 Why and the Morning Quinces Wednesday is the theme of the day. A special thanks to Alex and Joy for always starting our Wednesdays on a laughing note. So if you happen to interact with a video that you think might go viral, send it our way on WhiteFive 4 channel on Twitter, WhiteFive 4 underscore channel on Instagram, and WhiteFive 4 on Facebook, slide in the DM. Hashtag is Why and the Morning Today, hashtag is Quinces Wednesday, and this particular time we say strength of a woman. So yes, in studio with me is a very powerful woman. Most of the time when we get news of diagnosis, about diagnosis with cancer, we get scared and this causes a lot of turmoil in families. But this woman in studio with me, she goes by the name Veronica, she helps people to go through this journey, and she's here to explain the whole story for us. Thank you. All right, your camera is number four. If I miss anything in your credentials, I like to give people a chance to list it all. Okay. All right, so your camera is number four. Let's go. Okay, my name is Veronica Mwangi. I'm married and I have two daughters. I grew up in a small village in Nyeri, where healthcare was not that good. And from those days of growing up, I knew I had to do something about women empowerment, especially on the area of reproductive health issues. Yes. All right, so while you grew up, women were very marginalized, and they were going through a lot. Yes, they were. When issues of bleeding came up, women never talked about it. And even as a small girl, I used to hear so-and-so died of bleeding. During childbirth? During childbirth and even just normal bleeding in between periods. So I knew there was a deeper problem that women were not tackling. And it nagged me a lot until retired life, when I decided to find out more about that issue. Yes, and first forward into humanitarian work. You're doing amazing stuff for the women, supporting the women and supporting families. But I'd like to take you back. You went to primary school in Nyeri. What is the name of the village? So you can tell us a little bit about it. Okay, I come from Sagana Skim. It's a small village in Madira West. It's deep down in Nyeri County. Oh, Sagana Skim, is it around the river? It's at the slopes of Mount Kenya. Yes, and there is one big leaf across Sagana. Yes, that's where I grew up. Yes, and even as I grew up, we had a problem with water. The leaf is not too near. So it was quite a taxing job for women to fetch water, to go to hospitals. So I knew the areas that needed tackling was water and medical. Having experienced all these things. So you went to primary school there, high school, what kind of thing? For me, it was such a nice opener to come from such a village and to Nairobi for high school. I came to Meredike Girls, which is at the border of Nairobi and Kiabu. And that's the time I knew God is really doing a great and mighty thing in me because I used to pray that I get out of the village and I come to town. And get exposed to all these things. Yes, that exposure was important for me. And from my home village, not many people had come to Nairobi. My dad used to work in Nairobi, Nairobi City Council. But even his friends, they were not in Nairobi. And even me, I just visited Nairobi a few times before I came to high school. All right, so coming to our school, Meredike Girls, I'm guessing you are one of the best performers in your primary school. Yes, I think I was second performing in primary school. And I think I'm the only girl that joined a boarding school. In your year? In my year. And even before then, there weren't many who had gone to boarding. Did it come naturally for you, the books thing, or you had a passion for it? I really had to work because I used to fear darkness. And darkness in Ushago, I knew the way to get out of it was to work hard. So your motivation was going to high school in Nairobi? In Nairobi, yes. All right, how was your experience in high school? Coming from a village and meeting people from all these diversity, rich kids from Nairobi, rich kids from across the country, some of them coming from humble backgrounds like yourself. It wasn't easy, but I fitted in, although you know back in Ushago, people used to be taught in their local languages. Can I have a try? Yes. All right, so you carried the effects of it? Yes, I felt the effects of it, but I formed some strong boards with some girls, and I didn't feel intimidated. I knew I had to do well because I didn't want to go back up country. All right, so you carried your motivation with you? Yes, I did. And this is what carried you through high school? Through high school. To support structures like building groups or groups of friends who are like-minded really helped. Really helped? Because today we had a case of a lady shoplifting weaves because of pressure. She wants to look like the other girls were slaying in a school at the age of 19, and I feel like these girls need the guidance. So maybe you can tell them how you can get to beat these things because I'm guessing you moved to campus? I moved to Meteorological College where I did the higher diploma years before getting employment. Before getting employment? Yes. And you had to go through all these pressures? Yes, I did. But really up to now it's a very good school. I visited it some two weeks ago, and the strong Christian base that I got from there, it's still there. I admire the teachers, the students. There is so much of Christianity there. So if a girl gets lost in that school, it's only those who want to get lost. If you want to get lost? Yes. So the pillars are support structures like faith is very important. Yes. A group of like-minded people is very important. It is. And vision, your motivation, never forget your motivation. Yes, I never forget where you come from because I knew if I go back to up-country, I wouldn't be able to have pricked other girls. So I had to keep that in mind. Yes. All right. So you went to meteorological college. You studied meteorology. And then you worked for the meteorological department. For 12 