Reject Online Issue 55

February 1-15, 2012

ISSUE 055

A bimonthly newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of African Woman and Child Feature Service

Mining project sparks panic Kitui County residents fear that bad outweighs good in the mineral exploitation

By Lydia Ngoolo While many people would jump with joy if minerals were discovered in their locality, this is not the case for the people of a location in Kitui County.

Palpable fear and uncertainty has enveloped the coal rich Mui basin in Kitui County, more so among the womenfolk as talk of displacement gains momentum with mineral mining set to kick off.

There is widespread fear among residents over the fate of the land

“I would rather die From top: Landscape shot of the coal rich Mui basin. Children, parents and here than be evacuated at their guardians at the Matuu Memorial School field pondering their next my age. My three daughmove after the school was closed. Mui residents and journalists admire ters are married and one sample of coal collected during the exploration by the ministry of energy died many years ago. I officials. Pictures: Lydia Ngoolo live with my only son who has been sick for the likely to cave in when mining begins foreign land. past two years. What is “What will become of our good underneath, I am ready to die in my my fate in this horrible situation?” laschools, residential houses as well as motherland than move elsewhere,” she mented Kanyiva Ngombalu.

Ngombalu has heard stories that the market and health centres? Even asserts.

Even at her age, Ngombalu feels huge coal deposits have been found if I don’t have any school going chilwithin her home area. Her fears are dren, I have a feeling that many stu- that with lack of proper strategies and that her family will be relocated to a dents will miss education or drop out compensation mechanisms, she visujust from being displaced,” moans the alises a bleak future for those faced with eviction once the excavation grandmother.

Ngombalu is aware that the coal kicks off in the coal rich basin that mining will start in two years time. stretches for 500 km2.

However, she wonders what will hapIn another village within the Mui pen to the people engaged in unre- basin, the Reject met Regina Nzunga solved land disputes. She is at a loss Kanuvu, a mother of six and a grandwhere their families will be taken to mother to five children, three of whom and who among the disputants will are orphans. She regrets that the Govbenefit. ernment has to evacuate the people of “Let them do what pleases them Mui basin as it will lead to undue sufbut only if they do not displace me. fering.

The Government will be dragging “We are aware that as much as the me to death through the eviction. Government tries to hoodwink us that — Kanyiva Ngombalu, Kitui resident Although, I am told the land is Continued on page 3

they call home and have occupied for many years from which they will be displaced. The land has been awarded to the Chinese Fenxi Mining Industry Company which have been given a contract by the Government to mine the industrial mineral.

Fear is greater among the women who for years have tilled the fertile land to produce food for their families. They are worried because they have little information about their fate and many of them have not welcomed the move.

“Let them do what pleases them but only if they do not displace me. The Government will be dragging me to death through the eviction.

Although, I am told the land is likely to cave in when mining begins underneath, I am ready to die in my motherland than move elsewhere.”

Read more Reject stories online at www.mediadiversityafrica.org

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ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Good news to users, power cost to go down as water levels rise

By KARIUKI MWANGI Kenyans might soon start paying less electricity bills after the water levels at the Masinga hydro-electric generation dam went up by 10 centimetres following the recent rains.

The Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) Operations Director Richard Nderitu said that with the rains, the dams might be full to the required capacity which means that more electricity will be generated.

“We have been using fuel to power the machines after the water levels went down, but with the levels now going up due to the rains, we will be using water other than fuel,” explained Nderitu.

He said that the company is currently upgrading the Kiambere and Kindaruma dams so as to improve on their capacity to produce more electrical power for the development of the country.

“The company is upgrading the

two existing machines at Kindaruma Hydro Dam and will also be installing a third unit of power generation which will increase its capacity from the current 40 megawatts to 72 megawatts,” he said.

Nderitu was speaking recently during a tour of the company’s more than 200 shareholders at the Seven Forks Dams. He said the recently upgraded Kiambere Dam now has a capacity to produce 164 megawatts from the previous 144 megawatts.

He said the company has also started implementation of the 280 megawatts Olkaria projects which when completed in 2013 will increase geothermal output up to 315 megawatts.

Nderitu pointed out that the company has also collected wind speed data from nine sites across the country to establish whether they are viable for large scale commercial wind exploitation which will boost the capacity of the company to produce more power.

Training on road use to avoid senseless deaths

By MACHARIA MWANGI

The scene is littered with blood after another horrific accident involving a matatu. Everyone is running helterskelter in a bid to assist the injured victims, among them matatu drivers and conductors.

In a split second, the police arrive with the siren blaring. The faint hearted walk past the ghastly accident scene with their faces covered.

This is not a real accident scene but drills by first aid responders drawn from the police and matatu sector.

This drill is to demonstrate what they learnt after months of training on how to respond to such emergencies.

An elderly woman unaware that this is a dummy exercise stands with her mouth agape, too shocked to speak.

She kneels down and says a silent prayer.

Paralysis

However, this was never to be. A driver attempted to overtake a fleet of vehicles colliding head on with their vehicle. “I got trapped inside our vehicle following the smash-up and lost consciousness moments later,” she recalls, adjusting her sitting position in the wheelchair.

Oywaya was paralysed from the waist down, an event that left her confined to a wheelchair. The inci-

Slum residents tipped on consumer rights

By HENRY KAHARA

Safety campaign

The sustained road safety campaign is the initiative of Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT) led by their Executive Director, Bright Oywaya. She is confined to a wheelchair after a near fatal road accident more than 14 years ago.

“We were travelling to Mombasa with friends to unwind and make merry in the coastal town when we were involved in a grisly accident,” remembers Oywaya.

By then, she was a young banker with a leading financial institution and was living in the fast lane. “We had planned to have a momentous occasion whiling away at the beach,” she recalls.

Away from hustle and bustle of office operations, Mombasa appeared to be the ideal town to release the building stress and the agreement of travelling as a team was unanimous.

Before the tragic road accident, the team could envisage what awaited them when they would make a glad entry into the most famous city, with the archaic Fort Jesus, rich with colonial relic part of their itinerary.

“We are working on how to expand the country’s wind energy generation from the current 5.2 megawatts to at least 50 megawatts by the year 2014,” he said adding that the company is determined to produce reliable and affordable power energy.

He said that the company is trying its best to exploit other sources of energy so that it can stop using fuel which is expensive to buy and which in turn becomes expensive to the consumers.

Accident scene at Ndere near Limuru on Nairobi-Naivasha road that claimed seven people. The road safety campaign is aimed at reducing accidents and deaths on our roads.

Picture: Reject Correspondent and Macharia Mwangi dent became a life changer. She was mishandled when being ferried to the hospital by volunteers who were not conversant with first aid procedures.

She sought treatment at several hospitals but her backbone had been damaged and she could no longer walk.

“I was distressed. It was like a bad dream that refused to go away. The turn of events was nerve wrecking. I was traumatised,” says Oywaya.

Accepting her present condition became a nightmare as she kept on hoping that one day she would wake up from the scary dream. It was never to be.

After a while, she resumed her job at the bank but it was no longer fulfilling. “There was nothing exciting anymore. Life became an unpleasant challenge,” says Oywaya.

The banking life that was once a buzz no longer mattered.

Eager to do something different, Oywaya quit her job and enrolled for a counselling course to overcome her own challenges and help others in similar predicament.

Boosted by her new profession, Oywaya was seconded to the National Spinal Injury Hospital that rehabilitates road accident patients through medical therapy and counselling.

“I wanted to do something different that could assist victims in similar situations. I worked with the Kenya Paraplegic Organisation where I am now a director in charge of counselling,” she explains.

She later joined ASIRT, a body involved in a substantive campaign to reduce the number of road carnages in the county through educating the public, creating awareness and advocacy through working with other organisations and the government.

“I was distressed. It was like a bad dream that refused to go away. The turn of events was nerve wrecking. I was traumatised.”

— Bright Oywaya, ASIRT

Oywaya says road accidents in the country could be avoided if drivers adhered to road safety. Road accidents, she says, are “predictable and preventable, adding that the statistics were worrying.

She cautions drivers against what she terms as senseless deaths and injuries on Kenyan roads. Speaking at the end of a three-day training session on road safety for police officers, drivers and conductors, Oywaya urges the participants to put into practice skills acquired during the short course.

Pilot project

Oywaya says they chose Naivasha as a pilot project due to the high number of the accidents occurring along the busy highway. Naivasha Base Commander Roy Njeru says the programme incorporated other drivers stationed within Naivasha town and the surrounding areas.

The traffic boss said since the introduction of the road safety campaign, the accidents along the Nairobi-Naivasha highway have decreased significantly. “We can now rest easy compared to previous years,” said Njeru.

The efforts saw the introduction of speed guns along the major highway with errant drivers being arrested and arraigned in court.

The daily skyrocketing price of commodities has called on Kenya Consumer Organisation (KCO) to start sensitising Kenyans on their rights.

Speaking in Kibera, the KCO Chief Executive Officer Francis Orago urged the residents to be in solidarity with them so as to bar people who extort them.

Orago observed that it is the right of each and every Kenyan to buy goods and services at a reasonable price as entrenche§d in the Constitution of Kenya.

In the Bill of Rights, which is covered in Chapter 4, Article 46 deals with the issue of consumer rights. It is stated in Article 46 (1) that “consumers have a right (a) to goods and services of seasonable quality”.

Early preparation

Orago advised the residents to avoid the last minute rush whenever they are doing shopping so as to avoid extortion from business people who mostly take advantage of the ordinary mwananchi.

“Always be doing early shopping preparation if you want to avoid inflation,” he advised.

At the same time it emerged that consumers in Kibera have now turned to many ways, which according to them are helping them from being afflicted.

Antony Mwangi, 25, says that he has started practicing gunny bag agriculture which has helped him to cut the cost of buying sukumawiki (kale).

“I have planted some sukumawiki which has really been helping me so much as far as cutting down the cost of buying vegetables. Now I have been left with the burden of buying flour,” explains Mwangi.

Furthermore Mwangi is in a group where they put funds together to buy flour in wholesale and then divide it among themselves. This is cheaper and more convenient than buying at retail for one person.

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Family steeped in misfortunes appeals for help

By ROBBY NGOJHI A torturous journey ends at the homestead of a family where several religious leaders among them Pastor Davis Magiri of the Mbale Full Gospel Church have been paying frequent visits for what they describe as ‘special prayers.’

It is not that the family are deeply religious. It is because the church leaders in the area feel that they need divine intervention as the family has been entangled in a series of misfortune.

In the hilly Mlamba village in Taita Taveta County, Mildred Wawuda, 53, is seated alone on her stinking wet bed sodden with urine.

She waits for her elder sister Mercy Kaluma, who is married in the neighbouring village to come and take care of her.

Fistula

Wawuda is a survivor of the fistula. Besides that, she is visually impaired and cannot walk without support. With the help of her elder sister and a swarm of flies trailing her, she trudges towards the bathroom where her sister cleans her up before returning to the dining room.

While Pastor Magiri lauds himself for having prayed and healed many sick people before, he is shocked to have failed in this particular case.

Amidst sobs, Wawuda begins to narrate her ordeal. She recalls how in 1992 a coconut detached from a tree landed on her head as she was walking in Mombasa town.

“I can only remember being attended to at the Aga Khan Hospital but I cannot recall how I arrived there,” Wawuda explains.

According to Coastal people, it is a bad omen when a coconut falls on one’s head and it is considered to signify something foreboding.

“It rarely happens but when it does it is considered a bad sign. It means that there is something bad coming. It can also mean that the person had done something wrong in the past,” explains Nzugah Hamadi, a Mijikenda elder in Kongowea, Mombasa County.

Ramzy Rashid, another Mijikenda elder from Shimoni in Kwale County, maintains that unless one is bewitched, it is very rare to find a coconut falling on one’s head.

At the Aga Khan Hospital Wawuda was treated and later discharged but a severe headache persisted for five months.

“I realised the headache had become too intense to a point that my left eye begun losing vision. I went back to hospital and was given medicine,” she recalls.

She decided to return to her home village to seek help from her family because she could not live alone with the complications.

At home, her condition worsened further and she soon became completely blind. Wawuda’s health deteriorated even further and in 2008 she was diagnosed with fibroids at a local hospital.

Today, her legs are swollen and she cannot hold urine or stool. She says the problem started in November, last year.

“I feel so ashamed because I cannot stay close to anybody who does not understand my condition. I cannot go anywhere while I am this way and even when visitors come, I cannot stay near them,” Wawuda says with a tinge of regret.

