Elisabeth: “I have acquired some knowledge and I feel a duty to pass it on.”
Elisabeth, 28, lives in the village of Tupendane in central Kenya. In 2018, the youngest of her five children suffered from malnutrition. Thankfully, the little girl was diagnosed by Action Against Hunger community volunteers and she received the treatment she needed to regain her health.
As her daughter recovered, Elisabeth learned how to use a tool as simple and lifesaving as a thermometer: the middle-upper arm circumference band. The color-coded measuring tape allows anyone to detect acute malnutrition and now, she can not only screen her own children, but help other families, too.
Today, Elisabeth is a lead volunteer in her community. “I like to help as others have helped me,” she says. “I cannot read or write, but I have acquired some knowledge and I feel a duty to pass it on. When I explain something important to a woman who does not know it, I feel that I am doing something important for her life.”