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Grace’s Grass to Grace story after meeting Merck

In Africa, when a woman gets married, the society expects that she bears a child within a year or two. For Grace Kabini, “Mama Chips”, it did not work out that way.

Nine years into her marriage she realized that she could not bear children.  She suffered abuse from her husband, and in-laws to the point where the stress resulted in her getting diabetes.

Grace owns a small shop in Kibera where she sells chips to help provide for her daily needs. The shop was dilapidated and now everything has transformed.

Grace Kambini 2

Thanks to the “Empowering Berna” project through the Merck more than a Mother campaign, Grace is now enjoying a better quality of life. She now runs a new and larger shop that stocks fruits and vegetables, plus she received a new chips fryer and a glass storage unit that helps keep freshly-made chips warm. Her customers are happy; they no longer complain about the smoke from the stove she used to use to make chips as she now has a new fryer. Merck also supports Grace by supplying her with diabetes management drugs.

Grace’s health has improved significantly and her faith in humanity has been restored. “I remember my life before Merck found me, I spent a lot of time in hospitals,” Grace recounts, “But since Merck came to my help, I stopped falling sick often, which makes me very grateful.”

Grace’s business used to be dilapidated, the door to her stall was falling apart, and the iron roof was rusted. However, Merck expanded the shop, gave it a fresh coat of paint –Her business got a face lift and an expansion. The shop is now attractive and stands out.

“I always feel like shedding tears because of how happy I am.” – Grace Kambini

“It is very important to empower infertile women through improving access to awareness and fertility care so they can bear children as part of their human rights,” Rasha Kelej, Chief Social Officer of Merck Healthcare remarked. “In cases where they can no longer be treated, Empowering Berna project will contribute towards empowering and training them to establish their own small business so that they can be independent and re-build their own lives. A woman is more than a mother, Empowering Berna initiative proves this everyday.”

If you would like to share your story, please contact mystory@merckmorethanamother.com. Let your voice be heard and Join the conversation on  “Merck more than a Mother” on social media:

Twitter: @MerckandMothers

Facebook: Merck more than a Mother

Youtube: Merck more than a Mother

This is part two of Sponsored posts to raise awareness on infertility among women. Mother campaign is a part the Merck Capacity Advancement program. This is the social responsibility arm of Merck Group that seeks to expand the professional healthcare capacity focusing on Africa and developing countries. Part 1 is here.

More than a Mother: Grace’s story of Infertility

Infertility affects up to 15% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide. WHO demographic studies from 2004 have shown that in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 30% of women aged 25–49 suffer from secondary infertility, the failure to conceive after an initial first pregnancy.

Grace 1

“I ask myself every day – ‘Who I am in this world? Is this the life I was meant to live?’ there is no one to love or help me” – Grace Kambini

Fifty-seven-year-old Grace Kambini popularly known as Mama Chips says she got married out of societal expectations. Women are expected to get married to earn respect from their communities.

After nine years in her marriage, she realized that she could not give birth. Both Grace’s husband and his relatives started abusing and insulting her.

The abuse and insults extended to her home where she was tortured and frequently denied food. This would even go for weeks at a time. Her husband did not care about her woes.

“I remember asking my husband, how long I will continue to live this misery. He replied -‘You refuse to leave my house as if your parents are dead, if they are dead you should ask them to open their graves so you may join them. You are of no use to me’. Every time I remember his insults or talk about my experience, I feel faint and out of breath”, she said.

“Due to the stress I endured, I suffered hypertension and Diabetes, now I have to live injecting myself with insulin day and night.” Grace says tearfully.

When her husband kicked her out, She had nowhere to go. Unfortunately, Grace has no living relatives on her mother’s side. Her in-laws did not seem to care about her suffering. At one point, Grace’s husband even asked her to go back to her late parent’s home and wake them from their graves so they can accommodate her. Grace says that she did not have money but she soldiered on.

There was a point in her marriage where she missed her periods for a month. The following month she started bleeding excessively instead of getting her period. She was also vomiting profusely. She decided to seek medical advice to find out what was wrong with her. The doctor advised her to go for an operation, since she was pregnant and the fetus was developing in her Fallopian tubes instead of the uterus (Ectopic Pregnancy).

Her husband of ten years has since divorced her and she now lives alone with no one to support or advise her. “I still ask myself “Who I am in this world?  Is this the life I was meant to live?” There is no one to love or help me, I have nowhere to go. When I travel to the village my brothers’ wives constantly insult me”. she says in agony.

She started her own small business, selling chips by the roadside to help sustain her – hence the nickname “Mama chips”.

Grace advises young couples to visit hospitals regularly and seek solutions as a couple,If I was younger with the knowledge that I have now, I would have explored better fertility options to better my life, now I am too old for that”, she says.

Grace 2

Grace Kambini at her vegetable stand in Kibera.

Her story continues to get several views on social media via the popular “Merck more than a Mother” campaign. The campaign seeks to reduce the stigmatization and social suffering of infertile women in Africa. Watch Grace’s story here:

Rasha Kelej is the Chief Social Officer of Merck Healthcare. She says, “The ‘Merck more than a Mother’ campaign launched the ‘Empowering Berna’ initiative at the recently concluded Commission on the Status of Women CSW60. It aims to empower underprivileged infertile women who have passed the stage of receiving fertility intervention. The initiative helps them establish their own small businesses and build their own independent lives.”

Stay tuned to see what happened to Grace after Meeting “Merck More than a Mother” and how “Empowering Berna” project has changed her life. If you would like to share your story, please contact mystory@merckmorethanamother.com.

Let your voice be heard and Join the conversation on  “Merck more than a Mother” on social media:

Twitter: @MerckandMothers

Facebook: Merck more than a Mother

Youtube: Merck more than a Mother

Website: www.merckmorethanamother.com