The Marsabit nurse with a touch that lifts spirits, lives
What you need to know:
- Dahabo Bagaro believes that at the heart of every great nurse should lie kindness, compassion, empathy, positivity, and the desire to build, inspire and lift other people’s lives.
- She is the epitome of self-sacrifice, resilience, unwavering commitment and grit in her noble dream and aspirations, even in the face of daunting obstacles.
How soothing and lovely to see nurses in their spotlessly clean, white or blue uniforms attend to patients.
Nursing is such a noble calling that touches lives. But behind this façade of beneficence are voices of healers and comforters who bear the pain and suffering of others with grace; these are voices unheard—people full of scars and stains needing comfort.
That is why, in Kenya, most nurses are accused of cruelty and hubris. But little do people know the magnitude of baggage they shoulder.
At Sololo, Marsabit County, we not only meet a nurse by profession and calling but one who also believes that at the heart of every great nurse should lie kindness, compassion, empathy, positivity, and the desire to build, inspire and lift other people’s lives.
Dahabo Bagaro is the epitome of self-sacrifice, strength, resilience, unwavering commitment, and grit in her noble dream and aspirations, even in the face of daunting obstacles, which still fuel her resolve to uproot gender barriers and create a more equitable world.
“My love for nursing began immediately after graduating from KMTC when I spotted wide gaps in the rural areas of Marsabit County. Since then, I have held service to my people a special place in my heart,” Ms Bagaro says.
When her career started in 2008 after she graduated from the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and later Egerton University, she never believed she would one day establish one of the most cherished health facilities—a haven and oasis of hope for residents.
Ramata Nursing Home began just as a fledgling health facility at the heart of Sololo town in 2008, and no one ever thought it would improve by leaps and bounds to grab even the global community’s attention.
Healthcare gaps
Her love for serving rural areas began during integrated outreaches when she spotted universal healthcare gaps within the pastoralist communities. Her quest to do something to change the situation was even underscored by the worrying maternal morbidities and mortalities in the county, particularly in Sololo sub-county.
Award-winning nurse Dahabo Bagaro attends to mothers during one of the outreaches.
“You can imagine my sheer delight when I established the nursing home and realised that the community had quickly embraced and loved their services.”
The nursing home has grown into a grand scheme of a level 3B hospital with a lab for diagnostics, examination rooms, high-tech imaging equipment, a maternity ward, a gender-based violence (SGBV) section, and a psychosocial support desk.
From her pocket, she began from scratch, put up the facility, and, thanks to her kin and community support, she looks back and sees God’s hand. Today she boasts sterile walls, piles of supplies, state-of-the-art equipment, and staff, covering the speciality needed most by residents.
The ever-radiant nurse intimated that she had not yet maximised her full potential as she aspired to design and put up a state-of-the-art maternity complex in the sub-county, which has only Catholic Missionary Hospital. Some qualities of a nurse to learn from Bagaro are empathy, flexibility and time management.
She has proved that a good nurse focuses on making a difference. Through the Healthy Mama-Healthy Baby Initiative, she has drastically reduced the maternal mortality rates in the county—488 per 100,000 live births currently. The initiative aimed at ending preventable maternal deaths in Sololo and has touched thousands of lives.
Mama’s Kits
At least 150 to 200 mothers have been receiving prenatal and antenatal healthcare monthly free of charge. The underprivileged benefit from Mama’s Kits, including sanitary towels, sterile canvas, soap, and baby powders.
Ramata Nursing Home’s integrated outreaches have been extended to satellite camps in the remotest grazing fields. They screen and treat mothers for minor ailments and provide them with multivitamins, supplements, or referrals in case of complications. The staff always carry portable ultrasound machines for screening in rural areas and grazing fields.
Due to the outreaches, over 1,000 mothers have been facilitated to get comprehensive services and successful deliveries. They benefit from free haemoglobin levels, laboratory checks, palpitation, immunisations, and prompt referrals.
Due to rampant female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriages in Marsabit County, several mothers develop complications during delivery, such as labour complications, postpartum haemorrhage, recto, and Vesco-vaginal fistulas. The victims of fistula have always been associated with witchcraft, thus leading to them being abandoned and ostracised.
Mothers leaking urine and stools due to weakened muscles often get abandoned by their husbands, who remarry. As a result of FGM, most pregnant mothers also experience obstructed labour or foetal distress.
Thanks to the nursing home, such mothers have been aided with reconstructive or corrective surgery and later put under psychosocial support. Through the Healthy Mama-Healthy Baby Initiative, at least eight boys and girls from Sololo were referred to Mama Lucy Hospital, Nairobi, for cleft lip surgery.
They were also enrolled in schools – and are no longer ostracised. Previously, they would be locked in rooms as they were deemed a source of shame to their families.
Recognition
As a result of the outstanding self-sacrifice, Ms Bagaro has bagged several national and global awards and recognition. She has been nominated for the health category #ZuriAwards2023 by the Eczema Society of Kenya and Elizabeth Akinyi from the Live Well Care Solution Centre.
She was recognised as a shujaa (heroine) by President William Ruto on Mashujaa Day 2022. She was the best Nurse Nurse Practitioner in the Beyond Zero Health Awards for promoting healthcare in Marsabit County in 2022. She also bagged the African Women Award as the best Achiever in Midwifery in 2022 and the Global Humanitarian Hero Award in 2021.
Ms Bagaro’s eyes are set on boosting reproductive health and SGBV education, which her staff has been undertaking, establishing a comprehensive desk to deal with such cases.
In the next five years, she will expand the health facility to deal with complex cases that they currently refer to Marsabit Referral Hospital, Meru, or Nairobi. Also, she seeks to strengthen the community referral system and services, sometimes hindered by intertribal insecurities or distance.
She also plans to train several midwives as there are few nurses in the region. Due to cultural barriers, local women feel uneasy when attended to by male nurses during labour. Ms Bagaro is pursuing advanced midwifery sonography and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Kenya Methodist University.
Shuba Malicha, who had come from a remote area of Sololo, sought help for complicated labour that led to the loss of her baby. She says nurses with the right attitudes touch many lives. “We can’t love others to the fullest, especially caring for others when exhausted and stretched as most nurses always are. But for a nurse with a big heart, it is possible.”
Despite having no relatives in Sololo town, she was welcomed and attended to, given psychosocial support and accommodation.
Similar gratitude is expressed by Habadassa Guyo, who was admitted to the facility during her labour and safely delivered. All their worries about hospital bills were sorted.
