannot feed my son and my parents," she adds.

This loss of income only adds to the problems experienced by Maryann. Her son has special needs because of his illness and she can no longer afford to buy him milk. Food has become expensive in the camp.

Maryann thanks Humanity & Inclusion for the daily support the organization provides to people with disabilities in the camp, helping them meet their needs in these difficult times.

Focus on the most vulnerable 

As COVID-19 takes aim at our planet's most vulnerable neighbors, Humanity & Inclusion donors ensure that people with disabilities, people with injuries from conflict, children, women, and especially older people have the information--and even the soap--they need to stay healthy. Learn more about Humanity & Inclusion's vast COVID-19 response.

Begin a monthly gift today to help sustain this work and reach as many people as possible.

Aruwa is six years old. She lives with her mother, her uncle, and her siblings in the Kakuma refugee camp. Her mother does not work, and the family is completely dependent on humanitarian organizations. On top of their daily struggles, the family is also worried about Aruwa's health. The little girl has developed genu valgum, a deformity of the lower limbs. Her legs were bowed which made it difficult for her to move and run around with other children.

That is, until she met Humanity & Inclusion. Our team arranged for Aruwa to have surgery, and since then, her life has changed drastically. With support from Stella, Humanity & Inclusion’s physical therapist, she can now move around on crutches. After each rehabilitation session with our team, Aruwa becomes more and more self-reliant.

Aruwa's physical therapist also teaches her how to protect herself from COVID-19.

Today, Aruwa was invited to our rehabilitation center for a different reason: a COVID-19 prevention session. Stella teaches her how to wash her hands, wear a mask, and apply social distancing rules. The Kakuma refugee camp has not slipped under the pandemic’s radar. Quite the opposite. The overcrowding, lack of hygiene, equipment, and resources to fight the spread of the disease are aggravating risk factors.

"I first heard about COVID-19 on the radio and when HI's physical therapist came to our home to treat Aruwa,” says Crouch Abdalla, Aruwa’s uncle who accompanies his niece to the center. “It's a serious disease that spreads very quickly. I haven't met anyone infected by it in the camp yet, but I know it kills a lot of people and I don't want anyone in my family or community to get it.”

The pandemic makes life in the refugee camp even more difficult and precarious. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, life in the Kakuma refugee camp has been increasingly tough. "I arrived from Sudan in August 2014 and have been living here ever since,” her uncle continues. “We are always short of water and sometimes we have to fetch it from the neighboring camp, which is far from here. We drink even more now to protect ourselves.

“Many agencies have closed because of COVID-19, and it is difficult to find work and supplement our supplies, eat a balanced diet and find clothes for the family. It is incredibly stressful. I hope that after the end of the pandemic, when they lift the restrictions on our movements, we can go to work again, and the children can go back to school. I’m glad Humanity & Inclusion has been able to continue its work here and that Aruwa still benefits from the rehabilitation services. I really value the fact that she can do her exercises once a week, just like before! I also appreciate the information and training we receive from the HI team on COVID 19. It’s extremely useful!"

Aruwa knows exactly what she wants to do after COVID-19. 

"When the pandemic is over, I want to go back to school and learn, because when I grow up, I want to massage and rehabilitate other people. I also want to be able to play with my friends again like I used to," she says shyly but with determination.

Focus on the most vulnerable 

As COVID-19 takes aim at our planet's most vulnerable neighbors, Humanity & Inclusion donors ensure that people with disabilities, people with injuries from conflict, children, women, and especially older people have the information--and even the soap--they need to stay healthy. Learn more about Humanity & Inclusion's vast COVID-19 response.

Begin a monthly gift today to help sustain this work and reach as many people as possible.

Since 2014, Humanity & Inclusion’s team in Kenya has provided rehabilitation services to people with disabilities and vulnerable individuals in Kakuma refugee camp. In 2015, with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, we were able to put up a temporary structure so that our teams could offer services to the growing number of new asylum seekers, primarily from South Sudan. The temporary structure—Rubb Hall—was received with a sigh of relief and provided support to more than 40% of Kakuma population.

Over the years, Rubb Hall was subjected to the usual harsh weather conditions in Kakuma leading to frequent wear and tear that rendered the structure unstable and insecure, especially during wind storms and rainy seasons. It would leak during rainy seasons and fill with dust during windy seasons, making it difficult to create a conducive environment for rehabilitation services.

With continued support from the U.S. Department of State, we were able to build a new, permanent structure that stands tall on the spot where Rubb Hall was previously pitched. This has fulfilled a long awaited dream of a more stable, secure place to offer rehabilitation services to the people in Kakuma who need it most. One client says, “Now, we feel like important people.”

We are so appreciative of the U.S. Department of State for its continued support that enables us to provide quality care to people with disabilities in both refugee and host populations.

Violence affects one in three women in their lifetime. Globally, women with disabilities are ten times more likely to experience sexual violence. Over the next three weeks, Humanity & Inclusion will address the violence against women with disabilities at the 71st session of the Committee[1] on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, organized by the United Nations in Geneva from October 22 through November 9.

25 years of work

Humanity & Inclusion implements projects to address violence in six countries around the world[2] by raising women's awareness of their rights and helping them build self-reliance. In Rwanda, HI provides psychological support to victims of physical and sexual violence, including women, and organizes discussion groups. In Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya, our team works to combat sexual violence against children, including children with disabilities, who are three to four times more likely to be at risk of violence.

Making it Work

HI launched the Making it Work Gender and Disability project to promote good practices in order to eliminate violence against women and girls with disabilities. The aim is to ensure that women's voices are heard and that the risks they face (violence, abuse, and exploitation) are taken into account in the projects implemented by other organizations in the fields of humanitarian action, human rights, feminism, and gender-based violence.

Publications

Gender and disability intersectionality in practice: Women and girls with disabilities addressing discrimination and violence in Africa

In June 2018, Humanity & Inclusion's Making it Work project published the report, “Gender and disability intersectionality in practice: Women and girls with disabilities addressing discrimination and violence in Africa,” which presents nine best practices for women’s organizations in six African countries. Women leaders with disabilities presented the report at the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York. 

Protection Against Violence Based on Disability, Gender, Age (2018)

Humanity & Inclusion works to prevent violence based on disability, gender and age and its disabling consequences in development and fragile settings, as well as to provide holistic care for survivors of violence, exploitation and abuse. HI’s goal is to ensure that people with disabilities and other at-risk groups are less exposed to violence and can live in dignity, independently, and with control over their own lives. View the flier here.

[1]This committee is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

[2] Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.