ABSTRACT
The role of the mother in this niche is central and women's duties as mothers stretch into every aspect of community life socioeconomic structure, health clinics and services, schooling and learning. Mothers discusses physical, socioemotional, and spiritual aspects of health, constructing a picture of the meaning of uzima, or being alive, as a multifaceted concept. Mothers describe health factors that are environmentally situated. Health factors are linked to much more than personal illness control. They are linked to the physical, cultural, and socioeconomic givens of the community. Mothers discusses suffering from the same illnesses as their children, with malaria and malaria-associated symptoms being the most common disease for adults and children. The vital link of water to education is clear in the central focus on water in mothers' and children's lives. A shortage of water first shapes mothers' and children's lives due to time spent seeking out and fetching water.
