Patients now use sand to ‘clean’ maternity ward

Moroto. On September 10, Mary Angolere, 29, a resident of Musupo Village in Katikekile Sub-county, Moroto District developed labour pains. She left her home in the company of her young sister Loyice Nangiro, as a caretaker, to Kakingol Health Centre III.
Ms Angolere delivered her baby boy normally but she got surprised when Ms Nangiro was told by a nurse to collect sand and pour on the floor to cover the blood that had oozed out during her sister’s delivery.
“I felt disturbed seeing sand used instead of water to clean blood,” Ms Nangiro said.

She said the nurse at the health centre told her that there was no water at the health facility.
Ms Grace Nakut, another mother, who had brought back her child for immunisation, told Daily Monitor that during delivery of her baby, she faced the same situation where her blood was covered with sand then later swept out when dry.

“As mothers who deliver from this facility, we are used to the situation. It is not our first time to experience that as long as God helps us to deliver well,” she said.
Ms Nakut said during the two days she spent there, she went without bathing because nobody could go and fetch for her water from the river which is about one-and-half kilometres away from the health centre.
“It was one of the fellow patients who helped and fetched for me water which I used for bathing. It is even dangerous to get water at the river because it is surrounded by wild animals such as leopards and baboons,” she said.

A nurse, who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity because she is not authorised to speak to the media, said the use of sand is the only immediate alternative after a mother has given birth due to lack of water.
Mr Samuel Koryang, the environmental health inspector for Kakingol, said the health facility has continued to experience water shortage for more than one-and-half years after the gravitational water scheme constructed by UNICEF stopped working.

He said the health centre has been relying on rain water that the facility always harvests during the rainy season but now all water tanks have dried up, leaving the health facility without water.
“Sometimes patients who come for treatment have to first collect water in one of the streams for cleaning the health centre which is a burden to them,” he said.
He added that Karamoja Umbrella for Water and Sanitation, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Water to connect water to the facility, has failed. He said most patients after receiving drugs, walk a distance of one kilometre to collect water from the stream to swallow the medicine.

“We received the team from Karamoja Umbrella for Water and Sanitation two years ago. They tried to connect some pipes but they connected them poorly. The flash floods washed away the pipes and they have never repaired them,” he said.
He appealed to the public to stop open defecation, saying the water at the river would help them since there is no any other alternative.
The manager for Karamoja Umbrella for Water and sanitation, Mr Patrick Ocero, however, blamed the local community for vandalising water pipes, a claim that the residents have dismissed.

Mr John Ngorok, the LC1 chairperson of Kakingol Village, accused the team from Karamoja Umbrella of Water and sanitation of doing shoddy work.
Mr Jackchan Kwokito, the chief administrative officer of Moroto District also described the poor hygiene at the facility as unacceptable.
“I have given one week ultimatum to the team of Karamoja Umbrella for Water and Sanitation to connect water to the health facility. If they fail, we will take action against them,” he said.

About the health centre

Kakingol Health Centre III is about 50 kilometres northeast of Moroto Town. The government facility serves a population of 30,000 people including Kenyan Turkana pastoralists who graze their cattle in Uganda.
The Moroto District health director, Mr Andrew Ilukol, confirmed the poor hygiene at the facility saying the continuous drinking of dirty water by patients poses a health risk to them. He said even school children of Kakingol Primary School face the same challenge that the patients go through.
“Much as we (the medical people) are trying our best to treat people, we can’t do much without people having access to clean water,” he said.

[email protected]