Families battle diarrhea and malaria in Budalang'i displaced camps

Electrine Nabwire Obongola, a community health volunteer screening malaria to a child residing at Kumwanda camp, in Budalangi. [Mercy Kahenda, Standard]

One of Consolata Oketch’s two-year-old twin is feeling dizzy and has belly cramps.

The discomfort the girl is going through is palpable.

She gets weaker and complains of a bloated stomach, her stool is water, and she vomits a lot.

The mother is distraught.

“The swelling of my daughter’s stomach is worrying me. I have given her a mixture of salt and sugar, but she is not getting better,” says Oketch in despair.

Worried of the girl’s health, she rashes her to Rukala Model Health Centre. The girl is examined and diagnosed with severe diarrhoea.

It is not the first time she and her siblings are facing this diarrhea, a situation linked to poor sanitation.

Oketch and her family currently live at the Buranga Flood Settlement Camp, which holds hundreds of individuals, who, like her, were displaced by floods that rocked Budalang'i, Busia County.

“I boil water and put purifiers for domestic use, but my children keep playing in contaminated water at the shores of the lake that they too drink from, leaving them to fight diarrhea,” Oketch tells The Standard at the hospital.

Before being diagnosed with diarrhea, the girl was battling malaria.

Since she settled at the camp in 2020, she says cases of malaria have been rising as the flooded swamps and surging Lake Victoria provide a conducive breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The use of mosquito nets distributed by Kenya Red Cross Society with support from partners, she observes, does not eliminate malaria since the deadly, pesky insects also bite during the day.

“Mosquitoes have become a nuisance at the camp. Hardly does a week pass before having my children suffer from malaria,” adds the mother.

At the hospital, we also meet Jescah Kamala, anxiously waiting to have her five-year-old twin daughters attended to.

The two girls have a fever and severe headaches and they have also been vomiting.

After a fidgety wait, the twins are diagnosed with malaria.

As early as 7am, Kamala braved the weather, riding a boat for 30 kilometres to have the girls treated at Rukala.

Roads to the facility are impassable as they are submerged in water.

“I had a restless night seeing my daughters in pain. I could not get a boat ride as they do not operate at night, save for emergencies,” says Kamala, who moved to reside at Kamwanda camp after being displaced by floods in March this year.

At the facility, patients wait in queues to get care, the majority suffering from water-borne diseases and malaria, according to the in Charge, Paul Were, a clinical officer.

Hospital data shows that at least 300 cases of malaria are reported monthly, a surge from 100, with 10 diarrhoea cases documented every week.

Busia is the leading county in malaria burden, at 39 per cent against a 5.8 per cent national tally, according to the Kenya Malaria Indicators Survey of 2020.

“We are reporting a high number of diarrhea and malaria cases, more so in children aged below five years. A number come when they are in an advanced stage that risks their lives”, Were says.

“The greatest challenge at the camp is the lack of toilets. Shallow toilets are being constructed, but they fill up so fast. Also, the camps are surrounded by water that provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes, causing malaria,” he highlights.

Respiratory diseases like asthma are also spiking, which is attributed to poor ventilation.

Apart from treating patients, the Rukala Health Centre, with support from Community Health Promoters, gives health talks to locals on the importance of boiling drinking water and handwashing to prevent diarrhea and sanitation-related diseases.

Distribution of mosquito nets is also done at the facility and within camps to prevent malaria.

A visit to most displacement camps reveals user-unfriendly toilets, with some completely or partially inundated by water.

Displaced families depend on the toilet at the hospital, which is almost filling up and may not be in use for long.

Boreholes that are used to supply clean water are also deluged.

Belinda Wanyama, a Community Health Promoter, distributes water purifiers to families.

“I supply purifiers to kill germs in water drawn from swamps that are highly contaminated. This helps control diseases like diarrhea, cholera, bilharzia and typhoid,” she says.

She also screens for malaria, with those turning out positive put on antimalarials, while the ones in advanced stages are referred to a hospital for care.

In nearby Buranga, Victoria Odino is screening for malnutrition in children and pregnant women.

Data by the Kenya Red Cross society shows that 400 cases of malnutrition have already been documented in Bunyala Sub County.

“Most families used to depend on farming for livelihood, but flooded farms and loss of jobs have led to malnutrition. Families struggle to get a meal,” says Odino.

Even with the dire need to provide health services, several hospitals have been swamped, forcing locals to walk tens of kilometres in search of care.

The health and nutrition interventions are carried out by the Ministry of Health, with the Level One intervention given priority, supported by the Community Health Promoters (CHPs). The Kenya Red Cross Society has also been assisting in the provision of health and nutritional services.

Promoters support an integrated package of interventions at household and community levels.