REFORMED GUM CUTTER LEADS FIGHT AGAINST OUTDATED PRACTICE IN KIBWEZI.
For two decades, Leah Kitheka, now 63, carried out the painful traditional practice of gum cutting on children in her Sub Location of Mbui Nzau. With roughly 150 children subjected to the harmful procedure under her hands, Leah once believed she was offering help. Today, she is on a mission to right the wrong.
Driven by awareness and remorse, Leah now moves from home to home, urging mothers to seek medical care for teething issues instead of resorting to unsafe traditional methods.
Leah is among several reformed gum cutters empowered by the Makueni County Government to become champions of child health and protect future generations from the trauma she once inflicted.
On Thursday, Makueni Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili led a powerful forum at Kibwezi Sub-County Hospital, bringing together over 500 young women including pregnant mothers, community health promoters, and former gum cutters for a sensitization session aimed at ending gum cutting for good.
Mulili also announced plans to introduce a county policy that will outlaw the brutal practice ,often carried out using sharp objects like nails, razor blades, and bicycle spokes, and promote safer healthcare interventions for infants.
To support the reformed cutters in their new journey, Mulili presented them with 100 one-week-old chicks and poultry feed for two months ,a small but meaningful step toward helping them build alternative livelihoods and continue being voices of transformation in their villages.