years. For 12 years. Yes. In Gongrod, that is? Yes, I worked at Gongrod. I worked at Wilson Airport. And Jomukinyata Airport. All right. People always complain that the predictions are not accurate. Sometimes to me, I go to a slanier. What is up with it? For that one, okay. Not that they are not accurate, but the stations are far apart. So maybe that's where the problem comes. So some deep scriptances might be here and there? Yes. But you do your work diligently? Yes, we used to, and I know even up to now, they do their work work. All right. So after working for 12 years, you decided to get into humanitarian work. And this was your vision from way back. Helping women in matters of reproductive health. And you picked up cancer along the way. Now you're helping women who are suffering from cancer or are affected by cancer through their journeys of getting fully cured or just living with it. What inspired you to get into this side of health? Because your vision was always reproductive health, seeing people dying from bleeding and during childbirth. But you went into cancer. What inspired you to get into cancer? Okay, when I left meteorological, my husband had seen the tether care. I got married quite early in life. And my husband knew that I was tethered with patients. Our late aunties who were sick, they would come to our house and I would really take care of them. So he knew that I would really touch lives in the medical field. So after 2009, we invested in a medical laboratory where we had screening equipment. And from there, I came to realize that even women in Arabi were shying away from being screened. So I started visiting Kenyatta Hospital so that I know what happens if the disease progresses, if the bleeding progresses. I met many, many women who are even sleeping on the benches with no home to go to. At Kenyatta National Hospital. At Kenyatta. I would talk to them and they would all say, when I was diagnosed, I really had bread for six months. I had bread for some time before they could open up. So I got a small group of them, about five. I encouraged them to speak up about reproductive health. I told them when they left the hospital, we would go back with them to their villages so that I can help them create cancer awareness. And that's what I did. We started going to the grass roots. We went to Karuturi. We've been to Mwingi, to Kittui, and to Nyeli, and Likipia. So after talking to many more, women started coming up and saying, yes, I've had this problem for some time. I haven't told anyone. What can I do? So I started approving them now to the hospital. And when you talk bleeding, what is the cause of this bleeding you were talking about? That blood for six months and blood for five months before I got diagnosed. That is one of the signs of cervical cancer. All right. So cervical cancer is your specialty? Along the way, I've taken other cancers because I realized they are equally as painful as cervical cancer. Even though it's not bleeding, maybe a breast has been cut off. They are in live pain. They say, even it's better if I go cervical because people wouldn't see. That stigma associated with cancer is really affecting. All right. We'll get into the nitty gritties from screening to the steps you take to taking them through this journey. But before that, let's watch a video of one of Veronica's projects. Then we'll be back with some more of this. You train them on making baskets, making carpets, sweaters. Yes. All right. To make some money, to help them through the journey? Yes. As we make some money, the most important part of it is to divert the mind from the pain of the disease. Once a woman is working on an item like that, her mind won't be on the disease. She will be concentrating on what she's making. And if she knows it's an order from someone, she will really work hard to get the order in time. Right. Yes. So this is a distraction. As much as these activities you engage them and make them some money to take them through this journey, it's a distraction and the distraction is very important. Yes. It's first a distraction. And we know once you are distracted from the disease, you become productive. Yes. Yes. But the little money they make from it, we proud it back to the project to support those who are undergoing medical care because we pay for them in HIV, which is supporting a lot, but it's not enough. Because doctor's fee is not covered by the HIV. Lab tests are not covered by NHIF. What is covered by NHIF? NHIF, it covers their chemo and their radiotherapy. Yes. And some of the medicines. All right. So as somebody who has seen how NHIF is touching lives, would you like to see some improvement in it? Yes. It's doing a good job, but I feel it's not starting from the basic. We might pay for that NHIF, but when a woman goes to Kenyatta, she's told pay for the consultation before that chemo. If she doesn't have the money for that consultation, it means she won't assess the chemo. All right. Yes. So we should scrap this cash exchanging? Yes. Especially for the needy. It's really, really a painful process. We don't want more than on the basics covered by NHIF. We'll be touching on that a little bit more. So what are the steps? The steps are, first you creating awareness. Yes. That's the first. Yes. About this thing. You've travelled across counties, you're yet to finish the 47 counties, creating awareness about the symptoms and diagnosis. Yes. All right. So women are going for screening, but some of them are shying from going for screening. What are some of the reasons you've figured making women be scared of going for screening? To most of them, they are upbringing. The intrusive nature of a pap smear. Some of them feel that it's too intrusive. Yes. That's why they keep away. But when I use the women that we have in Lady Hope, they are able to see the wider picture that if they are screened, they will go for treatment early and cervical cancer is curable. Yes. All right. So this issue of the intrusive nature of the screening, the mindset is very hard to change. It's very