By Winnie Chelagat, Co-founder of MAMA CBO & Member, Rotary Club of Ngong Road

From September 26th to 28th (2025), I’ll be joining my fellow Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Ngong Road on a trip to Orus in East Pokot. For me, this is more than just a Rotary trip, it’s a homecoming of sorts. As co-founder of MAMA CBO, I have walked alongside this community for years, seeing both its resilience and its struggles.

The numbers tell a difficult story. In Baringo County, where Orus is located, the maternal mortality rate is 488 per 100,000 live births – far higher than the national average of 374. Many women still give birth at home without skilled care, and some walk 50 to 80 kilometers to reach a health facility. Infant mortality remains high at 31 per 1,000 live births, compared to the national 22. These are not just statistics to me, they are faces, families, and futures at stake.

On September 27th, our community day, we’ll sit with mothers, elders, and health workers to listen and better understand the needs on the ground. We’ll also deliver essential medical equipment to the MAMA Maternity and Wellness Centre. This small facility, built through community effort, has handled more than 200 deliveries since inception, but still runs with just one delivery bed. Even so, it has already saved countless lives by providing safe births where none were possible before.

We’ll be traveling together on the scenic Laikipia route aboard an overlander, a journey that will also be about bonding as Rotarians, families, and friends. For me, that’s the heart of Rotary: uniting for good, sharing in service, and standing side by side with communities that deserve better.

This trip is about more than equipment or statistics. It’s about hope, hope that every mother can give birth safely, and every child can have a fair chance at life. I am honored to be making this journey with my Rotary family and with the people of Orus.

You can be part of this too:

• Sign up for the trip here: Trip Registration Form
• Support with a donation of medical equipment or a mother-and-baby care pack (contact details are on the poster).

Together, we can make the road to Orus a road to hope.