Catherine – a new leader springs from the community
Meet Catherine.
Catherine is about 30 and lives in Kisumu, Kenya’s third city.
Her mother died when she was a teenager. She dropped out of school early and was married to an older man at 14. Someone to look after her, they said.
She had four children in quick succession. Thankfully, the marriage has lasted and her husband supports her work with us.
We met Catherine in 2012, when she was about 19/20. She simply ‘got’ the teaching straight away. When we were talking about trauma, she immediately told us that some mothers would leave babies on the floor for long periods of time. Catherine realised how damaging this could be to the children.
Helen and Catherine discuss teaching plans at Catherine’s home.
Back in 2015, Catherine suggested we should go to the Homa Bay area; she said she would come with us and teach. She kept in touch with Lullaby Africa through Facebook and through her link to Lilian and Joseph, our local leaders in Kisumu. When we were able to visit Kenya again, Helen asked Catherine is she was willing to help us. We were delighted when she said yes.
You could argue that Catherine is one of the lucky ones. During her 20s, the Kenyan government sponsored her to become a hairdresser.
It turns out she is a great natural teacher. She teaches in her church, running training for couples. During the time we were unable to visit Kenya during the pandemic, Lilian and Joseph encouraged Catherine to start using the baby bonding teaching in her own circle.
Catherine teaching baby massage to mothers on Rusinga Island.
She has got round two other slums in Kisumu already. She is such a self-starter. She talks to her customers about baby bonding while she does their hair. They don’t hear it as teaching. They hear it as conversation.
We met Catherine again on our most recent trip at the Kisumu Leaders’ Day. We were staggered by what she said.
“I’m going to Ahero to start a baby bonding group with Poline”.
Ahero is a rural town about 20 km outside Kisumu city. Catherine has embedded attachment theory into her own life and is now sharing it with many other mothers.
Catherine (centre) and Poline (right) discuss their baby bonding group with a friend.
She will do great good in and around Kisumu. She also volunteered to accompany us to our new location on Rusinga Island as a translator and to help with the training. Speaking the local language, she was brilliant.
We are grateful the work is expanding and have appointed Catherine as our third leader in the region. You can help.
Would you sponsor Catherine’s expenses? It costs Catherine around £20 a month to pay for transport, mobile data and equipment hire. We hope we can find 4 people willing to contribute £5 a month for Catherine. If her story touches you, please donate.