All this was to come to a boil on March 9, 2021 when the consequence of Nandereama Sub-Location’s decades of failures, mothballed into a tragedy never experience before. Mama Resula Achieng (now deceased) was a grand old lady that was friend to many in the marginalized sub-location, and who had somehow survived years of ill health that’s second nature to the Western Kenya region. One late afternoon of March 8, 2021 she fell sick and braved a ten-minute walk to a neighbouring homestead to seek assistance. One needed no conviction to realize she was in a bad way. The way she gingerly ambled along as she accessed the homestead, and the barely audible salutation she expressed before her neighbour was a sure sign all was not well with the usually exuberant and conversational lady that colleagues fondly referred to as Nang’oma.

After sharing the cultural pleasantries, Nang’oma cautiously presented reasons for her somewhat abrupt visit late in the day. She was unwell but could not proceed to hospital for lack of funds. She’d sought assistance from several neighbours without success. That not being bad enough, a granddaughter under her care had returned home after she’d been expelled from school over fees arrears. Her host could only afford Sh500. She wrapped the money in a tissue-paper and handed it over to Nang’oma, believing she would immediately thereafter proceed to hospital. If the kind neighbour had suspected what Nang’oma opted to do subsequent to her visit, she perhaps would have offered to assist her differently, probably marshal her resources and get her to a health centre or chemist.

Nang’oma did not proceed to hospital but chose to go home and probably go to hospital the following morning. After all there was no hospital or health facility within easy access. The odd hour ruled out such adventure for so old a lady. In the morning, Nang’oma resorted to doing what most rural womenfolk do – proceed to the shamba (farm) to partake in some farm-work before all else. Sadly, a passers-by spotted her lifeless body lying on the ground in the early afternoon after she’d gone missing for several hours. On her clothing, her family found the Sh500 note wrapped in a tissue paper.

Despite her ill health that’s commonplace with a 77-year old in a poor rural setting, Mama Nang’oma was, as earlier stated, still able to engage in farm-work to support some of her family members, especially after her husband had passed on. She had recovered from a stroke four years before but on occasion was bothered by hypertension and ulcers that would require attention at the Sio Port Sub-County Hospital, about 10 miles away. One cannot imagine what condition such an old lady would be in after travelling that distance on a motorbike along bumpy and dusty road in the intense tropical heat.

To the locals and way beyond, the tragic passing of Mama Nang’oma was a tragedy that beat anything they’d heard before, a wake-up call to all men and women of conscience that something needed to be done and with urgency. The needless death of this adorable mother of eight children and grandmother of 28 grandchildren, literally shook up the community out of their decades of slumber.

On May 13, 2021, three locals – a woman and two men who had for several weeks discussed this sorry state of affairs and resolved to act, got together to design modalities of mobilizing the community to support construction of a health centre. They comprised Mrs. Mary Abene Ojiambo (a retired educationist), Vincent Adenyi (a retired Civil Servant), and a retired journalist (Frank Ojiambo Wanyama). They were joined by Jimmy Nyongesa (retired Senior Assistant Chief), and the current Assistant Chief, James Ndalo to form the Steering Committee for the Nanderema Community Development Initiative. Subsequently, the committee identified influential community members from villages that comprise the sub-location to drive the effort. They also agreed the development initiatives would for starters include clean water supply and sanitation. Concerns inhibiting education,
sound agricultural practices and other gainful activities that spur economic growth and standards of living, would be aggressively attended to in partnership with other players. After all, they concluded, the attainment of a healthy population was impossible without serious attention to all these related factors.