Kenya Insights

Tag: Health & Lifestyle

  • Radio Queen Adelle Onyango Ropes In Kenyan and South African Stars On Her Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

    Radio Queen Adelle Onyango Ropes In Kenyan and South African Stars On Her Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

    “To honour my mum I got a bunch of celebrities from Kenya and South Africa to share messages of hope around breast cancer.”

    NAIROBI, October 17, 2016 – Top radio presenter and social activist Adelle Onyango has roped in celebrities from Kenya and South Africa for a social media campaign on breast cancer.

    Adelle says it took her a “little over a week. Just to reach out to different personalities and now the collection continues as we roll out the different messages,” adding, “I want survivors to know that we celebrate them, breast cancer patients and family members to know we recognize their battle and are with them in strength and prayer, and for men and women to know the importance of self breast exams and regular medical check ups!”

    Some of the celebrities who have lent their voices to the campaign include TV news anchor Janet Mbugua, rapper Shaq The Yungin, Israeli – Kenyan act Gilad, DJ Mikey, actress Brenda Wairimu, singer Angela Mwandanda, rap queen Femi One and South African star Nandi Tshabalala.

    Commenting about the messages sent out by the various celebrities, Adelle said the one that caught her off guard and made her emotionally was by Janet Mbugua.

    “Janet knew my late mum and when I played her audio she speaks about my mum, about how strong my mum was and it really just brought tears to my eyes. My mum passed way from breast cancer her anniversary of her death was on March 31,” the Kiss FM breakfast show host said. “We got listeners texting us about their loved ones battling breast cancer and how alone they’d felt until we spoke about it! Also to see male listeners find out for the first time that they too can get breast cancer. Knowledge is power!” To honour her mother’s experiences and life, Adelle and her sisters are very conscious about breast cancer. “Well for us, being that our risk is higher we are conscious about early detection all year long,” Adelle said, “When my mum was alive we would go for the breast cancer walks she would organize. It’s been hard for us to do that stuff without her around because it makes it more apparent that she’s not here. Personally I think this is the most vocal I’ve gotten since she passed away I hope that means I’m getting stronger!”

    So, is there enough been done for breast cancer? “More can be done. Cancer is such an expensive disease to treat! And without the treatment it just spreads. We need to subsidize these costs. And also in rural areas, arm people with knowledge. Many seek treatment when the cancer is on its late stages because they misdiagnosed the symptoms at the beginning and wasted time. Also as an individual what type of lifestyle are you living? Some risk factors are controllable, like healthier diets (less fats), not smoking, less drinking,more exercise!” Adelle said.

  • Student Sheds Tears After Adelle Onyango’s Self Awareness Talk At Machakos Girls High School

    Student Sheds Tears After Adelle Onyango’s Self Awareness Talk At Machakos Girls High School

    “...So the emotions just rolled down her face. It was so humbling. A reminder that, what I’m doing and my story, is influencing and inspiring so many people!” – Adelle Onyango

    NAIROBI, September 10, 2016: Over the weekend, radio queen and social activist Adelle Onyango joined three other top female personalities in a mentorship event dubbed #NajijuaNajiamini held at Machakos Girls High School.

    Hosted under Champs Foundation, the campaign is a brainchild of radio presenter Mwende Macharia, who hopes to use the campaign to “create awareness among young people aged 15-24 years on self empowerment, self confidence and self appreciation”.
    For this edition Mwende invited Adelle together with radio presenter Mwalimu Rachel, gospel star Bahati and Liz Marami, the first female marine pilot.

    “It’s powerful when, we, ladies in the media get together to inspire and mentor our little sisters. The illusion of jealousy is just that, an illusion. What we are doing is bigger than us,” Adelle explained.
    Adelle gave a talk to the hall full of teenagers about the importance of being self aware.

    “I spoke about my journey, roughing it out even after losing my parents, especially my mum. I gave a speech about speaking your success into existence. Moulding your identity but leaving room for you to grow and unlearn things. I emphasized about the company you keep, basically, you are the average of the four people you hang out with,” Adelle said.

    After her talk, one of the student’s – Georgina – was overwhelmed with emotion and narrated how “she always listens to me since I joined Kiss FM. She even knew I joined in 2013!!!!! She always dreams about joining not any radio station but Kiss FM! So the emotions just rolled down her face,” an equally emotional Adelle said, “It was so humbling. And a reminder that, what I’m doing and my story, is influencing and inspiring so many people!”

    This is part of Adelle’s desire to create social change and empower the girl child; she is also the brand ambassador of Intel® She Will Connect.

    Recently, she joined over 150 women from Narok in a week long digital literacy programme that is aimed at giving women and girls the opportunity to acquire or improve their digital skills while expanding their understanding and use of technology.

    A unique platform was used to dispense the training – a custom built trailer with a 40ft container that has been redesigned to become a digital classroom equipped with PCs, internet connectivity, digital screens and trainers that can accommodate 30 women at a time for training.

    Narok became the first county to benefit from the Intel® She Will Connect Digital Caravan that will embark on a nationwide tour visiting other counties including Machakos, Muranga and Nairobi and will be a major boost to ongoing sector efforts to bride the large technology gender gap in Kenya.

    Following the week long training in Narok, it is envisaged that the women and girls will have tools to enable them to attain skills to improve their education, enhance their political participation, have a stronger voice in their communities, and increase their income by connecting to new economic opportunities available online.