Wawuda’s story is just one of the many ordeals her family is going through. Her elder sister, Mercy Kaluma, 62, is also taking care of four other family members. There is Wawuda’s younger, epileptic brother Stanley Mkifumbu as well as two

“I feel so ashamed because I cannot stay close to anybody who does not understand my condition. I cannot go anywhere while I am this way and even when visitors come, I cannot stay near them.”

— Mildred Wawuda, fistula patient

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From top: Standing-Mercy Kaluma (right) and Timothy Mcharo. Seated Newpheny Wawuda (right) and 89-year-old Rose Kilulu. Left: Stanley Mkifumbu who is epileptic. Pictures: Robby Ngojhi

children Newpheny Wawuda, 17, and Timothy Mcharo, 11, who were orphaned when Wawuda’s sister died. The last one is their 89-year-old mother Rose Kilulu.

“They all depend on me,” says Kaluma.

Their 42-year-old brother Mkifumbu, a former mason, quit his job because of frequent seizures.

Mkifumbu’s body is covered in uneven scars which he says he sustained from fainting frequently and falling on hot charcoal in the kitchen. He remains a bachelor to date because most of the women he approaches turn him down because of the scars.

At home, the two orphans complain that Mkifumbu is hostile towards them. “We have no peace at all because our uncle always harasses us for no apparent reason,” laments Newpheny, a Form Three student at Mghalu High School.

She says the situation has affected her performance in school.

School dropout

Kaluma says 11-year-old Mcharo has also been affected psychologically. “He behaves abnormally and at times he sleeps outside in the cold at night. He has dropped out of school,” she says.

She adds that their aging mother Rose Kilulu has been worn out by the problems and that nowadays she cannot perform any duties by herself.

Kaluma ekes out a living selling vegetables at

Wundanyi market. Kilulu says neighbours have isolated the entire family because of their problems. She appeals to well-wishers to assist her as the situation has become a heavy burden.

“My sister now needs special beddings that cannot absorb urine and human waste because the one she uses currently are all in a total mess,” says Kaluma.

Local medical practitioners have also failed to give a logical explanation for the situation faced by the family. However, Pastor Magiri suspects that it could be something which happened in the past.

He talks of “generational curses” described in Deuteronomy 28:8 and asks the family to pray. However, Kaluma feels they need more than prayers. They also need financial and medical help.

Kitui County residents express fears over mineral exploitation Continued from page 1 they will compensate us for our land.

I do not think they will compensate everybody appropriately. And, who between a man and his wife will get the much talked about compensation money?” poses Kanuvu. She adds: “Besides, we have nowhere to go and we are not prepared.”

Kanuvu wonders aloud whether the residents of Syungani Village will have the same living environment wherever it is that they will be ‘transplanted’.

“I cannot bring myself to imagine living in a different geographical set up. Why can’t they opt for underground mining as opposed to the proposed open cast method?’’ she asks.

Kalunda Muthangya, 52, from Kavingo Village near Kateiku Trading

Centre echoes these sentiments. She says the disadvantages of coal mining seem to outweigh the advantages.

Muthangya fears that coal mining will interfere with the environment and lead to desertification.

Negative effects

Sadly Muthangya also fears that the mining project will cause reproductive health problems like impotence and sterility. She also fears that locals could be afflicted by cancerous diseases while rivers will be polluted leading to their drying up. She fear that even after the eviction their land will no longer be suitable for habitation.

“We have fear of leaving our fertile land to unknown lands. Lack of adequate information will lead to

misuse of the compensation funds by beneficiaries especially husbands who receive it on behalf of their wives and families,” said Kalunda.

As much as everyone is happy about the benefits of coal that could provide regular industrial energy for over three decades once mining kicks off, the chins of the locals, especially the womenfolk, are cupped in their palms. So many unanswered questions linger in their minds and nobody seems to care to provide answers, least of all the Ministry of Energy.

Today, Kitui County is ranked number seven among the poorest counties but its fortunes could be turned around for the better because with proper management the coal mining could elevate it to be the fourth richest. However, the funda-

mental concerns raised by the residents must be handled well for the rosy part to be attained.

The residents maintain that they are not against coal mining per se but want proper rules of engagement and responsible utilisation put in place. The 500 km2 Mui Coal belt comprises of four blocks which are: A, B, C and D covering Zombe, Mutomo, Mui, Kalitini and Wamwathi respectively.

The four blocks have community representatives under a selected consultative committee headed by former Mutitu Member of Parliament Muthusi Kitonga. However, the committee appears not to have covered much ground as far as representing the interests and wishes of the residents is concerned.

According to Kitonga the committee is mandated to consult with the Ministry of Energy and the contractors to ensure that the residents of Mui reap full benefits from the project.

“My team will ensure that the area residents are not short-changed and that compensation will be tantamount to the disturbance and the loss they will incur. That is what we stand for,” Kitonga told the Reject.

However, chief geologist with the Ministry of Energy John Orenge said sufficient regulations were in place to ensure the locals were not disadvantaged in the process of mining coal.

He said environment and social impact assessment will be carried out to ensure the residents were not hurt and those displaced were sufficiently compensated and resettled.

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ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

From the frying pan of forced marriage into the fire of forced sterilisation

By CAROLYNE OYUGI

Sitting pensively pondering what has become of her life, 30-year-old Aziza*, who looks much older than her age, is testimony of what outdated cultural practices do to a woman.

When she begins to narrate her ordeal, Aziza’s story sounds like fiction, but is a true narrative of what majority of women who come from communities that practice Female Genital Mutilation go through.

Her small room at Huruma Estate in Eastlands that serves as her lounge, sleeping area and kitchen, is the best to happen to her.

“At least I can now talk away from many people,” she says contented with the space.

For Aziza, life has not been fair.

She remembers the day when she underwent forceful genital mutilation with precision as if it happened yesterday.

“My parents forced me to undergo FGM at 14 years. By then, I was very young and did not know how to fight for my rights.”

Even though Aziza at that point knew that it was wrong to undergo FGM, she says: “Everyone encouraged me to go through it. At that time all my friends had undergone the initiation process and they felt that I was the only one who was different.”

Discrimination

Aziza can now testify to facing discrimination for not conforming to culture. She recalls how she was not allowed to associate with her peers because they viewed her as a child before them although they were of the same age.

Aziza continued to experience discrimination for some time and finally gave in due to the pressure around her. “I thought that was the worst thing I would ever experience in my life but I was mistaken,” she narrates wiping a tear from her eyes.

Coming from a poor family, it was as if Aziza’s fate had already been sealed since her father could not comfortably take care of her and the other 11 children. He decided to marry her off to a 49-year-old man, she was only 14.

According to Aziza, by that time, the wounds from FGM had not healed properly.

What disturbed her most was the fact that she was not ready to get married to someone who was as old as her father.

“At no point did I see this man as my husband; he was too old for me.”

However, the worst was yet to come for Aziza. “The night when I first slept in his house is the worst memory I shall forever carry with me. My first night on my matrimonial bed was a nightmare. I hated the man with all my heart considering I had not healed completely,” she says.

She says: “It was like going through the ordeal of FGM again. I cried the whole night and had to nurse my wounds again. Thereafter, I dreaded every night of my life with him but he

did not care about me or what I felt.

He kept on saying how he had paid dowry to my father.”

Her father was not going to entertain her complains considering the two camels and three goats get in exchange.

Aziza lived with her husband for two months but every day she was busy planning how to escape from the horrible life.

Escape mission

One day her husband’s friend visited to pay for a camel he was planning to buy from them. Her husband had not returned home and the man gave her KSh3,000 as down payment.

Aziza saw this as the opportunity she had been waiting for. All she did was to pack a bottle of water and two dresses in a paper bag and left the home as though she was going to the market.

“I went to the main road and boarded a lorry headed to Nairobi.

That was my day of salvation,” she recalls. Little did she know of what the future held for her. When she arrived in Nairobi, Aziza discovered that she was pregnant and alone in a town

“The news sounded like someone had pronounced a death sentence on me. My mother told the doctor that I had requested for tubal ligation to be performed during my delivery. She did not want me to have more children who would be a burden to her.”

— Aziza

Aziza doing laundry outside her house in Huruma. She was forcefully sterilised after her mother gave consent on finding out she was HIV positive. Below: A woman outside her manyatta in North Eastern Province. Pictures: Carolyne Oyugi and Abjata Khalif. where she had never been and knew no one.

She decided eke out a living by washing people’s clothes and cooking for them.

“One day a woman whom I used to wash clothes for advised me to go to the clinic for antenatal care. As expected, I was tested for HIV. I was very relaxed while waiting for my results because I knew that I had only slept with one man who was my husband,” she explains.

However, when she was called in for her results, the shocking revelation came that she was HIV positive. “At that time so many things ran through my mind. I thought of procuring an abortion and, thereafter, committing

suicide. However, after composing myself I decided that I have to go back to my family and tell them what has happened as a result of them forcing me to marry an old man as a third wife,” Aziza explains.

When she arrived home with the news, Aziza’s family did not welcome her. Her father told her to go back to her husband. When she tried going back to her husband, he accused her of being promiscuous and selling her body to men in Nairobi. He sent her out of his compound and demanded that Aziza’s family return the dowry he had paid.

Continued on page 5

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Forced into marriage and sterilisation

Continued from page 4 “My mother then took me in but for the period that I was there my father never came to her house. He only visited his other three wives.”

By the time Aziza went into labour, she was very weak and thin that she lost consciousness on the way to the hospital in Garissa.

“The weakness and the complications occasioned by FGM made the hospital to do Caesarean Section on her. I gained my consciousness three hours later to find my mother seated next to me on my hospital bed.”

Her mother was crying and begging for forgiveness. Aziza did not understand the cause of her sadness and immediately thought that her baby dead. When she asked about the baby, her mother cried even more.

At that juncture, a nurse informed Aziza that her child was born with chest complications and was in the nursery.

Still absorbing the shock about her son’s condition, Aziza remembers her mother saying she had instructed the doctor to perform tubal ligation on her.

“The news sounded like someone had pronounced a death sentence on me. My mother went on to explain how she hated the fact that I was HIV positive and according to her, I was going to die soon.

She did not want me to have more children who would be a burden to her. She even expected that all my children would be positive and, therefore, a liability to the family. She told the doctor that I had requested for tubal ligation to be performed during delivery,” explains Aziza.

“I hated my mother for that and did not talk to her for three months. My son also became weaker and weaker and at seven months, he died.”

To Aziza, that was the end of the road.

“One day I was left alone at home, everyone had gone to attend my cousin’s wedding. I figured that it was the perfect opportunity to execute my plan of suicide,” she says.

“I remember walking to where a goat was tied and untied it so that I could use the rope to hang myself.” “Fortunately or unfortunately, the wood on which I tied the rope was weak. When I put the rope over my neck and was ready to say my final prayers, I fell down. That is when reality dawned on me that I should be happy to be alive and that I need to take good care of myself.” Robbed womanhood Although still very bitter with her mother for taking it upon herself to make such an important decision on her behalf, Aziza regrets that the action robbed her of womanhood.

“It’s very painful for one to undergo all these experiences inflicted by your family and very close people, whom you trust. I did not choose to be born in this community neither did I choose to be poor but I am bearing the pain of being born in that family and also of being a woman from a poor background,” she says amid sobs.

Even though, Aziza has forgiven the doctor who performed the operation on her arguing that it was not ethical since they did not get her consent, she finds it hard to forgive her parents.

Aziza is still single and lives alone in Nairobi. She has never gone back to her home in Garissa for more than ten years and today sells clothes at Garissa Lodge in Nairobi. * Aziza’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Infected at 17, forcefully sterilised at 19, Nziza mourns the loss of her womanhood

By Carolyne Oyugi Mwende Nziza is sells women’s ornaments at the City Market. She has been doing this for the past 12 years and is happy with what she earns.

Though it is not much, she can at least pay her bills and save a little.

“I make an average of KSh30,000 per month and I thank God for it,” says Nziza while arranging wares at the stall ready for the day.

Nziza is 27 years old and a mother of an eight year-old boy. It is very easy to her walk past the stall without giving her much consideration.

However, a little chat with her will reveal so many painful experiences that this single mother has faced.

“I was born in Kibwezi town, Makueni District. My father is a retired pastor and my mother a retired teacher. Life was comfortable for us as I grew up. We were not rich but we had all that we needed,” she says.

When she was 17 years old, Nziza met this man whom she thought was very handsome. He was always neat and smart and she liked his scent.

“He used to wear expensive perfume,” she remembers. Her friend in high school also noticed the man and they were both interested in him.

Building interest

“Eventually the man got interested in me and he became my boyfriend,” she says.

