ABSTRACT
Kericho County is renowned throughout Kenya for its rolling tea plantations, vibrant culture, and thick church networks. But under the green landscape lies a less spoken reality: there are hundreds of families who struggle under the everyday burden of critical illness, cancer, renal disease, complex HIV, stroke, and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. For most, the very first hurdle is access. Specialist care is based in county referral hospitals or private facilities that are financially out of reach.
In such circumstances, the family, most often women, daughters, grandmothers, and now young girls, assume caregiving duties. Culture also makes caregiving more complex. Taboos in many communities in Kericho prevent men from providing intimate care to women, especially older kin. Religion and spirituality play a dual role, not only sustaining but also at times postponing candid discussion about severe and serious illnesses.
It is here that Oasis of Hope CBO started a community-level solution to a desperate need.
Oasis of Hope, Kericho County was endorsed as a compassionate community by Public Health Palliative Care International in October 2025.
