The mayor of Arusha is an honorary patron of the local branch. All help is welcome, for the scope of need is endless. Can't afford check-ups Dr. Michael Wanjara, a gynecologist and founding member of BUPA, sees daily the link between poverty and his area of work. Then there are gender issues, like excessive childbearing. For some of the poor, Wanjara says, sex is the only affordable form of recreation.
Contraception costs money.
The position of women in traditional cultures doesn't help, he says. On the way home she gathers firewood. Then she makes dinner. After the children are in bed she is still cleaning up. Then her husband is waiting to grab her.