“I later on learnt that he was a truck driver and was around in seasons. He would disappear for around two months and come back for another one month,” she narrates.

As expected, this man would shower her with presents when he came back and she felt loved.

“My mother was a disciplinarian and my father was busy with the church and so this man gave me the attention that I was lacking,” notes Nziza.

After being in a relationship with this man for more than a year they had protected sex regularly.

One day, however, she visited him as a surprise. He said that he was not expecting her and did not have any condoms.

He advised her to take emergency contraceptive afterwards incase she feared being pregnant. Nziza would later discover that this was just a trick so they could have unprotected sex from that day on.

“Whenever I asked for protection he questioned my trust. He even told me that if it was contracting a sexually transmitted disease then I would have contracted it on the first day we had unprotected sex,” she explains.

The visit

They then became very close and she would visit him regularly until one day her elder brother told her mother what she had been doing.

“My mother was very disappointed and she beat me thoroughly.

The following day she dragged me to a VCT centre so as to check my HIV

status.”

Luckily she was negative and she was advised to visit after three months for a follow up test.

“Before my next visit to the VCT, I found out that I was pregnant. My parents and siblings were very disappointed but at least they promised to support me in case the man responsible does not accept responsibility. The day came when I was to go back for the HIV and AIDS test came. That day I woke up very early and went to the VCT centre because I did not want my mother to accompany me,” she recalls.

No consent

Little did she know that the lady working at the centre was her mum’s friend. “I turned out to be positive but I had planned to keep it to myself until when I was ready to reveal my status. Surprisingly when I came back home I found my mother waiting at the gate. She told me to take anything that I think belongs to me in the house and go to the man who transmitted the deadly disease to me.”

Nziza later learnt that the lady at the VCT centre had informed her mother about her HIV status — an act that is unethical as confidentiality at a VCT centre is paramount.

When she went to the man’s house she found a woman and a child instead of her boyfriend. The woman introduced herself as the man’s wife.

“When I insisted that he was my boyfriend the woman told me something I will never forget. She asked me why I was fighting over a dying man. That is when I realised that this woman knew the husband’s status and both of them were on ARVs,” narrates Nziza.

“I wished the ground would open and swallow me,” she says with regret.

She went back to the mother’s house and after some persuasion from her aunties, her parents took her in. Life was not easy as her parents kept telling her that she was bad influence to the siblings and an embarrassment to the family. This proved to be a strain on Nziza.

“I decided to move to Nairobi and gave birth at Kenyatta National Hospital. During my prenatal care visits, a nurse kept insisting that I should undergo tubal ligation so as to stay healthy. She said giving birth was not good for HIV positive

Nziza, a bead seller. Nurses coerced her to opt for sterilisation by threatening to deny her child milk.

Picture: Kigondu Ndavano women because it involves losing blood and that will make me weak,” recalls Nziza.

She was not for the idea but then every nurse who attended to her was echoing the same sentiments.

This got her worried.

Nziza alleges that at a point, the nurses even threatened not to give her milk for her child if she did not undergo the operation reiterating that she would be back asking for milk again when she gave birth the second time.

“One day I met a woman who was in the same condition as mine.

She had been denied milk and had a hard time buying milk everyday for her daughter. That is when it dawned on me that that could be me in the next few months,” she said.

Nziza mulled over the idea of getting sterilised for some time. One

“When I insisted that he was my boyfriend the woman told me something I will never forget. She asked me why I was fighting over a dying man. That is when I realised that this woman knew the husband’s status and both of them were on ARVs.” — Nziza.

day she decided she would save her child’s life even if it means not giving birth again.

She knew that she would not breast feed the child and could also not afford to buy him milk. She then opted to undergo tubal ligation.

“I gave birth through caesarean section so that I could have the second operation done smoothly. Life has not been easy for me,” Nziza explains. She points out: “I usually have pains on the scar from where I was operated especially when I do heavy work.”

Lost feelings

Nziza says that her sexual feelings have been affected as well. “I have also lost my woman feelings.

I do not enjoy sex anymore. I don’t even think of it and this has affected my relationship with men,” she laments.

Fortunately for Nziza her son is fine and negative. Although she now wishes she could have another child, perhaps a daughter, all that is now just hope.

For Nziza, being unable to give birth is one of the reasons she is not yet married.

“Who would want to take care of another man’s child and not being able to have his?” she asks as we come to the end of our conversation.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Rape and kidnappings left a village devastated

In the last issue of the Reject we carried the story of the Bagalla massacre victims who are crying for justice. In this sequel, we look at the atrocities that were committed against women of Bagalla village

By Abjata Khalif For women survivors of Bagalla massacre, the night of October 24, 1998, was generous with a cool breeze blowing through the two villages of Buthutha and Bagalla, offering the pastoralist communities relief from the scorching sun that had ravaged the area during the day.

The night started with a flurry of activities with every member of the community undertaking their roles which included milking the cattle, goats and camel with others cooking ugali to be consumed by milk. There was a group that was busy preparing the milking gourd with traditionally selected trees with scent and using burnt firewood to pass scent into the traditional milking gear.

The youths who were entrusted with the duty of herding the livestock would be seen sitting with the leaders listening to the radio from their respective traditional huts hoping to catch up with the rest of the world through vernacular radio broadcast.

On this day however, unknown to them, it was only hours to a large scale massacre as contingent of local boys from neighbouring districts and the dreaded Oromo Liberation Front Forces were closing in on the two villages.

Celebration

But for the community, after completing the traditional chores and taking their portion of the evening meal, an upbeat mood engulfed the two villages as traditional ushers mobilised young men and women to converge in an area between the two villages for traditional songs known as Sarki.

The song is usually played during a period when there is plenty of water and pasture and it is time for brave young herders to show their traditional dancing prowess as they receive ululation, praise and cheer leading skills. Young herders who normally participate in the sarki dance are overwhelmed with praise from young women who take knives to put marks on their hands as a sign of bravery.

However, that bravery was not needed in the sarki dance that night

but the energy of the young men was needed to defend the community from strong forces of armed Oromo militias and local youths from Marsabit and Moyale who were about to unleash large scale attack.

In the wee hours of the night when the attack happened, many people were killed. The elderly and injured youths who could not escape were sprayed with bullets.

Young girls who were part of the sarki dancers were abducted and taken to Ethiopia to start a new life.

Many women were beaten and gang raped.

Separation

According to Asha Abdi, one of the cheer leading girls in the sarki dance, after the ceremony, people retired to their traditional huts as they rested their tired limbs ready to face the next day. The young men were getting ready to take the calves to watering points and milk to various centres like Arbajahan and Eldas.

However this was never to happen. Asha was among hundreds of young girls who were separated by the Oromo militia to one side of the two villages and gang raped by various men before they were taken across the border and separated from their families.

“We retired to sleep after the song only for us to hear heavy gunfire around our village four hours later. Moments later, young armed men knocked down every door and flushed out occupants to one area, where we saw hundreds of uniformed armed men. Soon we realised they were not Kenyans but Oromo from Ethiopia because of their dialect.”

Asha, who could not control her tears during the interview with the Reject said: “I was dragged out of the hut and taken to a separate area where other girls were surrounded by armed men. The Oromo men flanked and guarded by young boys from Marsabit and Moyale ordered everybody to strip naked.” She adds: “They checked our breasts and bottom and ordered the young girls to go to one side and others

were taken to separate area.”

Asha soon realised that her group comprised of young girls. Her married colleagues were taken to another direction. However, hell broke loose for Asha and the other young girls as the Oromo men raped them in turns.

“I was held by three men and raped in my first sexual experience.

Others were slapping me and another one was hitting my hands with a stick. It was horrible as all the three men raped me in turns,” says Asha.

She explains: “When they were done they called the young boys from neighbouring districts to take their

Halima Abdi putting up her traditional home in Bagalla turn. I felt pain and started bleeding. area. Below: Fatuma Muhamed outside her hut during the I could not walk when they ordered interview on the massacre in Buthutha area. She lost her three me to. I was among the injured and daughters to the oromo raiders. Pictures: Abjata Khalif bleeding girls who were beaten so that we could walk with the armed men while they were fleeing.” area where we got support from other sands of affected people and evacuAnother of the Bagalla rape survipastoralist communities. They gave ated unconscious people to Wajir and vors Bishara Ahmed was in the group us water and showed us the way to other hospitals in the region. of women who were taken to sepaArbajahan area of Wajir where we reHassan Nur a survivor of the viorate area after she failed the checkported the matter to the police and the lence and an elder of Bagalla recalled ing test. Bishara was by then married administration but no assistance was how the armed men were using rape with one child and that showed that availed to us.” to humiliate the men and parents of the Oromo men were only interested The raid saw many parents lose the girls before killing them. in the young unmarried girls to abtheir daughters to the armed men.

Hassan was among hundreds of duct to Ethiopia.

The people of Bagalla accuse the elders who were separated from the They were beaten together with Government of failing to assist them women to facilitate the rape. other young women and raped rein returning back their daughters “I was beaten as my private parts peatedly by armed men who surwho are held against their wish in were squeezed with metals. It was rounded the village. “We were raped Ethiopian villages. painful and I begged them to kill me by armed men who took us under but they took me to the venue where a tree in Buthutha village and they they were carrying out the rape. I was used all manner of torture and haFatuma Muhamed, a mother of devastated and shocked by what I rassment on us,” explains Bishara. five is traumatised as she lost her three saw. I heard girls screaming including She remembers after being raped one daughters to the armed men. She is my daughter who was crying out my man inserted a gun butt in her vagistill calling on the Government to name but I could not help her as I was na as another pointed his gun at her help bring back her daughters. also a captive.” mouth, while the other women were Fatuma says the abduction brought Hassan explains: “I was taken being raped and beaten. her frustration, misery, hopelessness back to where other men were held and trauma. She has developed variand some youths and energetic elders ous ailments as a result of rememberwrestled down three armed men and The atmosphere was bad and cries ing her daughters, how they were took their arms and started scaring engulfed the two villages due to torraped, beaten and taken away from others who were standing far from ture, killings, rape and beatings.

1998 to date. the scene. A moment of confusion Bishara and others were left “I lost Halima, Abdia and Adey in ensued in the area as the fighters unconscious and the armed men the raid. I will forever remember my could not differentiate between us thought they were dead. She and innocent young daughters. I have no and their colleagues. We took advanother women were unconscious for girls to assist me and the pain of lostage of the darkness and fled the area three days without assistance and they ing them has affected my health and towards Marsabit.” were saved by International Crescent I fear I might die before seeing them Elaborates Hassan: “After walking for the Red Cross (ICRC) which took back and justice is done,” she said for four hours, we changed direction humanitarian assistance to the thouamid sobs. and walked south toward Arbajahan

Trauma

Unconscious

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

7

Deaf brothers prove sceptics wrong

By WAIKWA MAINA As the young men in Nyeri spend the day whining about lack of jobs, two brothers who are both deaf and dumb are the talk of the town with their income generating projects that are a runway success.

Despite their disability, Peter Mwangi Njung’e and Francis Waweru Njung’e are major suppliers of some of the best pool tables and furniture in Central Kenya towns.

Their quality of work has attracted high profile customers including parastatals, private and public institutions as well as individuals among others.

It is not possible to easily notice their hearing challenges until you seek their services.

“If you can do one thing well, you are needed by someone. The only disability in life is a bad attitude,” says Mwangi during the interview with Reject.

Their workshop, located at Grogon Road within sprawling Kiawara slums in Nyeri Township, has created job opportunities for more than 20 young people with similar challenges.

“We decided to employ them in order to give them hope in life. We wanted them to learn that they can do constructive things other than wasting their lives in the streets begging,” explains Waweru.

Training

He adds: “We are happy that a good number of people with impairment challenges have transformed their lives after training and working with us.”

While the two may be deaf and dumb, they have another brother who is always available to help communicate with customers who do not understand the sign language spoken by the two.

However, the two try as much as possible to ensure that they communicate with customers themselves.

Both Mwangi and Waweru studied at Kerugoya School for the deaf and later at Nyang’oma Technical School for the Deaf in Siaya District, Nyanza Province.

After the training in Siaya, the United States Agency International Development (USAID) gave them seed money to start a small business.

“The donor boosted us to start the business after completing our training. USAID gave us a wood plying machine, a grinder and a drilling machine. We started a small workshop with the tools,” says Waweru.

“Our major business is making of pool tables which we sell to small, medium and five star entertainment joints. We also make all types of domestic and office furniture and that is why we had to train and employ such a large number of workers,” explains Waweru.