hard to change somebody's mind because this is something that is cultured from a very early age. What do you think is the approach? What are some of the steps that can be taken to encourage women to go for screening? It starts with the parents. We have to talk to our girls, show them the importance, and as they grow up, they'll be knowing that it's a necessity. Just like the way we teach our kids to blush their teeth, they know it has to be a daily thing. So the same thing. Let's teach our girls that screening is important and when they grow up, they'll be knowing it's a routine thing. All right. Yes. Do you see a trend where they are more open to women gynecologists than men gynecologists? Yes. That one is there because even when I was working at the laboratory, when we talked of screening, they would ask, who do the screening at the day of the month? He is. So this issue needs to be addressed? Somehow. Somehow. More women should get into this field of gynecology to help other women. I think so. You think so. This is also something that could help. WhiteFair4 channel on Twitter, WhiteFair4 underscore channel on Instagram, and WhiteFair4 on Facebook is the way to interact with us. We have Veronica who's a champion for better healthcare and cancer in particular. So as we move on swiftly, there's the awareness step, there's the test step. Once somebody is diagnosed, you have some of them in your group here. Yes. Right. What are some of the things you take them through? Okay. First of all, I encourage them to join our support group because they have to change the mindset and look at it as cancer is not a death sentence. They have to be aware that they can get better. And when the patients in the project talk to others, they are able to know that even me, if she went through it, I'll also go through it because initially we would hear people, celebrities maybe coming up and say, yes, I had cancer. But to a little woman, a grassroot woman, they'll think that one had money. That's why he got through the cancer. So it doesn't impact them as much? Yes. But when they hear from the needy, poor cancer patients, they are able to identify and they know if they made it, it's not the money part of it. They'll also make it. So after joining the support group meetings, we take them through what to expect, whether it's that radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and the effects of it. Because once a patient starts going through the treatment, sometimes they wonder, do others go through this? Yeah, the effects might kill them. Especially psychologically. Yes, psychologically. And the effects like loss of appetite are here? Yes. Hair loss? Hair loss, yes. So these things affect your body, they affect your moods? You are my idea, yes. So hearing from mothers is quite important. So after the support groups, those who don't have relatives in Nairobi, I have accommodation facility for them. I house them as we take them to Kenyatta for the treatment. I give them the food, I give them the bus fare. Yes, and that's how they're able to go through the treatment. All right. Before we talk about where all this money comes from, how does it affect their families? Most of them, due to financial constraints, they feel this is too much. So the patients, what they've been telling me, they feel ejected. But not from that they are ejected. It's because the family lacks. So they don't have them untrained. Yes. So they find that the cancer burden is too much on their family. Yes. All right. Where does all this money come from? Because you retired after 12 years. You're not in employment. You don't have a salary. Where do you get the money to help support all these women? Because this is a lot of work. Yeah, it's a lot of work. But I do help my husband in his businesses. He supports me in the project. And our friends also have been very supportive. I, my Christian community, St. Catherine of Siena Kitsuru, they've been very, very supportive. They are the ones who house us as Lady Hope. That's where we have our support group meetings. Our skills empowerment programs are there. And the houses I have for accommodation are very near the church. So when I am in need, I really approach the parishioners who come in for me. Yes, I have a few other supporters. So the church has really, really helped you? Yes, up to now. Do you sometimes feel like if I had more money, I could do more for the women in the country? Yes. That one, it's no doubt. I know if I have money for it, I can literally make this project big because there is need. Women are in pain. And nowadays I take even men. Because behind every man, there is a woman who is crying. Yes, because for the sake of the mothers, to those men, for the sake of the wives, I do take them in. And I know there is need. I need to house more people as they undergo the treatment. I need to feed them. Because once a patient is undergoing chemotherapy, they need to eat well. Initially, I just used to tell them. And specific foods. Yes. I just used to tell them when you go home, eat well. But I realized there might be no food at home. Yes. So I keep them, feed them well. Yes. You are telling them to eat well. They don't have. Or there is no one to cook for them. Yes. Nowadays when I house them, I have a caretaker for the facility who cooks for them, who makes sure they are comfortable. Yes. And that's how we eat their pain. So if anybody would like to join the Lady of Hope Foundation and just support in terms of maybe just bringing the pro. Some people are professionals in the fields of public health. Some people are professionals in the fields of psychology. Just talking to the people. Some people have some extra money they can contribute to the project. How can they get to interact with you? The camera is number four. Okay. We need support from well-wishers. If you bring your support to St. Catherine of Siena. It's on Kitsuru Road. You can give it to the parish priest and he'll give it to us. We usually have our support group meetings every two weeks. You can join us. You can use whatever gifts God has given you to impart on the lives of these patients. Your time with the patients is quite important because you have something to offer. If you want to give us financial support, we bank with the National Bank of Kenya Westrads branch. We also have a pay bill number. 