At just 26 years old, Winnie Mungai should be chasing her two toddlers, planning birthdays, and dreaming about the future. Instead, two times a week she sits connected to a dialysis machine, fighting for the very life that allows her to be a mother.

A young mother of two from Ndaka-ini in Murang’a county, Winnie’s journey into kidney disease began quietly years ago with high blood pressure. In her second pregnancy, her test results were no longer just concerning; they were life-threatening. By the third trimester, possibilities were discussed in hushed, urgent tones by her attending medical team.

“I was lucky,” she says quietly. “I stabilised and carried the pregnancy to full term.”

Her baby was finally home. Winnie thought the worst was behind her. Her body was quiet. No alarms. No emergencies. No pain loud enough to demand attention. But kidney disease does not always ring the bell. It waits.

Six months later, the silence broke. Her face began to swell. Her legs. Her whole body. Walking became harder. Her breathing heavier. That was when she learnt the truth: her kidneys needed dialysis.

The reality of travelling 76 kms to receive dialysis twice a week was punishing. Unemployed. Mother of two.

“It was too much,” she admits. “Physically, financially, emotionally.”

Her world became very small. The future felt uncertain, and the only constant thing was her sister’s support. “It was too much,” she admits. “Physically, financially, emotionally.”

For months, Winnie carried one quiet prayer in her heart. If only dialysis could be closer. She dreamt of care that did not require exhaustion.

Then one morning, Feb 2025, everything changed. In a sleepy, quiet village, there was an interruption. Not by noise, but by hope. She saw it on television: a mobile dialysis unit, Renal Roads by Bena Care, rolling into her community. “I couldn’t believe it,” she recalls.

For the first time since her diagnosis, hope did not feel theoretical—it felt close enough to touch, literally. Winnie now receives dialysis twice a week, 8 minutes away from home. “The location has saved me, that’s all I can say. Thank you so much.”

Motherhood does not pause for dialysis. On days when Winnie’s sister cannot watch her son, she comes with him to the unit. The nurses help watch him.

“You don’t have to choose between being a mother and a patient,” she says. “You can be both. I am both.”