He adds: “Our brother assists when we get customers who cannot understand sign language. Business is good since most customers are happy with our workmanship.”

Role models

The ambitious and innovative brothers had a dream of building an empire using the skills they acquired as well as being role models to people with similar disabilities.

However, an attempt to get more resources in addition to what the USAID had given did not succeed since many institutions were reluctant to offer them financial assistance.

Luckily, they managed to secure a loan from a local financial institution, which helped them move to phase two of their investment plan.

“We gave them KSh100,000 under the Poverty Eradication Programme by the Government. We had no reason not to trust them as everyone needs to be given a chance to prove their worth without discrimination,” says Geoffrey Ritho, Taifa Sacco Marketing Manager.

To the surprise of the Sacco officials, the two have been prompt in servicing their loan.

“We do not follow to remind them, they are always in time. They have already expressed their wish to have an additional KSh200, 000 loan once they clear the current loan,” says Ritho. Mwangi notes: “We are not seeking for favours, we are in business like any other investor.”

The two brothers are the sole bread winners for their families. However it has not been easy as they have faced discrimination.

“This stigmatisation begins with parents and relatives at home. It is felt more at the community level when a child is growing up,” observes Mwangi. He notes: “The other major

“If you can do one thing well, you are needed by someone.

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”

— Peter Mwangi Njung’e

Peter Mwangi Njung’e and Francis Waweru Njung’e who are deaf and dumb are major suppliers of some of the best pool tables and furniture in Central Kenya towns.

Pictures: Waikwa Maina challenge is lack of adequate specialised learning institutions and the few that are there are poorly equipped.”

Most of the physically challenged people have talents that go to waste since as children, they are not given equal opportunities to exploit their potential.

Mwangi would like the Government to come up with a policy and programmes that spell out how parents can help physically challenged children to realise their dreams.

General elections linked to ethnic clashes in Moyale

By EKUWAM ADOU Explosive tribal fightings have been going on in the upper eastern region town of Moyale.

The ethnic clashes that rocked the town are estimated to have left 20 people dead and many more injured in what is being seen as pre-election violence. It is being rumoured among the residents that the recurrent tribal clashes are tied to political positions in the forthcoming General Elections.

Unconfirmed reports put the death toll at over 20 people have been killed by Friday last week in the fight pitting warring Borana and Gabra communities.

The communities’ members are angling for the upcoming gubernatorial elective positions in the devolved government.

Among those killed was a chief accused of being involved in the conflict while dozens of houses were set ablaze by hand grenades.

Conflicting reports on the death toll emerged with the Government putting the

death toll at five. Civilians, including local leaders, put the figure at over 20.

Moyale District Commissioner Elias Kithaura said intense fighting between the two communities had been going on for the last three days of last week.

“The bloodletting has intensified, heavy gunfire was heard from all directions. However, the battleground is the border town of Butte, about two kilometres from the town centre,” explained Kithaura

Uncertainty

Upper Eastern Regional Commissioner Isaiah Nakoru said authorities could not establish the number of those who have died due to the intensity of the fighting but added that five bodies had been collected by the police.

Speaking in Moyale Nakoru said: “We are unable to ascertain the number of those killed or injured but it’s possible more could have been killed given the scenario.”

Reports indicate that the conflict has taken a new dimension where combatants used light weapons such as machine guns, mortars, grenades and bazookas.

The Kenyan Army has been forced to deploy personnel to quell the violence which is threatening to get out of hand.

Regular, administration and General Service Unit police officers were overwhelmed by the intensity of the fighting between the two sides, prompting the intervention of the army based at Odha Camp. ‘‘The security limited its patrol to the town centre as the fighting went on in the surrounding villages. Nothing was done until 2 pm when the army intervened,” said a Moyale trader yesterday who requested anonymity.

The conflict had left more than 10,000 Kenyans camping in Ethiopia’s Region Four and Five and 80 per cent of local schools closed.

However, both locals and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission attribut-

ed politics of the next general elections as the major cause of the conflict.

The fighting which has degenerated into street violence between the two rival communities, has heightened political temperatures in Marsabit County.

Political alliance

The dominant Borana and Gabra communities are gunning for governor seat.

The Gabra are building a formidable political alliance with other fringe communities including Burji, Rendille, Turkana and Garre which is threatening the political power grip of the dominant Borana community.

Political analysts view the current skirmishes as a ploy to destabilise and create fear as well as anarchy among the communities working on a political alliance.

The violence coming ahead of General Elections is seen as a smokescreen and a painful reminder of the effects of 2008 post-elections violence.

8

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

A display of leadership beyond disability

By Carolyne Oyugi Godliver Omondi is on a wheelchair but to her this is just a condition that has nothing to do with leadership qualities.

She has been a leader in the disabled people’s movement and has been fighting for the rights of the people living with disabilities.

“I believe that to be able to fight for the rights of the disabled people one has to be aggressive, focused and have issues at hand that they want to address,” observes Omondi.

She notes that people living with disability have been depending on others for finances and even movement.

Omondi believes that she is in a position to access youth and women with disabilities.

“Women play a big role in the family and community at large. It pains me when I see both able and disabled women, housewives and mothers having difficulties in accessing essential services. They have to go through someone who connects them to someone. I would like to have a situation where women go directly to service providers and save a lot of time and money,” reiterates Omondi.

According to Omondi, when policies are not friendly, one cannot force policy makers to change them as a person until they join them.

She is happy that women are already inheriting land with some parents allocating land to girls just as they do to their male siblings.

“People are appreciating change and apart from the illegal land transactions being done in big offices between lawyers, women have moved many steps ahead,” she observes.

Omondi who has three children of her own and three adopted orphans, plans to contest a seat in the coming general elections on an Orange Democratic Movement Party (ODM).

Her biggest problem right now is

finances.

“You cannot manage a campaign without resources. You have to move around, print and distribute posters to be able to communicate to the general public. This is only possible through an established political party,” she observes.

Omondi reveals that she could have contested on an independent party ticket but due to lack of money, this is impossible.

She regrets that there are politicians who divide people and hinder development. The common man and woman need someone who brings everyone on board, initiates development programmes, cares for disadvantaged groups in the community and promotes equality as stated in the Constitution.

“Men are rich and can pull resources to facilitate their campaigns unlike women. Most of them are also involved in unlawful practices like buying votes during elections and influencing the results,” she notes.

Omondi believes that male politicians don’t give a listening ear, they are voted in and then disappear.

“I wish the Government could give consideration to people living with disabilities when it comes to pricing of goods. Most disabled people are poor, they do not have a stable means of income and most of them are involved in small businesses that bring very little profit,” Omondi explains.

She notes that most disabled peo-

ple have turned into beggars and calls for consideration when pricing commodities to enable them purchase them.

Omondi believes that women are not their own enemies as most people assume but it is just that they have been misled by the men to think like that.

However, she believes women know better now because a good number have read the Constitution and will make decisions from an informed position.

“In the past, women only supported their fellow women by word of mouth but did not vote, times have changed and the future looks bright,” she said.

According to Omondi, some women have not accepted change, especially in the remote parts of the village.

They are being bought without thinking and she thinks it is high time women became proactive.

“I feel very sad when I see women bought with bananas to influence their voting. That is a sign that something is seriously wrong somewhere. That is what I am trying to solve,” she reiterates.

She is also impressed with the youths in her County who are now changing and embracing peace.

As the treasurer of the County Peace Committee Omondi has seen this change grow step by step.

Though it is happening at a slow

“I wish the Government could give consideration to people living with disabilities when it comes to pricing of goods.

Most disabled people are poor, they do not have a stable means of income.”

— Godlive Omondi, Chair, United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK)

Godliver Omondi was a delegate at a Women’s Leadership Convention held recently at the Bomas of Kenya. pace, she is optimistic it will be impressive very soon.

Omondi has been receiving support from the ground and believes that it is because of her hard work.

“In leadership and politics in particular, you should prove yourself before you present yourself to the public.

I believe that people trust me because I

have always addressed them in public functions, on local radio when advising women and youth and tackling general problems,” she observes.

Omondi is the National chairman of the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK) and is vocal about the rights of people living with disability.

Sickle cell keeps girl out of university

By YUSUF AMIN At the age of 22, Sheila Mwashinga was very optimistic that she would complete her Bachelor of Commerce course at Pwani University College successfully.

She hoped to fulfil her dream of becoming one of the few educated women in the Kilifi County, and a role model to others.

Her dream now seems to have been shattered following an attack of epilepsy, which has completely interfered with her studies at the university.

Irregular attendance

The illness has led her missing classes for almost one year in spite of her commitment to her studies. Even notes given to her by her classmates who visit her regularly at home at Marembo Village in Kilifi town could not help.

Mwashinga says she began having epileptic attacks when she joined primary school in the early nineties. But at the time, they were not severe. Now, the bouts get her to fall and lose consciousness. Speaking to the Reject at her home, Mwashinga said that she has been looking for assistance from well-wishers to

sponsor her for treatment in the United States of America (USA). However, she has not been able to raise the required amount.

False hope

“A well-wisher from John Hopkins asked me to raise KSh1.8m to meet the expenses for my treatment in the USA after expressing my problem through the Internet. This offer also went in vain as I could not raise the amount of money,” she says.

Mwashinga says that she tried to look for other local sponsors and hold fundraising functions but no one turned up.

All the fundraising meetings that were organised by her mother Harriet Rehema Charo, a health worker at Kilifi District Hospital failed.

“I tried to call for assistance from my friends, my lecturers at Pwani University, local politicians but no one turned up for my help to raise the Ksh1.8 million needed,” said the disappointed youth. “Now I am a worried about my future as no one is showing interest in helping me,” says Mwashinga while sobbing.

Mwashinga says that she had high hopes of supporting her mother in future

and the entire community to fight poverty. However, her dream might not be realised if no one comes to her aid.

Her mother Charo, reveals that she has spent a lot of money in seeking medication for her daughter but the problem keeps on becoming complicated everyday.

Her mother Charo, who is a single parent, says that one side of her daughter’s body was getting paralysed and some of the nerves are inactive.

Appeal for help

Charo explains that her daughter has lost appetite. The mother worries that her daughter’s life is in danger. She calls upon wellwishers to help her get treatment for her daughter’s ailment.

As she hopes for funding to secure treatment, Mwashinga now ponders her next move. “Is this the end of my dream? Where is my community? And where are our leaders from this County? Where are educated women who value education to assist me?” she asks, voicing her frustrations.

Sheila with her mother Harriet Rehema Charo in their shamba at their home at Marembo village in Kilifi town. The disease is almost threatening to cut short her university education.

Pictures: Yusuf Amin

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Young girls return to school in droves after rape

By MARION NDETA Sexual violence against women is a prevalent vice in the society especially in urban centres. Nonetheless, with continued activism, victims are coming out to speak about it, even seeking justice and counselling. Thanks to the Sexual Offenses Act 2006 sponsored by former nominated MP Njoki Ndung’u, the rights of victims and serious punishment for offenders is guaranteed.

Induced abortions

The Guttmacher Institute reports that the dangers of a self–induced abortion are revolting, with a 2003 report on Eastern Africa indicating that one in five maternal deaths were due to unsafe abortions.

It is against this backdrop that Nicole Lim, a humanitarian photographer and filmmaker founded Freely in Hope, a non-governmental organisation that seeks to proactively initiate love and compassion toward those in desperate circumstances.

Recounting how it all started, Lim says that she had been a witness to countless images that portrayed the “third world” as a place of despair. She therefore sought to leverage stories that empower, restore and transform.

While working on one of her projects in Kenya; While Women Weep, twenty-two year old Lim came across disturbing information. She discovered that rape is common, especially among Kenya’s poor and vulnerable schoolgirls. She also found out that majority of women who live in extreme poverty lack essential resources and awareness needed to survive.

“Young girls struggle to feed their families, afford rent and pay for their education. Given such limited opportunities, many young girls feel they have no other option but to resort to prostitution to pay for their daily living expenses,” she learned.

Support

“As I was learning more about the plight of women in Africa, my good friend in Kenya sent me a message about her classmate, Karen* who was the same age as me. As a young, unemployed single mother, she lived in abject poverty. Karen’s primary goal was to continue her education at Kenya Polytechnic University.”

She continued that despite the turmoil Karen was facing as a rape victim, she was still looking forward to better her life through education.

“Karen needed an opportunity to continue her studies to pursue her goal

Better housing for prison officers

By JOY MONDAY

The statistics

According to the Nairobi Women’s Hospital, a woman is raped every 30 minutes. The Centre for Reproductive Rights (CRR) further reports that annually, more than 13,000 girls are kicked out of school for being pregnant.

