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Kenya Chapter of The TEARS Foundation

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Kenya Chapter of The TEARS Foundation

TEARS International’s mission is to provide compassionate, culturally relevant programs to facilitate healing for families after the loss of a baby.

19/03/2026

Child Life Month

Since 2020, at ITEARS-2, The TEARS Foundation Kenya has had the privilege of receiving the knowledge, skills, willingness to serve and the compassionate heart of Elizabeth Kabuthi a Certified Child Life Specialist.

She has taken young siblings through our program ITEAR-2, a program coined from the fact that siblings are forgotten grievers, "They Tear Too, but are never seen or heard".

March is recognized as Child Life Month, a time dedicated to celebrating Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS) who help children and families navigate the stress of hospitalization through therapeutic play, education, and emotional support. These Specialists bring comfort and clinical expertise, turning frightening medical scenarios into manageable experiences.

These professionals have been present for children and families at end of life and loss.

Today, we celebrate Elizabeth and all CCLS in the world.

💚Please note, that your impact is noticed.
💚Your hearts are compassionate, generous and your services are dedicated to the emotional and psychosocial wellbeing of children and their families.

If you know any certified child life specialist kindly tag them and let them know you celebrate them and that they are seen and appreciated.

17/03/2026

Grief Coach, thank you for today, and for creating such a place for bereaved parents.

The question “you are still grieving” has really made us isolate and hate to be around people; we don’t attend church or family gatherings.
The question pops up everywhere.

As a couple, we felt heard and seen at your Centre this morning.
The session was empowering, and we are ready to walk the path with less guilt and blame.
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Death at the NICU is deeply traumatic. It is life-changing for parents. Losing a child with the abrupt end of intensive medical care is shocking and shatters hope.

Dear Community, allow for grief, offer healing space/ears, and validate the pain without judgment.

15/03/2026

✍️A recent study by Dr. Callie Daniels-Howell - Research Manager, ICPCN and her Research Team at Nafasi Kati offered vital insights into how families in Kenya experience childhood cancer and end-of-life care.

Their findings are helping shape more compassionate, family-centred palliative care for children as well highlight the need for companionship: Walking alongside families.

The most powerful theme emerging from this research is families’ desire for “accompaniment”—having people walk alongside them through their journey rather than directing or managing their experience.

This means making space for families to say what’s most important to them and following their lead.

In the study, in 2022/2023, the researcher team partnered with TEARS Foundation Kenya to provide peer-led grief support groups and repeatedly visited families throughout their first year of bereavement.

This week, we have trained the first Peer Companions for a hospital Grief and Bereavement project, as well as created another support group space for freshly bereaved parents whose children died from childhood cancer the last few months.

Our hearts, and thoughts go to all these parents. All parents who have to go through such a devastating parenting experience, from diagnosis to losing the child.

Our pride and best wishes to these very special to our hearts, peer companions trained in the week for the hospital project.
A true pain to purpose story!

Grateful for our PCs George and Raquel for stepping in and showing up.

11/03/2026

Educating communities about grief is very close to our hearts. This is how people are healing:grief literacy.

Understanding grief and how to support those who are bereaved.

This task is important because it transforms misunderstood experiences the bereaved go through into supported moments.

Society believes that sharing grief, talking about the deceased, and showing emotional pain mean someone is “not healing” or is “stuck.” or can not find closure.

People will misinterpret shared grief because they operate under the misconception that grief has a timeline (6 weeks, 3 months, 1 year). So if you talk about your child's loss after this time, you are considered unhealed and weak.

We call this the “get over it” culture.
Stop the “Get over it culture.”

Love does not end in death. Parenting a child in your heart is normal.

09/03/2026

After the loss of a child, communities often try to offer explanations or reasons why the child died. Where do they get their information from?

They also offer formulas, timelines for grief, and others give theories that the bereaved must follow as a grief pathway. Yet grief does not unfold in a straight line or within a single framework.

Grief literacy is important for all of us. When we understand grief, we gain flexibility, clarity, and confidence in how we respond to grief and grievers. We become compassionate in our support.