651969. You can donate through it. Your support will greatly touch the lives of the patients. Interacting with you directly. Maybe a phone number or your personal assistance. Okay. We are on Facebook. We are called Lady Hope Wellness. We are also on Instagram and Twitter. Our phone number is 0732-30-18-20. You can also email us at LadyHopeWelness at gmail.com. All right. Thank you very much for that. I hope we get more support for the women in this country because they are the center of the family. They are the backbone of the society. The backbone of the society. Yes. I'd like to ask, I've been worked for a while. Sometimes I wake up and feel like, oh, not again. This is stressful. You're doing all this work. Do you sometimes feel like, wow, I can't carry on like this anymore? Because there are so many people doing humanitarian work. And you sharing your story with them has the same effect with cancer survivor sharing her story or his story with a cancer patient. So do you sometimes feel like, wow, I can't do this anymore? Ah, I haven't felt that because once I look back at a patient by the time she came in, maybe she was too low, depressed, needing counseling, and a point of giving up because some come at the point of suicide. When I look back at them, maybe two months, three months later, I see the change in them. I see a smile on them. I'm really motivated to do it. I'm a very happy person. I thank God for it. And that's a way of thanking God what he has done to be at the level I am in. I approve to others. I make others happy. I like seeing them happy. That's a way of telling God, thank you for what you've done for me. His faithfulness, his greatness. So you always find a motivation in something that is something I've realized with you. And your motivation in this is putting smiles on people's faces. Yes. The people who are affected directly and the people who are affected indirectly who are the families. Wonderful. Yeah, we are all affected in directory. And we all know somebody who's suffering. And even if we don't know, the economic burden of cancer in our country, it's pulling all of us down. Yes, so we need, as a country, we need to join hands, fight cancer so that it stops eating into our economy. Come together, fight cancer so that it stops eating into our economy. All right, prevention is better than cure. It's a cliche saying, is this an angle that you're bringing into your foundation? Prevention, the issue of prevention before all these diagnoses and tests and everything. Do you try to educate people on how they can prevent or how they can avoid cancer? Yes, primary prevention is the key, especially the youth. I participate with a lot of youth from various schools, Braheban, Paponi. We have St. Mary's and Lua Cabeta campus. We've been telling them, let's take anti-preventive measures. We tell them the science to look out for. We tell them they don't have to wait for the science. They go for screening. Because we know the key is with youth participation, because the youth are able to pass messages very fast through the social media and other platforms. So when they pass the message, we know the message is out there, far and wide. And if they are taking the steps, the first step is yourself. Be screened, yes. Awareness, awareness. Awareness, awareness. When is your next event as we wrap this up? Okay, our next support group meeting will be on 10th of August. We'll have the patients there. So anyone wanting to come and interact with them, they are very welcome. We have those meetings every two weeks. And then in October, we'll have a family day with our supporters. We haven't set the date yet, but we'll set it soon. That's a day when supporters come to see the people they've been supporting. They're able to hear from the patients what we've done for them and what needs to be done further than that. And then in January of February here, we have a cervical cancer where it's work. It will be the last Saturday of January, the 25th. We call upon everyone to join us. We have even people coming from Mombasa. For the last five years, we've had them coming with the buses. For the sequence, we don't leave them seated. We carry them with the buses and they take the route with us. Wonderful. Your last remarks to the people who are watching right now. You've said everybody is affected in one way or the other. And everybody is a stakeholder in this and everybody needs to do something. So your last word to whoever is watching us as we... What I would say is that the cancer fight begins with you. Take your small steps towards the cancer fight. Be screened. Pull along a thread to be screened. And then remember those needy ones that can't afford the screening and the treatment. You can support us light at Radio Hope. You are welcome. Thank you very much. Your Facebook page one last time because I know all this information about the events that are on your Facebook page. Yes, they are on Facebook. On Facebook, we are Lady Hope Wellness at Facebook. We are on Twitter, Lady Hope Wellness and on Instagram. So you can contact us. We have a website, www.ladyhopewellness.co.ke. Thank you very much. We're now coming through to Y in the morning. We appreciate you so much. And all the best in your endeavors and whatever you're doing for the women and for the country at large. Thank you. All right. We've come to the end of Strength of a Woman. And yes, we had Veronica who's the founder of Lady Hope Wellness. If you know somebody who's doing an amazing thing out there for the people, share that with us on White Fire 4 on Twitter, White Fire 4 on Instagram, White Fire 4 on Facebook. I go by the name of Barry Mosses or it's Barry Mokwakilamtandawa Kijemi. Kalami Valley is coming up next with Galstock. You don't want to miss this.