Rape victims are often forced to leave their homes, left to fend for themselves and raise children borne from the ordeal alone.

As young girls are not financially stable, unplanned pregnancies often lead to abortions. Many girls find ways to procure abortions as they feel unprepared to raise children.

9

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Women from the informal settlement at a micro-enterprise training workshop in Kibera.

Photographer Nicole Lim with a young beneficiary of the education programme.

Pictures: Marion Ndeta of becoming a psychological counsellor for girls who have been victims of rape. So she did all sorts of manual work including laundering clothes for people early in the morning before school or after classes,” Lim observes.

Lim was moved by Karen’s story that she immediately sent her $350 (KSh28, 000) to pay for her term’s school fees. “Through my support, Karen rose to the very top of her class and is an example for other women who have been sexually abused,” says Lim adding that Karen’s success was so compelling that she thought about the millions of other girls worldwide who are also in need of the same opportunity.

Lim notes that through Karen’s story, she felt the need to start an organisation to provide spiritual, educational and economic empowerment for girls worldwide.

“I thought that maybe, God was calling me to be part of something greater. A part of stories that could change not only my life, but the lives of so many other women who are vulnerable to sexual abuse,” she adds.

Success story

Lim reveals that “Freely in Hope” then came up and is today assisting young girls worldwide.Two years down the line, Karen has now completed her Diploma in Counselling Psychology and has plans to enroll at the University to cut an edge for herself in this discipline.

“I am a student and a proud mother of a 4 year-old son. My hope is to counsel other young women who, like me, have experienced trauma,” says Karen.

Karen hopes to find a decent paying job so as to afford her son’s education and take care of her mother who has supported her throughout her struggles.

Jenny*a fifteen year old is another alumni of “Freely In Hope.” She is waiting to join the university and pursue a

career in journalism. She was 13 years old when she was accosted and raped by three men wielding knives while on her way to attend extra coaching classes.

“I had strong abdominal pains after the rape, and the medicines I took caused a problem in my stomach,” she says with a wince.

Jenny says that the rape was so dramatic for her that she did poorly in form one. “It was hard for me to concentrate in school because I was one of only a few girls in that school. I always hated the boys as I felt insecure,” she says.

Rape survivor

In an attempt to commit suicide, Jenny swallowed a great deal of medicine. When she didn’t die, she took a knife and cut her arm. “I’m a survivor of rape, but God has given me more strength than I had. He saved me and I know He has a greater purpose for me in life.” Jenny notes with a smile.

In its two years of existence, Freely in Hope has provided girls with opportunities for education, and equipped young women and mothers with micro-entrepreneurial skills.

In partnership with Empowering Lives International, a non-governmental organisation, Freely in Hope has sponsored 20 women from Kibera slum to a three month training programme to equip them with ideas on what to do to beat poverty.

The young organisation has dedicated itself to combating social prob-

lems such as poverty, sexual abuse, lack of education opportunities and forced labour amongst women.

“We pay for women’s education, their entrepreneurship and counselling courses in helping uplift them from poverty and decrease the vulnerabilities of sexual abuse,” Lim adds.

However the organisation faces many challenges including high expectations from prospective clients.

“Interestingly, some come with unrealistic expectations and demand money or food to take to their children, yet we are training them to be self reliant,” says Lim.

Challenges

Lim notes that some girls are really willing to be in school, but have no one to take care of their children, hence posing another challenge to the organisation.

Strangely for the organisation, parents too have their conditions to be met once their daughters are put on the programme. “Some demand that their daughters cater for their children’s upkeep while others become so hostile that they won’t even allow their daughters back home on school holidays because they want them married and dowry paid, claiming that the girls are wasting time in school,” adds Lim. The NGO scope of operation is too a challenge as it does not allow the organisation to girls outside the designated area of operation.

Officers would soon be able to sleep in comfort following the on going construction of a multi-million housing project. The construction of decent housing units at some correctional facilities across the country has been completed and ready for occupation by officers.

At the Kitale main GK Prison, the construction of the officer’s houses is almost complete. Ahmed Rashid, the head of all prison facilities in Kitale, Kapenguria and Lodwar said over 10 housing units have been completed at the Kitale GK Main and others were under construction.

“Some units are complete and soon will be occupied by the officers. The project is a milestone towards achieving desirable changes in our facilities,” said Rashid, who is also in-charge at Kitale GK Main Prison.

Rashid said officers have in the past lived in dilapidated shelters which portrayed them as marginalised forces.

He said the officers play a vital role to rehabilitated criminals and hence required decent living to accomplish their responsibility.

“In the past, the officers lacked vital basic needs and it becomes difficult for one to commit his or her time to rehabilitate prisoners. The project among other incentives would change the image of the force,” added Rashid.

The officers, he said will now be dedicated to their work and responsibility to ensure the institutions match with the current realities in offender management.

“With the ongoing reforms, the officer’s morale will be boosted and will help us apply modern and dynamic approaches to handle the containment and rehabilitation of the offenders,” he said.

Officers lauded the reforms at the Kenya Prison Service (KPS) lamenting that they were in the past decades demoralised by lack of proper shelter among other basic requirements.

“It has been our dream to be provided with decent houses.

Images of dilapidated houses portrayed us in insignificance in the force yet we play a crucial role in rehabilitating offenders,” said a prison warden who requested anonymity.

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ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Quest for sand harvesting work leads youth into early graves

By MACHARIA MWANGI It is a casual job laced with grave danger but acts as the sole source of income for youths in the sun baked Ihindu area in the outskirts of Naivasha town. So potent is the hazard that young women are becoming widows at an early age.

But the lure for sand harvesting activities in the sun-baked area has become irresistible, especially for jobless youths out to eke a living as the spiraling food prices takes its toll on the masses.

Dangerous tunnels

A spot check indicates than 10 sand harvesters have perished while scooping sand inside dangerous tunnels in less than a decade. Buried alive, the memories of those witnessing the incidents leave them shellshocked.

Despite the oblivious perils, the youths, most of them without sound academic credentials have limited choices. They have to troop every morning to work in the sand mines to earn a living.

With teary eyes due to swiveling dust, 24-year-old, Peter Boro Kariuki sums up the hazardous job. “It is a dog’s life, but it remains the only viable option that we have at the moment,” said the father of one.

The dust is irritating and perhaps predisposing them to chest problems.

However, several sweaty men, including Kariuki seem least concerned.

Having dropped out of school in class four, he cannot comprehend any other way of survival apart from harvesting sand.

“I have watched my peers perish.

It is frightening but after such a burial, it is back to business for all of us.

We try to save victims but we often lose the fight midway,” he said with a trail of bitterness.

Low pay

The returns are not anything to write home about. To fill a lorry with sand, Kariuki and his colleagues mostly four, earns a meager KSh1, 500 with KSh500 going to the landowner.

“We are left to share the remaining KSh1, 000 with each taking home KSh200 or less after deducting some overhead costs,” said the eloquent Kariuki.

The meager pay is attributed to the stiff competition among the sand harvesters with the buyers benefiting from the turf wars that leave the collectors who do the donkey work wallowing in poverty.

“We are our own worst enemies. We reduce prices in order to get customers.

This has only increased the cycle of poverty,” said Kariuki. Despite being exposed

to exploitation, most of the harvesters have resigned to fate praying for perhaps happier days ahead. However, each passing day, disillusionment seems to be getting better of them.

Widows

Widows have their story to tell, with 53-year-old, Agnes Wairimu Kabiru having endured hardships to educate her four children after her husband died more than 25 years ago.

“He was among the first victims of sand harvesting activities in the 1986,” said the aging widow with sadness.

Wanjiru only secured a recently, cooking job at a local secondary school. She considers the job lucrative enough to assure her of being able to put food on the table.

“At least I now have what I can refer to as a stable job,” she said.

However, Wanjiru is agonising about one of her sons who still engages in sand harvesting activities despite his father having died while carrying out the risky business. “I tried dissuading him from engaging in the risky activity but could not to offer him an alternative,” added Kabiru.

Her tale is similar to others left behind by sand harvesting victims, with majority of them still wallowing in poverty, struggling to support huge families.

Nancy Wambui Kamau, a mother of 10 is a classical example of what the widows are going through. “My husband died while harvesting sand in 2002. Since then, I have been forced to do menial jobs to feed my children,” she said.

With the huge financial burden, the middle-aged woman is barely surviving and has to depend on wellwishers to shoulder the yoke. “Most of the times I am forced to solicit for alms to feed by children,” she recounted the sad tale.

Wambui was forced out of her farm after her late husband allegedly sold off the parcel of land in unclear circumstances. “My life has become a great struggle,” she said bitterly.

Struggle to survive

Another widow, Agnes Nyambura, a mother of six, is also experiencing problems after her husband died while harvesting sand early this year. “He went missing for three days before we realised a wall had caved in and buried him alive,” said the woman tearfully.

Nyambura’s husband met his

death soon after he left his house.

“His death was as tragic as the news,” said Nyambura with her youngest son aged three tugging at her skirt.

Area councilor, Samuel Waithuki is now appealing to the government to come to the aid of the widows who are living in abject poverty. “Just like the internally displaced persons, the widows need support from the government to get on with their lives,” said the civic leader.

The outspoken civic leader claimed people have lost lives while harvesting land within the Ihindu area and its environs, including Maa Mahiu. “These deaths should be a matter of concern to policy holders,” he said.

He called on strategists through the various environmental bodies to assist the sand harvesters as they go through their work and possibly minimise such incidents.

He decried the cycle of poverty among the harvesters, saying with better policies most of them could actually benefit from the harvesting job through values addition.

“I have watched my peers perish. It is frightening but after such a burial, it is back to business for all of us. Many are the times we try to save victims but we often lose the fight midway.”

— Peter Boro Kariuki

From top: Sand harvesters at their place of work in Ihindu in the outskirts of Naivasha town. Nancy Wambui Kamau (and inset) at the site where her husband was buried after he died while scooping sand in Ihindu area, Naivasha. Pictures: Macharia Mwangi

Cosmetic business picking up in Kenya

By Samuel Kipsang A frenzy of activity is what characterised the hair and cosmetic trade in the past one year. There are many Kenyans who are taking to the industry with zeal, confidence and glamour. Hair and cosmetics shops are opening up in most urban centres as well as rural trading centres.

In rural Kenya, hair and cosmetic shops are opening up at a rate comparable to eating places, bars, and butcheries.

While one may think that economic recession and inflation could have had a big blow to beauty shops and saloons, this is not so. When Julius Kenduiwa, opened his hair and cosmetics’ shop at Mulot Central in Narok South District, he thought it was going to take some time before picking up. However, this was not the case as it picked up almost immediately.

“Even if there is no money to buy food, a visit to a salon is a must for women,” he observes. The craze for a trendy and glamorous look coupled with good business returns is what is currently nurturing the industry.

Africa, being a rising consumer of hair and cosmetics, should place itself strategically to reap from the trade. Currently Kenya imports most of its wigs, hair extensions and hair pieces from China as well as majority of the cosmetics which are produced for the mass market.

A tour of rural salons-cum-cosmetic shops reveals that consumers are not going for expensive products such as the extensions known as human hair. Emilly Cherono who manages a salon-cum-cosmetics shop at Mulut Central Shopping Centre says that human hair costs about KSh2, 000 or more. “I understand human hair has its market in Nairobi but not here,” she says.

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Child labour impacting negatively on education

By BEN OROKO Child being engaged in domestic work continues to impact negatively on the gains the country has achieved through Free Primary Education (FPE). This development has stakeholders in the education industry worried.

Officials of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Manga Branch, Nyamira County, are worried by the cases of children being engaged in work. They say child labour has negative impact on children’s access to universal primary education.

Cheap labour

Branch Executive Secretary Nicholas Nyang’au lamented that rampant cases of children providing cheap labour in the brick making industry has negatively affected children’s access to free primary education offered in all public primary schools.

Speaking to the Reject, Nyanga’au challenged parents and other stakeholders to consider addressing the problem of child labour in the region, blaming the situation on poor perfor-

“Rampant cases of children dropping out of school to provide cheap labour in brick making is worrying as it compromises their academic future.”

— Nicholas Nyang’au

mance in national examinations and declining education standards.

“Rampant cases of children dropping out of school to provide cheap labour in brick making is worrying as it compromises their academic future,” observed Nyang’au.

He warned parents against engaging their children in child labour at the expense of education.

