In April, Katharina Weiland-Zejewski, head of the widows’ project, Anne-Kristin Henker, programme manager, and Nicholas Koech, former sponsored child and now member of the board of Dentists for Africa (DfA), travelled to Kenya with their families. As volunteers, their destination was the St. Monica Village widows’ cooperative in Nyabondo in the west of the country, which also houses the DfA sponsorship office. They spent a week here working on new projects, distributing donated goods and supporting their own projects.
Read here part1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 of the report.
On Thursday, 17 April 2025, around 50 young mothers aged 15 and above are expected to attend the assembly hall. The widows’ cooperative had invited teenage mothers to a monthly seminar – a kind of ‘mothers’ counselling’ – that had been taking place since November. Unfortunately, the demand for training and support of this kind in the region is enormous. But when 92 participants sit together with their babies and (small) children in the hall, even Rhoda and the other organising widows are surprised by the large number.
Education and empowerment for teenage mothers
Susan Tunawiri from CDC Nyabondo (local authority for the protection of human health and safety) talks to her colleague McDonald Omollo about the importance of mental health in relation to the mother herself, the impact on the child and childbirth. ‘Mental health is like a seed that needs to be planted and nurtured to grow into a strong tree,’ explains Susan. Many girls became pregnant because, in the local patriarchal culture, men continue to call the shots and no one dares to contradict or refuse them.
McDonald Omollo finds a comparison for this: ‘It’s like with lions, the male occasionally raises his voice and the female does all the work!’ Girls are encouraged to face men with confidence. They are encouraged to take family planning into their own hands, because they will later take care of the family and bear most of the burden. The influence of mental health on the course of childbirth is also highlighted. Post-traumatic stress is addressed and factors that favour caesarean section delivery are mentioned.
Family planning, abstinence and hormonal contraception are discussed. The girls are urged to go to the clinic before the birth, to seek help if they are in pain and to involve the child’s father in the pregnancy and delivery. I find the seminar impressive and am impressed by the capable staff, who are much better at talking to the young women and conveying information than anyone who has not grown up in this culture could ever be.
Washable New Products: Training and Gifts
Following the presentation by the CDC staff, I explain how to wrap babies in cloth nappies. There is a specific technique for this, which I showed the young mothers. Afterwards, some of the mothers come forward to try out the technique for themselves in practical exercises. They are eager to learn and keen to test how it works. The mothers applaud each participant who successfully puts the cloth nappy and outer pants on my demonstration model – my son’s stuffed rabbit.
At the end of the seminar, every participant – thanks to the hard work of our dilligent seamstresses – each participant receives a package consisting of an outer nappy, closure clip, diaper fleece, diaper cover and instructions for changing and washing the diapers. They also receive a cloth sanitary towel. Each participant initially only gets one item to try out. 
We then use an evaluation form to find out how they are getting on and what needs to be improved. After that, the nappies and sanitary towels are intended to benefit the widows as an income-generating measure and, ideally, to promote the professional development of young seamstresses. In any case, after five hours of seminars, lunch and training, the young mothers gratefully accept the gifts with shining eyes and smiles on their faces.
Dental training
While the seminar for mothers is taking place in the assembly hall, the kindergarten children are learning about dental health: Nicholas and the team from the DfA dental clinic in Nyabondo explain how to brush your teeth properly. The dental supplier Kinderdent donated a practical, cute demo elephant to us in advance, which is a wonderful aid in illustrating toothbrushing techniques. We also distribute 100 colorful wooden children’s toothbrushes to the children. The little ones are happy to help brush the elephant’s teeth and, to our surprise, show that they already know a lot about brushing their teeth, partly from previous training sessions.
Young mothers also benefit from the presence of the dental team—they receive a short, informative lesson on oral hygiene.
Children’s party
After the toothbrushing lesson, we organize a party together with the widows and kindergarten teachers on the spacious grounds of the widow village. The new playground equipment is tried out, there is face painting for the children, and the water tank is decorated with sidewalk chalk. Together, we twist colorful balloons into dogs and hand them out. Everyone is enthusiastic – especially the Kenyan and German children, and even several teenage mothers end up with colorful (washable) tattoos at the end of the day.
When the celebration is over, the last souvenir photos have been taken, and all the equipment has been tidied away, a storm rolls in. It’s pouring with rain, and there’s even hailstones. We are stuck in Sr. Seraphine’s office building for 45 minutes. We have rarely experienced such masses of water in such a short time. It is the rainy season in Kenya.
(Continued: In the last part, Katharina reports on the widows’ Easter celebration with 700 participants and sustainable gifts.)