“Health by Motorbike” Africa-Bound

Araceli Alonso (’97 MA L&S, ’02 PhD L&S), Gender and Women’s Studies lecturer and faculty associate, College of Letters & Science, is spending the summer traveling around rural Kenya as part of her “Health by Motorbike” initiative. Alonso, who also is a registered nurse, will conduct a health camp for women and adolescent girls in Lungalunga, Godo and Perani.

The health camp, funded by the Davis Foundation for Projects for Peace, will provide culturally sensitive education about reproductive health, maternal and child health, preventable diseases and treatable infections.

Gender and Women’s Studies undergraduate students Megan Kleber and Sara Maria Donohue were awarded a Wisconsin Idea Grant and will travel with Alonso to distribute mosquito nets to pregnant women and children under the age of 5 to help prevent malaria, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in that part of Kenya.

After the camp, the Mama-Toto (mother-child in Swahili) Mobile Clinic will be launched to serve women in the same communities throughout the year.

Alonso was recently named a UW-Madison Outstanding Woman of Color for her work to create an inclusive and respectful environment on and off campus.