We have seen “support” coming as trying to force a parent’s experience into a rigid structure. Grief can manifest differently.

One parent may need to talk about their child every day. Another may process their loss quietly through journaling or reflection. Some parents find healing through advocacy, service to others, or helping others who must walk this path after them.

Some parents don’t fit in a support group, while others heal and grow in support groups.
No size fits all.

Do not force a bereaved parent into what you think works for them.

Let’s remain grief literate so that we don’t wound the already wounded from child loss experiences.

08/03/2026

For any bereaved woman/mother feeling some type of way today, with permission, we share this clip shared in one of our TEARS Groups, as a message of support for you today.

We caption it as follows.

We know that some women feel like "impostors" during International Women’s Day or IWD events, especially when the dialogue shifts heavily toward motherhood and work-life balance for parents.

We want to remind you that this day, we celebrate women, beyond the lens of motherhood. We celebrate all women who are making change, all women who lead as they bleed, all women who raise a small voice to make change. All women who achieve, lead, and continue to push for changes, ALL WOMEN.

Yes, all women who are pushing for change, regardless of their reproductive status. You included.
,

07/03/2026

"The world is too dangerous to live in, not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen"

Perinatal Loss🩵🩷

A subject, we as communities don’t want to talk about.

The stigma, lack of acknowledgement and silencing from all quarters does not stop the loss from happening or does not “wash away those affected”, but rather compound the grief of those who experience it.

Perinatal loss is profoundly common, yet often hidden. Despite societal, cultural or personal reluctance to discuss it, figures indicate that many families are affected globally.

We all have a responsibility to offer different dimensions of care – emotional, practical, medical, spiritual, to help families navigate the profound loss.

This care starts with training. Skills are critical.

In Kenya, EPI offers this training each year.
ENGAGE EQUIP EMPOWER

The Kenya Chapter leader is a Co-facilitator in this annual workshop to raise Perinatal Loss Counselors through Nacham Bereavement Support Counselors Certificate Program.

We are so proud of these freshly trained Counselors who were willing to be equipped through the program for service in their communities.

🤍They chose not to sit and let further wounding happen.
🤍They chose ministering to the bereaved.

03/03/2026

Today, for February 2026 inperson support group.

Reading the same book, but on different pages.

Even in loss and grief, our cultural, beliefs, gender and background differences will show up.

People around you may impose their way of grieving on you, they use their own background to “measure your grief and mourning period ” –

Eg. is it too much, too slow, too fast, too dramatic, too long, too loud?

Grief is a universal human experience, but it is expressed through a unique lens shaped by culture, personality, and personal history.

Misunderstandings frequently arise when an individual’s grieving style does not align with the expectations of their family, community, or culture, often leading to deep feelings of isolation.

Eg..when one partner needs to talk about the deceased constantly and the other prefers not to, they stop communicating, leading to loneliness. Their
lack of a shared language becomes a source of misunderstanding.

Community,
• Please acknowledge that everyone’s grief is valid, regardless of how it is expressed.
• Understand that grief does not follow a strict, linear timeline.
• Recognize when to offer conversation and when to simply offer presence.
• Learn about the cultural or personal background of the grieving person.

28/02/2026

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Support Group February 2026 was cancelled.

A date is in place for next week.

We will discuss a very important topic:

How different backgrounds, and styles of grieving can lead to misunderstandings and isolation during the grief journey.

Looking forward to unlearning and learning.

23/02/2026

The National Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response Committee is critical in improving quality care for maternal and neonatal health.

We believe this committee,, alongside others, will inform advocacy, policies,, planning, accountability,, etc, towards ending preventable neonatal and maternal deaths.

Way to go Kenya 🇰🇪, let's reduce maternal and perinatal deaths.

20/02/2026

A Heri Box of Comfort was despatched yesterday.
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"This is a very thoughtful gift. Each item makes so much sense.

For the first time in six weeks, I feel seen and loved in my sorrow. I feel my faith is being restored"

Mama Ilana.

Address

Westlands, Sports Road/Off Waiyaki Way
Nairobi
00100

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Website

https://thetearsfoundation.org/chapters/kenya/

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