Nangina Mixed Primary School

Nangina Mixed (boys and girls) Primary School is a public institution located in Nangina, Funyula constituency. Under the leadership of Mr Opiyo, the ratio of student to teacher is 70;1, and an average of 80 pupils per class. The challenges faced were quite similar to the other schools we visited: understaffed, poor/no infrastructure including toilets, a lack of funding from the government, and abject poverty, among others. As a team, we interacted with female students from grades 4,5,6,7 and 8, and delivered presentations on general hygiene, mental health, and menstrual health. 

We were delighted by the student’s knowledge of proper general hygiene, which was made clear by eager participation from many of them. In addition to this prior knowledge, students were focused on learning how to better improve their health, and many especially took an interest in the community/public health aspect of the presentation. However, as we transitioned out of general hygiene and into mental health, the student’s attitude toward the information changed. 

Confusion and disengagement from the conversation were the immediate responses from many of the students as we shifted focus. It was clear these emotions and actions stemmed from a lack of familiarity with the subject of mental health, which was particularly worrying considering many of these girls would soon enter secondary school. Particularly telling was the need to translate our presentation into Swahili, which had been unnecessary for the previous presentation. 

But perhaps even more concerning was when school instructors (in an effort to increase participation) mentioned to the students that they had already learned some of the information we were teaching. The student’s lack of engagement thus suggests that mental health education, even when being delivered, is largely ineffective. Yet again, we see one facet (educational) of the two-fold deficiency in rural Western Kenya identified earlier. 

The other side of this deficiency - material - was made clear after a discussion with the headmaster. He mentioned that the government supply of menstrual products was severely lacking, and the school consistently ran out of pads, shifting the burden of both individual and public health from the government to parents and NGO charity organizations. To help alleviate this, we distributed a total of 120 sanitary towels among other goodies like pencils and crayons. To our delight, the students were incredibly excited to receive these “goodies”.