Taking Care of Your Health 127
Treating illness early. Some
people think that getting older
means being sick much of the
time. But this is not true. If a
woman does not feel well, she
may have an illness that can be
treated, and that has nothing
to do with age. She needs
treatment as soon as possible.
Staying active. A woman will stay healthier and
happier if she is active and productive. Try to take up an
activity, join a group, or work on a community project. This
may be a good time for a woman to work for better conditions
in the community. Here is an example:
➤ Try to see a
health worker if you
feel ill and have been
unable to treat the
problem yourself.
Louise Waithira Nganga is a coffee farmer in Kandara town,
in Kenya. In 1991, as a member of an organization planting
trees in Kenya, she met a group of women farmers who
complained about a coffee factory upstream. The fertilizers
and chemicals the factory used to make coffee were getting
into the river, and the women’s cows were getting sick and
dying from drinking the dirty water.
Soon many of the women began meeting to talk with Louise. They became
aware of how the river also affected their health and their children’s health. They
decided to put pressure on the district officers to force the factory to keep
waste out of the river.
Louise, however, always insisted that rights and responsibilities go together. So
she also helped the women realize how their own habits affected other people
down the river. For example, when they cleaned their fertilizing machines or
washed their clothes in the river, it was harmful for the health of the people
downstream. As Louise said, “We must first be responsible ourselves so that we
may, in clear conscience, demand our rights.”
In 1993, Louise and her women farmers created an organization called Rural
Women’s Sanitation. Whenever the river is in danger from polluting factories,
Louise is able to organize as many as 100 women, who ‘pay a visit’ to the local
authorities, and inform them of the problem. Besides taking care of the river, the
group is building latrines and demanding that local governments reclaim public
wells that have been taken over by private owners.
Louise has stopped planting trees, but has no regrets. “There were more
pressing problems that were part of Kandara soil itself.” She tells her fellow
women, “God will not come to earth to solve your problems. The government
cannot know what your problems are. Only you can make sure they get solved.”
Where Women Have No Doctor 2012