Life for me and my baby is more beautiful with the Kokono crib

Thursday, 4 May, 2023

My name is Maria Namubiru. I am eighteen years old. I live with my mother and baby. I dropped out of school in senior two owing to COVID-19. During the lock down, I got pregnant. While pregnant, I was privileged to be fully sponsored to attend vocational classes. At the training center, I pursued hair dressing and pompom rugs- / carpet- making. to earn money, I now work part time at a hair salon and make carpets and/ rugs at home.

I learnt about the Kokono crib after our women’s representative at the Local Council (LC) committee came to let us know of Amref Health Africa’s desire to speak to expectant moms at our village meeting grounds. Many pregnant mothers attended the activity where the guests, from Amref and partners, taught us how to use the Kokono crib effectively. They demonstrated it on my friend’s baby who was a new mother then. After the session, they asked if any of us could demonstrate what they had learnt. I raised my hand, exhibited correctly, and won the crib as a prize.

Without the Kokono crib, that is a basin with a water proof mattress and mosquito net protecting my new born I would have suffered a lot because I stay in a place where there are very many mosquitoes and it is also not very clean. Life is very hard because, I don’t have a personal bed to myself. Also, our house has flooded in the past. With the crib, my baby is safe irrespective of where I sleep or the weather conditions. The crib is such a beautiful thing that serves us in many ways. My baby sits, bathes and sleeps in it. In my neighborhood my baby is protected from malaria and hygiene- related illnesses. I know that other members of our community have noticed this and are curious.

I am well pleased with the crib, except for the price. At the current cost – 110,000 Ugandan Shillings, which is almost 30 US Dollars), – so many people can’t benefit from this life- changing product. For a person who doesn’t earn a daily wage, I could never have afforded it. If they discounted it to 50,000/- Shillings (around 13 or 14 US Dollars);, one might be able to afford it at month end after having saved 2,000 Shillings per day. Otherwise, with the cost of living here, there isn’t much more to save.

We really appreciate Amref for gifting us this lovely product. We don’t have to worry about burns, accidents, diarrheal diseases and malaria. I wish they would reduce the price: that way more people will benefit from it. In this village, we are the envy of our friends who never got one for free.

“It is a lovely product that serves our grandchild very well. Without it, the baby would be taking shelter in my bed at day time. Our house hygiene is easily maintained as opposed to him wetting my bed or messing up the floor. He has his space.”, said Maria’s mother.