Nyang’au regretted that A child engaging in domestic chores at the expense of her education. the action violated children’s Pictures: Ben Oroko. right to access quality education under the Free Primary Education programme. to engage their children in domestic noted that such moves compromised Nyang’au blamed the situation on chores during school sessions. delivery of quality results in examinaweak curriculum delivery in majority tions and school-based academic perof the schools in the area, leading to formance. poor performance and wanting acaNyang’au also blamed poor perforHowever, Nyang’au lamented that demic standards. mance on local political interference increase in pupils enrolling for Free He noted that parents and children in the running of schools. He cited Primary Education (FPE) programme were to blame for poor results in ex- cases where some councillors fronted had led to poor curriculum delivery aminations and declining academic their cronies to head certain schools in local schools due to understaffing standards in the area. Nyang’au said while some parents favoured teach- and an overloaded syllabus that overthat teachers in majority of the schools ers from their clans to either head or whelmed teachers, compromising the fulfilled their duties, only for parents teach in their clan-based schools. He quality of service delivery.

Political interference

Browning of teeth leaves a community desperate

By KIPKOECH KOSONEI “It saddens me to see my children having brown teeth,” says Naiswako Kentaiya, a mother of nine from Embolioi Village in Transmara West District in Kenya. “I wish they could be removed and replaced with white ones,” she says with resignation written all over her face.

Kentaiya has two sets of children in her home: her first six children with brown teeth and the last three with white teeth. For the six, the browning of their teeth followed a common pattern; in their infancy, each had beautiful white milk teeth, but a brown coating would always formed on the new permanent set almost instantaneously.

Dirty water

“I knew it was the dirty water we were using that made their teeth to become bad, but there was nothing we could do to avoid it,” she says.

Less than a mile away from Kentaiya’s home is Kingasinya Shaai, a mother of six who is equally unhappy with the look in her children’s face because of brown teeth.

“My children are shy and afraid to smile. I fear my daughters may not get suitors to marry when they grow up because of their poor teeth,” says Shaai.

Like many others in their neighbourhood, Kentaiya and Shaai’s children are victims of dental fluorosis, a health condition caused by too much intake of fluoride during tooth development.

Although Kentaiya like others in her community could associate the browning of teeth of her children to water, she does not understand the actual elements that are responsible for bringing about the condition. Like many, she always thought it is the brown colour of water from Mara River as well as other seasonal streams and water pans that she relies on for the commodity that was responsible for staining her children’s teeth. However, she could not understand why this strange phenomenon mainly affected children.

“We never had this problem where I grew up in Kilgoris because the water there was clean,” observes Kentaiya. She says her parents always wonder what became of her children’s teeth

whenever she visits them.

This is a dilemma that Kentaiya and hundreds of other people living in Embolioi Village were facing until a year ago, when a borehole sunk by World Vision in the area with funding support from the Systma family in the US was commissioned.

A year earlier, there was pre-mature jubilation in the village when crystal clear water gushed out of the borehole, only to be declared unfit for human consumption due to high fluoride levels.

The otherwise clean water from the borehole had recorded fluoride levels of 5mg/litre, about two times higher than the Kenya Bureau of Standard’s acceptable level of 3mg/litre and four times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) level of 1.5 mg/litre for drinking water.

Every household in Kirindon and Emurua Dikirr has a case of dental fluorosis especially among children according to Noah Kiprop, a water engineer at World Vision’s Kirindon office.

He says: “This is a result of the high level of fluoride in most ground water sources in the area.”

Solution

The new setback left the community in Embolioi a bewildered lot not understanding how clear water from a ground source could be classified unsafe for drinking. For another one year, the borehole remained unused as an appropriate solution was sought. In the end, a simple but highly effective de-fluoridation unit was secured and installed.

For the first time, smiles began to be seen among the residents. The de-fluoridation unit is a simple cylinder measuring about eight inches in diameter by 24 inches in height with an inlet pipe connecting to the main pipeline carrying raw water from the borehole at the top and an outlet at the bottom connecting to the tap at the dispensing point.

It is a pre-assembled and ready-to-install

technology containing a filtration chamber lined with calcium which traps fluoride elements as water passes through it. According to health experts the unit is designed to remove up to 99.9 per cent fluoride from water.

The simple technology does not use any chemicals, electricity, drain-line or media regeneration to function. Other than the 0.35 micron pre-filters replaced approximately every six months, the system does not require any other maintenance for the entire lifespan of approximately three years or after treating approximately 300,000 gallons (1,135,500 litres) of water.

Samples taken after installation of the unit revealed a drastic reduction of fluoride levels from 5mg/litre to 0.4mg/litre, a range properly falling within the WHO acceptable level of fluoride in drinking water. The unit has a flow rate of 1.8m³/hr of water which can serve up to 90 people with 20 litres of water each.

“We were keen to adopt a simple technology which does not require specialised skills to operate and maintain,” notes Kiprop. He adds that it the most sustainable technology here because our desire is to help the community to access safe drinking water affordably.

“We could not think of the conventional methods such as reverse osmosis because of the high cost implications,” he explains.

Reduced fluoride levels

Four of the five boreholes sunk by World Vision in the two cluster areas have been found with fluoride levels above 5mg/litre. Having observed the efficacy of the technology, the organisation is planning to install similar systems in all the other boreholes it has sunk in the area which have high fluoride content.

At a cost of KSh300, 000, the defluoridation unit installed at the Embolioi borehole is about 85 per cent less the cost of other conventional methods such as reverse osmosis technology,

“I knew it was the dirty water we were using that made their teeth to become bad, but there was nothing we could do to avoid it.”

— Naiswako Kentaiya

making it suitable for water projects among poor communities such as Kirindon and Emurua Dikirr.

Lawrence Mokaya, the Transmara East District water officer led the Government to identify the district among five others in the country to carry out a pilot study of de-fluoridation technologies.

White teeth

“I am happy because I know my younger children will have white teeth. They will be able to smile without feeling bad because of their teeth,” observes Kentaiya.

While the global prevalence of dental and skeletal fluorosis is not entirely clear, it is known that water is normally the major source of fluoride exposure. Exposure from diet as well as burning high fluoride coal are major contributors in some settings. Fluoride occurs at elevated concentrations in many parts of the world including Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and southern Asia. One of the best known high fluoride areas extends from Turkey through Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, northern Thailand and China.

However, there are many other areas with water sources that contain high fluoride levels and which pose a risk to those drinking the water, notably parts of the Rift Valley in Africa. Many of these areas are arid and alternative sources of water are not available. Kenya is among few countries in the world that have high concentration levels of fluoride in some of their surface and ground water sources and lies in the high fluoride belt.

Kenya mines and exports fluorspar, a 95 per cent calcium fluoride mineral from Kerio in the Rift Valley Province. Studies dating back to early 1950s reveal not only high concentration levels of fluoride in drinking water, but also high incidences of fluorosis in these areas. Fluoride levels of 2800 mg/l have been reported in Lake Nakuru, while boreholes in the area have reported fluoride levels in the tens range.

While water from saline lakes in the Rift Valley has been known to have high fluoride levels, water, ground water sources, mainly boreholes, were recognised as the greatest threat (source) of fluoride in drinking water.

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ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

How shamba system destroyed the Chepalungu forest

By Philip Kirui The first time my Swahili teacher taught us this proverb: “Pandu Pandu huisha gogo” it did not make much sense. This must have been quite remote particularly that there were no many logs; indeed it was a rare thing to see any lying log in my vicinity.

After all, my grandfather Barkesa arap Chepkok was the only one authorised in his farm for any cutting of tree branches, let alone logging of trees. He alone knew the appropriate time of cutting the trees and the purpose for which it would to be used.

Balance

This practice ensured, as I learnt later, that there was sufficient store of wood fuel and enough vegetation cover for the domestic animals. However, that is now history since he went to rest.

When the time came for me to construct my own cottage (singiroino), I went to the famous Chepalungu forest to collect cedar poles for the construction. Construction of a cottage marked a vital stage in the life of every young man in our tradition at the time of transition to manhood.

I remember vividly my first visit to the Government forest, as that was its other name, owing to the presence of ferocious forest guards. The place had closely planted cedar trees that were at an arm’s length, making an impenetrable canopy 20 metres above the ground with a tightly knit web of twiners beneath the giant cedar.

If one made a mistake of straying from their group, they only had to pray

that the forest officers found them safe from the baboons and the leopards.

My last visit to the ‘forest’ last month left me in shock. Then my Swahili teacher’s proverb “Pandu Pandu huisha gogo” became real. The over 250 square kilometres of forest was no more.

Farmers had been given leases to practice shamba system in this forest but they did not keep their part of the bargain to replant trees. Stunted indigenous trees dotting the public land are a reminder of the kind of the vegetation that existed in this region.

Domestic animals graze in the now open field. Foot paths that were a rare feature can be seen winding over the bare undulating landscape that was hard to figure out before. This forest was a source of water for the dying Mogor River that pours its water into the Mara. However, now that the land is bare, soil has dried and given up any precipitates. There are other numerous tributaries of Nyongores River, a very important source of water for the world’s famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve that obtained water from Chepalungu Forest but are now extinct.

Forest farm

The only two acre samples of Cypress forest patch that must have been grown by one obedient farmer about ten years ago, found at the far north western corner of the forest near Makimeny shopping centre, stands as a testimony of what conservation of our natural resources should be.

Cultivation on the crown land continues unabated even with the chang-

From left: Cypress trees in the forest. A section of one of the shamba’s in Chepalungu Forest.

Pictures: Philip Kirui ing climatic circles experienced in this region. Without deliberate measures to seek alternative sources of energy and building materials for the residents of arid and semi arid regions of this country, the country is courting disaster.

Multinational Tea Companies found in the South Rift have a strategic plan of planting trees annually to evade any risk of deforestation brought about by tree harvesting for industrial use.

According to the Unilever Tea Kenya Cooperate Affairs Director, Francis Kiputich Kaptich, the company had targeted to plant a million indigenous trees in the its farms by end of 2011.

“The year saw us reach our target of a million indigenous trees planted in our farm. Unilever cherishes trees as it is our livelihood. It is the bulk of the source of our renewable energy for industrial processing of our tea,” explains Kaptich.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Kenneth Marende was the chief guest in 2011 Unilever Tea Tree Plant-

ing Ceremony at Chagaik Estate. He said he had planted 30,000 trees in his farm and that he has plans of preaching the message of conservation across country.

“I applaud Unilever for taking the initiative in the conservation of our environment. Mau Forest being the country’s water tower should not be politicised,” noted Marende. He added: “All of us should face the reality that if we do not conserve our resources today we will live to regret later.”

Majority of the Mau evictees from either parts of the water tower, are former residents of Chepalungu who went out in search of more spacious land.

It should not be misconstrued that Chepalungu people are destructive to vegetation. The reality is they need lessons on conservation that Barkesa

Chepkok, their fellow resident employed for over the 90 years that he lived. All people require encouragement and support to manage their resources. And some time it needs a serious mind like that of conservationist Wangari Maathai to blow the whistle when forests are being indiscriminately consumed.

Deliberate steps such as putting up of mini hydro electric power station in the rural parts of the country, tapping of solar energy, more geothermal power and the exploration of other sources of energy such as biogas plants could bring a lasting solution to deforestation of our natural forest cover.

Mbeere farmer turns semi arid land into productive farm

By TIMOTHY KARIUKI Farmers in Mbeere North District have for a long time been suffering from drought and famine that is usually caused by their land failing to produce to sustain them.

This is often blamed on poor distribution of rainfall in the arid and semi arid parts of Embu County. After determining that crops that require plenty of rainfall do not thrive in the area, the local farmers have now turned to Miraa farming which does not require a lot of water.

Ray of hope

However, Charles Muriuki is not ready to give up. He has successfully been able to grow horticultural products in his three and a half acre piece of land in the semi arid area.

Muriuki ventured into paw paw farming in April 2011. The plants thrived and he is not looking back. “I decided to plant paw paws after my father gave me this piece of land. I thought it would be odd for it to stay barren,” he says explaining his motivation.

Muriuki says the difficult part of his quest was converting virgin land into a productive farm. “There is a misconception that virgin land is very fertile, whereas it is the opposite,” he asserts.

“I had to take the soil samples to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) for analysis who advised me that the soil was lacking a whole lot of nutrients for it to support the farming of paw paws,” he says.

At KARI, he was given instructions on how to mix various ingredients so that the soils can support the said crops including belsap, a substance that holds water for sometime as the plant awaits more water.

Muriuki said that the major challenge in the production of horticultural crops in the region is lack of enough water since there is poor distribution of rainfall. Currently, Muriuki uses tap water from the local water company for his plants. This is costly, he says.

