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It should never be a story of poverty and misery, on the contrary: Stacey and her daughter Aurelia
Photo: Nichole Sobecki / DER SPIEGEL
The door is locked.
The hut next door no longer exists, was washed away by heavy rains, as if this symbolism was still needed.
Much has changed since our last visit to Stacey, although it was only three months ago.
DER SPIEGEL has been accompanying the 18-year-old through the pandemic for almost a year.
Stacey the fighter.
She had become pregnant during the lockdown.
“I'm being very honest.
When the schools closed there was nothing left to do.
So I met a boy.
Then it happened, ”she said in January.
But Stacey always said these sentences with a smile.
She has pushed herself through since we first met her: had her child at the beginning of February, Aurelia, "the golden one".
Graduated in April, among the top 25 percent of their school.
Now the fighter doesn't know why she actually fought.
All the troubles of the past few months seem to be in vain.
Aurelia is dead. Died on September 21, 2021, at the age of seven months.
That's why the hut is locked.
“Everything in there reminds me of my baby,” Stacey says.
"I don't want to spend any more time there."
Stacey's story was never about poverty and misery, even if she lives in Nairobi's largest slum, Kibera.
She always had big things in mind, until her pregnancy she was top of the class and went to boarding school in the west of the country.
She wanted to study law, her brother put money aside for it.
They no longer have parents, their siblings are orphans.
Now poverty has caught up with her - and taken the baby away from her.
30 years - this is how old a Kibera resident is on average.
Every fifth child dies before they reach the age of five.
These are the numbers.
They show: Stacey is not an isolated incident, it happens every day in most families.
But Stacey isn't a number.
When the 18-year-old returned to her boarding school from Kibera in March to take her final exams, Aurelia was just a month old.
The baby stays with Stacey's brother and his wife.
“There was no other way.
It was very tough.
When I was gone, she didn't want to drink milk from the bottle, she lost 600 grams of weight, ”Stacey told us at the time.
Like you are many mothers in the slums of Kenya. The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) has been studying child mortality in poor neighborhoods for many years. “Many women have to go back to work immediately after giving birth, they have to support their families and cannot breastfeed long enough. The babies are then given bottles, but they have to be prepared under very unsanitary conditions, "says APHRC boss Catherine Kyobutungi, describing one of the main reasons for the high infant mortality rate.
Stacey felt the pressure too. “My brother doesn't have a high school diploma. I am the family's only hope of escaping poverty, ”she says. And it looked very good at first: In April she returned to Nairobi, to her daughter Aurelia. The baby gained weight again. Then came Stacey's exam results: C +, which corresponds to a German three. “I'm disappointed, my goal was at least a two. But I'm back to achieving my goals, I haven't failed, ”she told us over the summer.
She had fought her way, despite all the odds.
The grade wasn't good enough to make her dream of studying law come true.
But she immediately had alternatives ready: a preparatory course as a legal assistant, then later law.
Or training as a nurse, first of all to earn money.
She and her brother had put aside some savings.
It should finance further training.
Now the money is gone.
Issued for Aurelia's funeral.
By the morning of September 21st, Stacey knew something was wrong. The baby was hot, very hot. “Aurelia suddenly got sick that morning. She developed a severe fever and was in pain. I gave her a pill, but it didn't get any better, ”she recalls. She carries the girl to a nearby clinic. The doctors there quickly notice that your oxygen saturation is far too low. Acute danger to life. “The doctor looked at me very seriously. He said there's nothing more you can do here, I should call an ambulance right away, ”says Stacey.
It is not clear whether Aurelia could have survived.
It's not even clear what she died of.
One thing is clear: Stacey tried everything.
But circumstances were against them, as they are against most young mothers in Kibera.
The ambulance driver wants the equivalent of 20 euros to even start the engine.
The 18-year-old reacts quickly, she sells her cell phone on the street to the next best willing buyer.
It is not enough.
Her boyfriend, the child's father, does the same.
The money is finally together.
The ambulance is coming.
Stacey runs with the baby in her arms.
"Aurelia was dead a few meters before we got there. She didn't make it."
"It breaks my heart to think how many young mothers are still living in such circumstances," says Catherine Kyobutungi of the APHRC.
After her baby dies, Stacey is unable to eat for a week.
She never received psychological help.
“I can't see any more children, I hate them.
I don't want to have anything to do with my niece either, ”she says.
The savings for her education are gone, Aurelia should at least get a proper funeral.
But Stacey doesn't want this story to end sadly, as crazy as it sounds.
"I'm not going to let my dreams die too," she says, albeit in a low voice.
She now sells care products on the street, so at least she doesn't have to be at home.
She puts aside every penny she earns.
When there is enough she wants to do a sign language training, the cheapest course available.
Catherine Kyobutungi also believes that there is reason for hope.
“Our studies show that child mortality has decreased over the years in the slums.
The government is finally taking the problem seriously recently, opening health centers.
And many non-governmental organizations have also helped to improve the situation. "
Organizations like that of Moses Omondi.
Thanks to him there has been in Kibera for several weeks
an ambulance that doesn't charge 20 euros to save people's lives.
Omondi heads the Kibera Community Emergency Response Team - a kind of first aid organization.
“Up until now, this was the indisputable routine: if someone gets sick, he or she has to go to the hospital.
We want to change that.
The first responders should come to the people, not the other way around. "
Omondi's organization is still at the very beginning, it is dependent on donations.
Few people are familiar with the new ambulance, it is not available around the clock.
But when there were several fires in the slum, the first responders have already deployed.
When Stacey's baby was in need, that wasn't an option.
A small poster now hangs over her bed with a religious saying, as is so often the case here with Kibera: "God can save you out of nowhere." She now often goes to church, she says.
But she is not waiting for a miracle.
She takes her life into her own hands.
In spite of everything.
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