It is pitch dark in a village in Kisumu. Ms Peris Akeyo Oyoo is in labour and needs immediate medical attention. But the nearest hospital is three kilometres away and the labour pangs are intense.
Nduru Kadero Dispensary is nearby but just like the rest of the homes around, it lacks electricity and so does not operate overnight. But Ms Oyoo was once advised by health workers to give birth in a health centre.
“The watchman let me in and called the nurse who did not ask many questions. She took me to the delivery room and went out to fetch a lantern from her home,” says Ms Oyoo.
It is this lantern, powered by paraffin, which became the source of light throughout the delivery. Ms Oyoo’s experience, scaring as it was, helped propel the nurse, Ms Pamela Achieng’ Sombe, to the attention of the United Nations.
Ms Sombe became the tenth recipient of the UN Person of the Year award, usually based on personal commitment towards achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Ms Sombe, who received the award two weeks ago, has now brought light to the village health centre after donors donated three solar panels. The award has also seen an influx of patients to the centre, from about three patients seeking antenatal care, to five pregnant women daily.
Wanting conditionsTouched by the plight of pregnant women in the area, Ms Sombe dedicated herself to alleviating the hardship encountered during child birth. When she was posted to the dispensary in 2006, there was only one other nurse who left a year later. She served alone before another nurse was posted last year.
“It is my prayer that the award will open up opportunities for the dispensary to be more developed,” Ms Sombe said. Health workers have to put up with a tiny room measuring about 3.5 square feet for delivery. The single bed is also inadequate when more than one patient turns up.
“Under such instances, we deal with the first patient and seek a bench for her to rest as we usher in the next patient,” Ms Sombe said. Due to lack of beds, instead of the required 48 hours, the women have to be discharged soon after delivery.
Ms Sombe has been a practicing nurse for 17 years after training as a community nurse in Nyabondo Mission Hospital.
The director-general of the UN Office in Nairobi, Ms Sahle-Work Zewde, praised Ms Sombe for her selfless service to the less fortunate. “She has no qualms attending to the women no matter the time they arrive at the dispensary,” she said, adding that Ms Sombe has overseen countless successful deliveries and goes out of her way to prepare a hot meal despite her meagre earnings.