He notes that the production of food crops in the area needs a lot of investment due to the poor soil composition and the poor rainfall distribution saying that he first started with planting water melons which all dried up.

“One also needs to heavily engage the professionals in the agricultural sector as the production of horticulture needs one to be able to make informed decisions and to arrest diseases and pests early before the damage is done,” says Muriuki.

He also cites the presence of fungicides and

pesticides in the market that are not of the required standards saying that they have brought him a lot of loses.

Muriuki wants to invest heavily on the cultivation of the paw paws as that of watermelons seems to have disappointed him saying that he plans to plant more seedlings when the short rains come.

The farmer says that he expects to have a bumper harvest at the end of four years, with 30 to 150 paw paws per tree per year.

He intends to approach the fresh market exporters association for them to market his products.

Muriuki says he wants to be a good example to the residents of Mbeere demonstrating that the area can be agriculturally productive. To this end, he is organising various meeting with local farmers to share tips on the conversion of the virgin land into productive farms adding that the area needs to stop relying on relief food always.

“One also needs to heavily engage the professionals in the agricultural sector as the production of horticulture needs one to be able to make informed decisions and to arrest diseases and pests early before the damage is done.”

— Charles Muriuki

Peter Mwai, a farm hand at Muriuki’s farm in Mbeere district. Muriuki says the major challenge in horticultural farming in the area is the water shortage. Picture: Timothy Kariuki

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

13

Farmers reap profits from revived scheme

By EUTYCAS MUCHIRI For over 20 years, residents of Bura Irrigation Scheme in Tana River County relied entirely on relief food for their survival. They also depended on water drawn from River Tana over 20, kilometres away, sold to them at high prices after the scheme collapsed.

But that was then. Today, they are too busy to queue for rations of relief food. They no longer have time to waste for a kilo or two of the rations. This is because they have more than enough food in their stores, which they even sell to neighbouring counties following the project’s revival.

Relief food

The scheme which was started in 1982 collapsed in late 1980s. Since then, farmers were left at the mercy of donors who provided them with relief food.

“For all those years, we relied on relief food from the Government and well wishers. We were also supplied with water by the National Youth Service (NYS) trucks or bought the then rare commodity from water hawkers,” says Esha Juma, one of the residents who says that a 20 litre container of water went for between KSh20 to KSh30.

Farming in the irrigation and settlement project was tentatively started by the Government about two years ago. It has since proved to be a success. Its revival has attracted investors who include Equator Kenya, Equity Bank and Coffee Development Authority among others. Among crops grown are cotton, maize and pepper.

“I have personally grown cotton once, and maize several times and got good returns from the harvests. I think this is because the soils have been fallow for sometime, regaining fertility which makes it very productive,” explains Juma.

Though many people had left the area to their counties of origin soon after its collapse, they started returning after receiving news that the project is on again, where they can embark on farming activities.

They are offered loans by Equity Bank which enables them acquire farm inputs such as seeds for planting and fertilisers among others.

Farmers grow maize for domestic consumption and commercial purposes. The latter is sold to Kenya Seed Company. The harvest is treated

by the company and later sold to farmers elsewhere as planting seeds. Farmers sell them at KSh65 per a kilo. They sell 75 per cent of the harvest and are left with the remaining for domestic use.

Muchiri Muthee, 30, says during the last season he delivered a total of 1,955 kilogrammes of maize to Kenya Seed Company. He is expecting to earn about KSh80, 000 after the bank’s advance and other expenses have been deducted. He has been able to start other projects after several successful harvests.

“I have since managed to start a business for my wife and bought two motorbike taxis popularly known as boda boda among other projects for the two years I have been engaged in farming here,” explains Muchiri.

At the moment, he has planted maize which he is planning to transport out of the county where he expects to fetch good money.

Another farmer Francis Gathigi, 32, is planning to invest in education. He intends to transfer his children from a local public primary school to a nearby private school using the proceeds of maize and cotton from his farm.

“I want to ensure that I invest the money on my children so they can get quality education before embarking on other projects,” says Gathigi, the father of four.

School fees

Muchiri says that she has been able to pay school fees for two children in secondary school without a struggle. During the last harvest, he sold 660 kilogrammes of maize and is expecting over KSh25,000 as net profit from the farm.

However, the farming has not been without challenges. They say that the cotton currently in the farms might not be very profitable like in the previous harvest due to attacks by pest following lack of pesticides. Some farmers never sprayed their plants leading to the invasion.

Others like Nyainya Kitheka opted to purchase the chemicals at the last minute to try and maximise on the harvest. However, they fear that the pests will still spread to the farms that were not sprayed.

Others who have benefited from the scheme’s revival are pastoralist communities who live near the scheme. They buy plant remains from farmers which they use as fodder for their animals.

Water is also in plenty and animals are no

longer dying of hunger and thirst. “Our animals’ death as a result of drought have greatly reduced because we purchase plant remains from farmers which we use as fodder, says Mohammed Yusuf, a pastoralist.

“For those who cannot afford to purchase the remains, they take their animals to graze on the banks of the irrigation canals, giving the emaciated animals a new lease of life,” says Yusuf.

Deputy General Manager at the settlement scheme’s John Nzioka says the GovMuchiri Muthee irrigates his maize plants. He has ernment has embarked on managed to start businesses using proceeds gained a campaign to have farmers from farming. Below: Nyainya Kitheka a farmer spraying who left the scheme after it his cotton farm with insecticide to kill pests that have collapsed return back and invaded the plantation. Pictures: Eutycas Muchiri continue with farming activities.

“We want all of them to come back and go on He says they have been using farmers who are already there to contact with farming. We shall not allow people to farm others who are yet to return. Farmers at the while away but want them to settle in the scheme and get involved actively,” reiterated Nzioka. scheme were drawn from all over Kenya.

Fish farming boosts women’s source of livelihood

By ELIUD WAITHAKA After holding together for over three decades, a women’s group in Mathira West district, Nyeri County, practising fish farming has started realising the fruits of their hard labour.

Sagana Women’s Group Fish Farming Project, a women-only led project is now boasting of selling over two tonnes of fish annually.

With this development, the women have realised great changes in their homes because their standards of living have changed.

Not only have they built decent houses, they have also been able to educate their children and support their families.

The treasurer of the group Lydia Mwaniki attributes this to working cooperation among the members.

In the last three years, the group has sold over six tonnes of fish adding that they have been unable to satisfy the market.

“Since 2009, we have sold over 6,000 fish and the market still has a deficit because we are not able to meet our customers’ demands,” explains Mwaniki.

The women’s group was started in 1979 with the aim of improving their standards of living.

According to chairperson of the group, Zipporah Hiuko Mariga, the initial aim of starting the group was to help members build permanent homes by demolishing the grass thatched ones in which they were initially living.

Self-reliance

“We wanted to eliminate the notion among our members that we can only rely on our husbands for every domestic responsibility,” notes Mariga. She adds: “Not only did we build permanent houses but we also bought water tanks for every member.”

It is not until a few years ago when a Ministry of Fisheries officer introduced fish farming to them.

Mr Julius Nyoro approached them and sold the idea which was instantly bought.

Since they were also involved with conservation work where they plant trees, a project of the United Nations Development Programme known as COMPACT gave them a grant to boost their activities.

COMPACT supports various conservation groups around Mt Kenya.

The groups supported are those involving themselves with projects such as fish farming, water harvesting, en-

ergy saving, tourism and tree planting among others in protecting and conserving the world heritage site.

Sagana Women Group in collaboration with Greenbelt Movement and COMPACT was able to plant over 523,000 tree seedlings in southwestern Mt Kenya forest between 2004 and 2006.

Areas where these indigenous and exotic tree seedlings were planted include Hombe, Chehe, Ragati, Kamweti and Castle forests.

Mwaniki says the fish farming project was established by one the members in 1987. The group has 40 members. Though with a lot of challenges, they have managed to stick together through the years.

Since 2005, they have leased a piece of land where they have constructed ten fish ponds, eight of them constructed with a grant from COMPACT. There are also over 30,000 fingerings at the moment in those ponds.

Mariga told the Reject. Ther group pays KSh10,000 to the Forestry Department annually, which has leased the land to them.

Though the region is known for coffee and horticulture farming the women say fish farming has greatly

improved their levels of livelihood.

According to Mwaniki one kilogramme of fish is sold at KSh180 to traders and KSh250 to local consumers.

She notes that unlike years back where people especially from the mountain region knew very little about fish, things have changed. This is after they got to know the nutritional value of the fish meat such as the fact that it does not contain cholesterol.

Healthy protein

“Fish provides white meat which is essential especially to people suffering from diabetes,” Mwaniki explains adding that they have several customers who have placed a weekly orders of four kilogrammes of fish.

However, they still face challenges in their day-to-day activities. Some of these include predators such as birds (kingfishers) and aorta. Another challenge is the high cost of fish feed.

However, they were recently funded by the African Development Bank (ADB) and Nyayo Tea Zone, they have erected a fence surrounding the ponds to keep off the predators.

The group has also employed two permanent workers and once in a while hires casual labourers to assist

during harvesting and also maintain security.

Mwaniki notes that the cost of purchasing wheat bran, maize jam and fishmeal has risen in the recent past.

She laments that the current inflation being experienced across the country has also affected them tremendously.

“Though we supplement the food with avocados and blood from surrounding slaughterhouses, we are incurring extra costs because the price of virtually every commodity has increased,” she says.

Major fish species reared in Mt Kenya region include Tilapia, common cap, bass (recreational fish) and catfish.

Several other projects have been started to provide alternative income and stop entire reliance on timber from the forest.

COMPACT coordinator Fred Kihara says the programme has spent over KSh210 million to fund community projects that involve conservation of Mt Kenya forest.

Over 60 projects around Mt Kenya region have been funded. Kihara notes that conservation efforts have been realised, since the community is involved directly to manage the forests.

14

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Giant leap in fight against malaria

By PAM INOTI

The 2011 World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics declaring that malaria related fatalities have dropped by nearly 40 percent in the last decade is a welcome reprieve to many people habiting within the tropical zones.

Relating the decline in malaria infection rates to the vibrant measures adopted in the last decade to eliminate malaria, health experts are confident that the disease is on course to eradication within the next 10 years. It is estimated that the strides made in fighting the disease will have saved about three million lives by 2015.

Progress

Speaking at the 2011 International Malaria Forum Conference held in Seattle, Washington, Director Global Malaria Programme at the World Health Organisation Robert Newman observed that “remarkable progress” had been made towards malaria elimination.

“Better diagnostic testing and surveillance has provided a clearer picture of where we are on the ground, and has shown that there are countries eliminating malaria in all endemic regions of the world,” noted Newman.

Malaria, spread through anopheles mosquito bites, has remained a major global killer second only to Tuberculosis with 90 per cent of all malaria cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, with a child reportedly dying every 30 seconds as a result of the disease.

According to the last WHO report on malaria fatalities carried out in 2009, the disease was estimated to claim over 781,000 lives, with the majority of the victims reported to have occurred in Africa.

However, this is a modest figure taking

into consideration that most deaths occurring in the rural areas perhaps from the disease go unreported.

According to the 2010 WHO World Malaria Report, 67 percent of the Kenyan population is at risk of exposure to malaria-causing organisms. The worst group affected are pregnant women and children. Children under five years account for the largest percentage.

The 2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey listed that one in 13 children in Kenya die before their fifth birthday, largely attributing the cause of death to malaria.

An infectious and tropical diseases specialist based at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Prof.

K.M. Bhatt says that Kenya and Uganda have the highest number of confirmed cases. However, he notes that Kenya is making tangible progress.

Bhatt observed that malaria is widespread in Kenya with the highest number of cases being reported in the western, coastal and Nyanza parts of the country.

“Better diagnostic testing and surveillance has provided a clearer picture of where we are on the ground, and has shown that there are countries eliminating malaria in all endemic regions of the world.”

— Robert Newman, Director Global Malaria Programme, WHO.

Anthony Kilele Director of KNBS launching the 2010 Malaria Indicator Survey report. Malaria is reportedly widespread in Kenya with the highest number of cases recorded in western, coastal and Nyanza provinces. Picture: Henry Owino He attributes the impressive progress in Kenya to good control programmes which have seen a remarkable improvement with the prevalence rates going down in many areas because of insecticide treated nets and the availability of good anti-malarial drugs.

Reduced malaria cases

“In some areas, malaria has been reduced by up to 50 percent,” says Bhatt who claims not to have witnessed any severe malaria cases at the hospital in the last three years.

