Gladys Mugo introduced a school for sick children, in 1995

Gladys during the interview PHOTOS: JOSEPH MUCHIRI AND COURTESY/STANDARD]

By JOSEPH MUCHIRI

For close to a decade, Gladys Mugo touched the lives of hundreds of sick and injured children admitted to hospital, keeping their educational dreams and hopes alive.

Gladys never demanded a penny for the time she dedicated to serving the suffering children, but instead mobilised resources to brighten their future.

Now aged 66, the retired teacher made history in Embu, and probably in Kenya, when she introduced a school for sick children at the Embu Provincial General Hospital in 1995.

The school catered for children who had sustained fractures or burns, or were suffering from sicknesses that would lead them to stay at the hospital for more than a month. It ran up to 2004, and benefitted more than 600 children, who continued with their studies and even sat national exams within the precincts of the health facility. Classes were conducted in the Children’s Ward.

Gladys kicked off the initiative while working as the District Centre for Early Childhood Development Education (Dicece) programme director in then Embu District.

In 1994, she had visited Israel on an educational trip sponsored by the Ministry of Education, and was impressed by the hospitals that had schools in children’s wings.

“I was pleasantly surprised to learn that in Israel, when children were admitted to hospitals, their studies did not suffer too much. This was unlike in Kenya where children hospitalised for months or years would have to repeat classes or stop school altogether,” she says.

Gladys was inspired to start a similar school on coming back home, and wrote a proposal titled Literacy for Embu Provincial General Hospital Children. She discussed it with the district education officer who liked it but had no clue how such an ambitious initiative could be implemented at district level.

“It was difficult convincing the management that children could continue with their studies while at the hospital. I visited many offices trying to persuade officials to at least give the idea a try and assuring them that they would not be required to offer any funds.”

It was after much trying that, in 1995, the hospital management gave her the go-ahead. The education office provided her with three teachers that she would supervise.

Gladys bought white overcoats for the teachers so that they could look like the hospital staff and be more easily accepted by the patients.

“The teachers did a commendable job and the lives of children were transformed overnight. We enlisted parents to assist the teachers in telling stories and marking books,” she says.

THERAPY

An unexpected bonus was that the project also acted as therapy for some patients, especially the elderly ones who would occuppied themselves with telling the children stories, rather than just brood over their illnesses.

The Embu Dicece office provided reference books for teachers, while parents brought school bags for the children.

One year down the line, more than 60 children had benefitted from the school, and upon Ms Mugo’s request, they were given an S1 teacher who could teach secondary school students.

Working together with the district education office, the school enabled children who had registered for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education to sit their exams at the hospital.

CHALLENGES

The teachers at the hospital would frequently consult with those in schools and Gladys acted as the liaison officer. She even thought of expanding the project to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) after a boy who had been admitted at the Embu hospital for a year was transferred there.

“The boy refused to be moved to KNH because he didn’t want to leave school. I wrote a proposal to KNH to start a school there, then visited Jogoo House to sell the idea, but no teachers were provided,” she says.

There were also incidents of children refusing to be discharged, especially when they feared they would not resume school as soon as they got home.

The school was not without challenges, and Gladys recalls a teacher who sought a transfer from the hospital after witnessing the demise of her niece admitted at the facility. Some teachers also feared that they would contract diseases, but thankfully, no one did.

Physicians at the hospital loved the programme, and teachers and nurses often assisted one another in looking after the young patients. Unfortunately, the programme did not last long after its initiator retired.

“The programme was not part of the job description of a Dicece programme manager; I took it up because it was my passion. After I left, there was no one to advocate for the allocation of time, money and other resources to the school.”

Gladys, who now runs Gentle Care ECDE Training Centre in Embu town, hopes that someone else can start a similar venture.

“It was a big blow to me when the school closed and the teachers were posted to different schools. I have tried several times to talk to hospital and education staff about reviving the school, but it hasn’t taken off.”

VOLUNTEER

She says she is willing to volunteer her time and skills so that pupils, especially those from poor families or requiring frequent hospitalisation, can keep up with their classmates despite being in hospital. She recommends that the venture would best take off as a joint initiative between the ministries of Education and Health and the Teachers Service Commission.

Gladys, a mother of five, is an alumnus of Embu Girls Secondary (now Kangaru Girls High School), Highridge Teachers’ College and Kenyatta University.