Susan Chepmutai Onchoke Nurturing … the natural way

Health and vitality are the two words associated with her. Her physique and smooth skin indicate that indeed she walks her talk. Susan Onchoke, a passionate entrepreneur of health-food products, tells Linda Karimi her story on motherhood.

I learnt that I was expecting my first born way back in 1988. As I prepared for the baby, I ensured my diet consisted of only healthy food. Thanks to my reading culture that exposed me to the truth-that the baby included, we are what we eat. Fruits were a must-have … Vegetables were my relish-now that meat became unpalatable when I was as young as 10. Grains and roots were not spared either. True to my desires, my healthy eating habits resulted in a trouble-free pregnancy! The much talked about nausea and mood swings remained hearsay. I worked to the last day!

Labour I started feeling ‘funny’-crampy-like. So, I called my husband and asked him to take me home on the notion that rest would restore my calm. When the discomfort did not subside, he suggested the hospital. I was hesitant about that considering the cramps-like feelings were not anything far from my menstrual pains. My hubby however would not hear any of it. So in a few minutes we were at the hospital where I asked the doctor to conduct a quick check up so that I could go back home and get my much needed rest. My request was never to be because he made me aware that I was going to give birth in a few hours! My pain then augmented into more and more severe versions from 3am until 8am of the next day when my dear healthy girl, weighing 3.5kgs showed up.

I had not settled for a name for her yet. With every second ticking by, the need for a name kept heightening. Interestingly, every time the nurses saw my baby, they would say, ‘Oh, she is so precious!’ and I thought, Precious it is! That’s her name. Call it fate or a strange twist of destiny, but I have delivered all of my three kids between 8am and 9am with severe labour pains beginning at 3am!

Three years later, a period was missed and my suspicions were right. I was expectant. This fell in the same spirit as the first one. No morning sickness, no complications, no mood- swings. Only this time I had more severe labour pains. Like the previous time, at 3am, they picked up, and the pain got intense. From time to time I kept looking at the palm of my hand to confirm that

I had not lost my sight-now that I had been told of a story of a woman who had gone blind from labouring! But at 8.45am, my baby, Genuine, and I made it.

Number three
Big big surprise! It had been ten years since my previous pregnancy. I missed my period and smelt the coffee. A test thereafter established I was expectant. Well, I quickly got over the shock and put some bounce in my gait-now that I was honoured to be the mother of another precious soul. Badly wanting this to come to pass, my fairly good dietary habits realigned to the best. My baby and I had to be absolutely well.

And it was all good until one afternoon when I was taking some clients around Nairobi National Park. There was this crazy heaviness in my lower belly. It became a little too incessant that I confided in a lady we were with and she advised me to call my doctor immediately. This I did and he advised me to take the next ride home for rest first. That saw me navigate the bends of Nairobi streets straight to bed.

Sure enough, the discomfort lifted and I was appreciating the effectiveness of my bed when the familiar cycle of intense pains struck. I called a friend and in no time she was speeding me to hospital. Usual trend: 3am, pains intensify and the intensity keeps piling up until 8:45am the next day when the cutest littlest boy in the world wailed his lungs open.

Raising
It was all good until I shifted from employment to business. In the former, where I was a personal assistant doing this and that, all I had to do was report to the office, do my work, get my pay check, pay bills and the cycle would go on. Now on my own I had to think of the where and how to get the money, plan for it plough in more, grapple with the lack of it-every so often and live with the fact that the only way out of these financial mazes was with me. The beautiful end of this scenario is that I have no regrets. After all the hell and high water adjustments into business, I am catering for my children accordingly.

I have raised them the Christian way by taking them to church from their early ages. We also have family Bible study every evening and we pray everyday. As a result, they have learnt to put God first in everything they do.

Work can rob children of what they need from their parents. Nevertheless, it’s possible to find a way around this. I am convinced that there is nothing I cannot do for my children. When push comes to shove, I stop every thing- work included, to give them time. I believe time with children is paramount; to hear them out and to dispense into their hearts life’s important lessons.’

As we speak
Precious, her first born, has done her studies in Mass Communication and International studies in South Africa and is now an intern in Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Genuine, the second born, is in Australia studying International Business, while Gentle, her third born now 9, is in sixth grade here in Kenya.

Her company-Nature’s Way to Health/ Sue’s Natural Products has grown in tandem with her children and her zeal for wellness. It has 25 employees and 24 different products ranging from beverages, flours, baby porridge for weaning mothers, honey, natural spices, detox and sliming programs. Her favourite sentence is, ‘Sickness can easily be avoided with the right diet.’

Her latest brain-child is her shop, Sue’s Onelook Fashions at The Mall, in Westlands, where she specializes in ceremonial, official and wedding wear-all to bring a great African look.

END: PG 33 /14-16