Jahmby Koikai: The woman who was the face of endometriosis in Kenya

Doris Murimi, the founder of Endo Sisters East Africa, a non-government organisation that raises awareness about the condition, was one of the panellists in one of the forums on a local TV station when Ms Koikai first publicly narrated her story.

She said that until then, many people did not seem to understand endometriosis, even when her organisation went out to train and talk to people.

After that, “she was always the reference point, so basically she really was the face of endometriosis awareness in this country”, Ms Murimi told the BBC.

Endometriosis affects about 10% (190 million) of women and girls of reproductive age globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

There is no known cure, so treatment is usually just controlling the symptoms.

But Ms Koikai admitted that the “biggest challenge” for people with endometriosis was “misdiagnosis and with this comes botched surgeries, wrong medication”.

That’s what she had gone through, she said, with doctors having to deal with the damage caused due to misdiagnosis before managing the disease.

She stayed about two years in the US while doctors treated her.

Then and through the years that followed, she chronicled her experience, which made many people engage and identify with the condition.

Ms Murimi believes that by living and sharing her story, Ms Koikai had moved the country to understand what was a complex thing to comprehend.

Many other people have paid tribute to her strength in speaking up for women suffers from endometriosis.

Comedian Senje, who also has the condition, says the encouragement she received from Ms Koikai was invaluable in her own struggle.

“You gave me strength every single time I felt like giving up, I looked up to you because I believed if you made it then I would too… My heart is broken,” said the comedian whose real name is Sylvia Savai.

Dennis Itumbi, a strategist in Kenya’s ruling coalition, noted Ms Koikai’s efforts to create awareness even up to her last days.

“In your final days, you pushed to understand and raise awareness about the dilemma many girls face – thoracic endometriosis. You died educating and motivating me,” he wrote.

On 20 May, she put up her final post on Instagram, external addressed to President William Ruto, calling for better access to health “for millions of women battling endometriosis in silence”.

She died two weeks later in a Nairobi hospital from complications linked to the condition.

In the end, her life, her struggle and campaign made a difference.

“A lot has changed, thanks to Koikai,” said Ms Murimi, noting that since last year, there was “an endometriosis centre…and we have like two or three top specialists”.

But the fight to address menstrual disorders will continue, she said.