The star of KTN News journalist Beldeen Walialula is quickly rising after her work received international recognition - in particular, her stories highlighting the plight of women in society.
On Tuesday, March 21, Waliaula was among the journalists feted in the Merck Foundation Media Awards for her story 'Being a deaf mum in Kenya is hell!'.
The story, published in 2022 on both print and television, was about the struggles deaf mothers go through in accessing health care, more so in their parenting journey.
In the story, she featured a deaf woman who recounted her struggles during pregnancy and the challenge of opening up about the development of her pregnancy to health physicians.
Waliaula lifted the lid on the unseen side of the hurdles deaf women confront and the existence of a divide that hinders them from getting the requisite medical care.
Her award came days after yet another recognition in the United Nations Women's Awards for her story about a middle-aged woman donating breast milk to children's homes in a bid to help infants.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Waliaula revealed that her story ideas are informed by her desire to impact the society and help in finding a solution to major challenges facing the society.
"I decided to do the story of deaf mothers after reports of most of them dying in maternity wards due to lack of attention as they can't communicate," she stated.
"I am hoping to impact the society as the story has a solution at the end."
Regarding the plight of deaf women and the challenges facing them in accessing the requisite medical attention, Waliaula suggested the development of an application capable of transcribing messages from physicians which she stated would solve the language barrier problem.
Alternatively, she advanced that the presence of translators in the wards and health facilities would further ensure that deaf women are not deprived of the all-important services and healthcare during their pregnancies.
“In maternity wards, there are no translators so most women end up labouring for a long time with lack of fair treatment as they can't communicate," Waliaula advanced.
"All nurses and doctors should have an application where they can log in and the deaf mother can hire an interpreter virtually without gagging them to hospital and in return, the interpreter communicates with the doctor."
On getting international recognition, the human interests reporter noted that the awards were an encouragement to continue highlighting challenges with the goal of influencing a solution.
“The award to me is a recognition that deaf mother's plight needs to be heard. It is also an indication that as a journalist I am doing my job to create awareness of what needs to be changed in our society,” she stated.
Waliaula, who holds a degree in Communication from Daystar University, joined the Standard Group in August 2019.
She extensively covered the pandemic, on the health desk, that was then manned by Dr Mercy Korir.
The medical doctor cum journalist joined AAR Hospital as its Business Development Manager.
