First Lady set for Sunday's London marathon

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta said her aim of running the London Marathon on April 13 is to save lives of Kenyan women and children.

“I am determined to make a difference by participating in the marathon so as to ensure Kenya has a healthy generation that is HIV-free,” she said Friday.

Speaking at a forum aimed at raising awareness for her ‘Beyond Zero Campaign’ at the Standard Chartered Bank headquarters in London, the First Lady said she is running to raise funds to increase access to better health care through mobile clinics.

“I will run to keep mothers and newborns alive. As I run, I will be thinking how every mother needs to see her children grow up and how devastating and heart breaking it is for a mother to lose her child. I will be thinking of the children left without a mother because they could not access proper health care. I will run because I am a mother, and I believe motherhood is a blessing not just to a woman, but to a nation,” said the First Lady.

She said she will continue with her campaign until the country achieves its dream of better maternal and child healthcare.

“I will run because every mother should be able to hold her baby and take her baby home, and that baby should live to be strong and have many more birthdays. I will run until we go beyond zero,” she added.

The First Lady called on well-wishers to support the initiative which seeks to raise Sh504 million to purchase mobile clinics for all the 47 counties in Kenya.

“I know that on my own I may not be able to do much, but together, we can win this battle to save mothers and children from unnecessary deaths,” she said.

She said out of every 100,000 live births in the developing world, 360 mothers will die. “These women are my fellow Kenyan sisters. And, out of 1,000 children under the age of five, 73 children will never make it,” she said.

In 2012 alone, she said, 100,000 children under the age of five died.

“These are not just statistics, it is our fellow Kenyan sisters and children who die largely as a result of pregnancy and HIV related complications that are preventable,” she said.

She explained that her campaign also seeks to prevent and reduce mother to child HIV transmission and HIV related deaths.

The First Lady said by partnering with her in this campaign, Kenyans and all well-wishers will be investing in saving lives.

Speaking at the function, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism, Phyllis Kandie commended the First Lady for her devotion and dedication in her pursuit to ensure women and children do not die from causes that can be avoided.

“As a woman and a mother myself, I know that however different we may appear, all of us as women come together to talk about our aspirations and concerns. Time and again we find that our conversations turn to our children and families,” said the Tourism Cabinet Secretary.

She said the initiative by the First Lady is timely and a challenge to Kenyans to make the next 50 years a period of selfless service to the nation.

“Today, an entire generation is inspired and many have realised that they too have the power to dream and take initiatives to transform their communities,” she added.

The chairman of the Standard Chartered Bank PLC, Sir John Peace said HIV/AIDS is a subject that his institution is keenly taking interest in as it has not only affected their employees but its customers.

“We believe everybody has an important role to play in raising awareness and preventing the further spread of HIV,” said Sir John Peace.

He said just like the First Lady’s initiative, the Standard Chartered Bank strives to invest in communities to promote social and economic development that focuses on health, youth and financial education.