Meet School Health Officer Elizabeth Mbati
- Sheila Carpenter
- Nov 12
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 13
One Good Turn’s School Health Officer training gave the director of Nairobi’s Alpha Glory school the tools to improve health outcomes for her students.
By Elaine Robbins
Obukofu n’engabo” (“Old is gold”) they say in Kenya’s Luhya language. That adage certainly holds true for Elizabeth Mbati, 72, who has dedicated her 50-year career to helping children learn and thrive, and is more active today than ever.
When Mbati retired in 2008 from her job as headteacher of a public school that served 2,500 students, she could have kicked back and enjoyed a comfortable life. But she noticed a troubling trend that wouldn’t let her rest: Many poor children in Nairobi’s sprawling informal settlements weren’t attending school, even though Kenya had eliminated the financial barrier of school fees in 2003.
To address that shortfall, in 2009 she opened Alpha Glory, a primary school for children in the Dagoretti settlement. Since then, the school has grown from providing evening literacy classes for a few children to providing 300 students with a complete education, free lunch, and a safe haven in an area plagued by high rates of poverty and waterborne illnesses due to a lack of proper sanitation.
But Mbati wanted to do more. She had grown up in a rural village where her family sometimes struggled to find food, so she knew that children sometimes quietly carry burdens that can interfere with learning.
“I wanted to guide and counsel children who are going through various challenges in life.”
When a friend told her about One Good Turn’s School Health Officer training, she knew she wanted to take part. In September 2023, she joined a 3-day training along with 97 teachers from Nairobi’s informal settlements of Dagoretti, Ngando, Kibera, and Mathare. Participants learned about nutrition, personal hygiene, sanitation, first aid, disease prevention, and how to screen for malnutrition. The training also taught them how to identify illnesses such as malaria, diarrhea, and skin infections and refer students for treatment.
Now Mgabe and her school’s other School Health Officers provide wound care, pain meds for menstrual cramps, and oral rehydration for diarrhea. The school launched a health club where students learn about topics such as hygiene and disease prevention. “We encourage them to drink treated water or water that has been boiled,” says Mbati. “We also teach them about malnutrition and obesity and how to eat healthy foods.” The club gives girls a leadership opportunity to serve as their school health leaders.
The training gave Mbati the skills and confidence she needs to improve her students’ health and well-being. When one teenage girl was crying frequently at school and her worries were impacting her school performance, Mbati didn’t hesitate to talk with the girl and get her parents involved in finding a solution.
The former math and English language teacher finds herself fielding students’ questions about how to avoid STDs and pregnancy and how to distinguish parental discipline from abuse.
Thanks to One Good Turn’s School Health Officer training, these young lives in Nairobi can look forward to a brighter—and healthier—future.
Learn more about our School Health Programs - and how you can get involved!
For any inquiries, please contact: sheilacarpenter@onegoodturn.org
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