The Malaria Control Programme received a huge boost since 2005, when Kenya was named one of the 17 countries benefiting from the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), funded by USAID and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

In line with Kenya’s National Control Strategy PMI supports four major malaria prevention and treatment measures, namely providing insecticide-treatment mosquito nets, funding indoor residual spraying services, intermit-

tent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp), and malaria diagnosis and treatment.

Treatment measures

IPTp consists two doses of an anti-malaria drug sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) administered in at least two doses given no less than one month apart during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. It reduces the serious consequences of malaria- maternal anaemia and low birth weight babies - in both the mother and her unborn child.

The government, through PMI and other donors subsidises the cost of highly effective ‘government certified’ treatment at both government hospitals and private pharmacies across the country for as a low as KSh40. This has increased accessibility and affordability of effective drugs to most low income earners.

According to WHO, simple measures such as sleeping under insecticide-coated mosquito nets may reduced the incidence of mosquito bites, and by extension malaria cases by up to 35 percent.

Counterfeit drugs claiming thousands of lives annually

By HENRY OWINO While medicine is an art that saves lives, scrupulous people have invaded the drug industry by producing. This has led to many people losing their lives.

According to a survey conducted by the World Health organisation, approximately 20,000 people lose their lives every year to the consumption of fake medicine, especially anti-malaria pills.

The report further revealed that if such medicines were strictly checked and controlled for their quality, about one million lives would be saved annually.

Fake drugs

It has been alleged that in Kenya, counterfeit drugs account for over 30 per cent of the drugs sold translating to an estimated sum of KSh13billion annually.

The Minister for Medical Services Minister Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o said this recently during the launch of a new technology initiative by Orange Telkom Kenya Company at a hotel in Nairobi. The technology is known as Mpedigree detects counterfeits drugs.

Nyong’o welcomed the idea and said the Government through the Anti-Counterfeit Agency together with the Government Chemist as well as the Pharmaceutical and Poisons Board among others will adopt the technology. He alluded that the M-Pedigree initiative will help fight the infiltration of counterfeit drugs in Kenya.

Nyong’o described the move taken

by Telkom Kenya as a good synergy between health care and ICT sectors.

Minister for medical services professor Anyany Nyongo scratches the pad on the pack to reveal the secrect serial ID as Telkom CEO Mickael Ghossein (left) and businessman Chris Kirubi look on.

Picture: Henry Owino He noted that the technology has come at the right time, given the recent news reports indicating that there have been counterfeit anti-retroviral drugs on sale in the country.

Stopgap measure

“The introduction of m-Pedigree in Kenya is emboldened by the fact that it will be addressing an existing need in the medical system,” noted Nyong’o. He added: “The production, trafficking and distribution of counterfeit drugs is spreading and threatening the health and lives as well as potentially destroying the economic foundation of the country.”

Nyong’o said the Government has undertaken serious measures to pre-

vent and suppress production and distribution of counterfeit drugs by establishing strict control rules on importation and designated entry points where drugs can be imported into the country.

He added that development of a national laboratory to test drug quality are some of the measures that have

undoubtedly contributed to the reduction of counterfeit drugs. However, he said all the efforts cannot fully succeed without the collaboration from stakeholders such as Telkom Kenya and other likeminded firms.

Chief Executive Officer of Orange Telkom Kenya Mickael Ghossein, said they decided to come up with the technology to protect Kenyans from unscrupulous pharmaceutical business dealers in the market.

Ghossein said they have partnered with the Government, pharmaceutical manufacturers and other likeminded firms to help control the situation before it gets out of hand.

He reiterated that Orange Telkom Kenya Company launched the new technological strategy known as mPedigree as an anti-counterfeit medicine initiative for the health concerns they have for Kenyans.

The mPedigree will help detect counterfeit pharmaceuticals that are infiltrating into the country.

The technology is one of the latest in the mobile phone industry that will protect Kenyans from conmen who want to make quick money.

All the genuine drugs will be marked with secret serial code numbers

The mPedigree will help detect counterfeit pharmaceuticals that are infiltrating into the country. The technology is one of the latest in the mobile phone industry that will protect Kenyans from conmen who want to make quick money.

and the users will be required to scratch out the pad on the pack of the medicine to reveal the serial ID number, then text it on the mobile phone and send it as a short message to 1393 for verification of the purchased medicine status if the drug is genuine or not.

Trial

“For now we are putting two types of drugs in the market for trial but the system is expected to roll out to all medicinal drugs with time,” noted Ghossein.

He said the technology is expected to be emulated by other mobile phone providers as a way of curbing sub-standard drugs circulating and being bought by innocent Kenyans at the expense of their lives and pockets. Most of the counterfeits are sold cheaply yet they do not provide the health solution intended.

According to Stephen Mallowah, Executive Director of Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) counterfeiting and piracy experienced in Kenya today is not limited to pharmaceutical products alone but includes music, movies, software and text books.

The media has been called upon to sensitise the public that by buying counterfeit products they are financing serious criminal combinations.

Consumers’ bodies, individual companies, industry associations and NGOs as well as the Government has a key role to play in supporting responsible media initiatives, to educate the public on buying so that it becomes socially unacceptable to have counterfeits.

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

15

Nyeri youths to promise to become change agents

By JOSEPH MUKUBWA Nyeri youths under the aegis of the Youth Development Partners Programme (YGPP) resolved to take a significant role in leadership and development of the County.

They were speaking after a one-day county conference held in Nyeri town and attended by over 50 youths from Kieni, Tetu, Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri Town, Othaya and Mathira districts.

Shunning dirty politics

“The youth have for a long time been used as political tools by politicians. It is time to shun dirty politics. We want to be part of the greater Nyeri County development plan,” said the YDPP chairman Michael Muchomba.

The chairman noted that the youth have recognised that they are their own greatest threat and resolved to take the greatest role in leader-

ship and development.

“This can only be done through a political system that caters for these needs. We encourage the youth to join political parties and take leadership roles to be able to bring new leadership,” said the chairman.

The participants challenged political parties to have ideologies that will transform and bring development, justice and social democracy.

“The youth in Nyeri County will only be actively engaged in parties that have a clear youth and gender inclusive agenda. Political parties that are ready to work and include the youth in their party structures and ownership,” they added.

The conference participants urged the youth to take part in the national development system both politically and in the civil society. They also encouraged the young people interested in leadership positions to declare their interest without fear and run for all the positions available under

Some of the youths from Nyeri County who attended a one day youth conference in Nyeri town where they resolved to be agents of change. Picture: Joseph Mukubwa the current constitutional dispensation.

“We in Nyeri County have come together to form a formidable team with grassroots influence because we are not ready for imported leadership. The greatest men and women have created a positive revolution in their younger

years,” added the chairman.

However, the youth have recognised the challenges that affect the youth in the county which include unemployment, HIV/Aids, alcoholism and organised crime as some of the challenges to be addressed.

Rampant family negligence reported at the Coast

By Edna Mokaya When Mary Nyabaro got married to a working husband 20 years ago, she was full of hope of a happy and fulfilling life. However, today her once gleaming face has turned into one of sadness and betrayal.

The husband of her choice turned her life into a living hell. Not only did he turn into a barterer, but Nyabaro came to realise that ‘the senior position’ that the husband claimed to be holding at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) was all hogwash. He was a subordinate staff member at a private security firm in Mombasa.

Blame

Now aged 40 years, with three children, Nyabaro is not sure whether to blame herself or the former husband for the mess that her life has become.

She struggles day and night to support her three children and the man who once promised her a heaven on earth is nowhere to be seen. She says their good life ended with the birth of her first born, when her husband forced her to work to supplement his income.

But even before then, her husband had already started mistreating her while she was still expectant. This climaxed when he threw her out of their home and married another woman — after having ruined her youth. Nyabaro found solace at her friend’s house who later became tired of supporting her and also sent her away.

She has since then stayed in the street since she has no relative around. During the pregnancy she became sick, an illness that affected her unborn child. She gave birth to a deformed child. Her husband has since neglected the family and is living happily with his new found love while Nyabaro and her three children are struggling to make ends meet.

Neglect

Nyabaro is just a testimony of what the Children’s Department says is an increasing rate of wife and children neglect in certain parts of the country, especially Mombasa region. Abandoned women and their children are reeling under the little talked about problems of negligence, abandonment and custodial crisis.

Wife and child negligence is almost getting out of hand in Mombasa.

Mothers and children are abandoned by men who have absconded their responsibilities.

According to Mombasa District Children’s Officer, George Migosi, cases of family neglect have been on the rise. He says that the problems affecting the children at the family level reached their peak last year.

“Neglect cases comprise a staggering 90 per cent, abandonment cases two per cent, custody crisis three per cent while five per cent of the cases are on physical abuse, sexual harassment, psychological abuse and child labour,” explains Migosi.

Male parents have been accused of abandoning their parental responsibility from the past. These actions are attributed to the increasing number of single parents which is the major contributor to child trafficking and labour as well as early marriages and street families.

Another distraught mother of three, Salima Ali, says her husband has been mistreating her and he has married another wife.

“This man beats me up every day, one time I decided to go home, on coming back I found another woman on my matrimonial bed. He has since abandoned me,” she says amid tears.

The Constitution states clearly that every child must be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, violence, inhuman treatment and punishment, hazardous or exploitative labour.

Whereas in the old constitution, a child born out of wed lock was not given a right to parenthood; A parent who did not live with the child took parental responsibility out of their own will but not because it was legislated.

Child rights

However, now the new law states that every child is entitled to parental care and protection, which includes equal responsibility by both parents to provide for the child, whether they are married or not.

Nyabaro welcomed the new Constitution saying that it was enacted at the right time and looks forward to seeing the culprits disciplined accordingly.

“If the Constitution will be followed to the letter and if the law mak-

ers will walk the talk and make this law function,” Nyabaro says.

According to Njoki Ndung’u who successfully passed the Sexual Offences Act, parents who ignore their parental responsibility must be arraigned in court and harsh penalties must be put in place.

“Parents should take equal responsibility and anyone who doesn’t adhere to this law must be taken to court to ensure we have a better society, where all children are taken care of,” she says.

According to Migosi, the Children’s Department works directly with the Children’s Court to ensure that children are taken care of and irresponsible parents are disciplined. The Mombasa Children’s department has taken a lead role in taking irresponsible persons to court.

“As a department, we first embrace dialogue with the parents, if they agree to our terms we don’t take them to court, but if a person is not cooperating, we take them to court to answer charges,” explains Migosi. A number of men who neglect their children face harsh punishments.

According to the Constitution, those found neglecting their children are given a jail term of five months or fined KSh200, 000 or deductions are made from their salaries to support their children.

So far a number of cases by children in Tononoka seeking maintenance have been filed by the Children Department.

DNA tests

Many women shy away from taking these men to the authorities because they are required to do a DNA test which is very expensive.

“DNA test costs KSh15,000 which I cannot afford to get. It is now four years since this man abandoned our son. If I had money, I could have taken him to court,” observes Gladys Kadzo.

Migosi suggests that to deal with this problem, policy makers need to come up with a bill that will support the victims who cannot afford DNA fees or the Government should reduce the cost to an affordable rate.

“If poor people are going to be assisted by the Government or if the cost will be reduced, victims will be assisted and there will be no excuse for the irresponsible partners to ignore their

Women with their children in the streets of Mombasa. Wife and child negligence is on the increase in the town.

Pictures: Reject Correspondent responsibility,” observes Migosi.

As many mothers and children wait for the new law to take effect, many women and their children are still suffering in the hands of irrespon-

sible men who abandon, mistreat and ignore their responsibility.

It’s time the Government took this problem seriously and endorsed a lasting solution.

16

ISSUE 055, February 1-15, 2012

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Building dreams among the wretched of Kibera

By Joyce Wangui They clap, giggle, run around and make all sorts of noises. Some are not even aware of their surroundings but they seem happy here. Even with empty stomachs, the children’s faces beam with happiness.

Though a far cry from a normal learning institution, St Joseph Children’s Centre located in the sprawling Kibera slums is the best thing that could have happened to children who would otherwise be leading miserable lives.

The centre is located in the hub of Kibera, a slum in the outskirts of Nairobi, a few metres from Olympic Estate. From the onset, not much indicates that it is a school as it is sandwiched between kiosks and numerous other businesses.

Refuge

A tiny room measuring six by six feet and made out of mabaati (iron sheets) seems like the only hope for these children who are living with HIV, were abandoned or are orphaned. The centre is home to about 40 children aged between zero to 13 years.

Benter Agola is the brains behind the noble idea. She is a Kibera resident who runs the school with practically nothing. With the help of likeminded personalities, children at this centre can at least get basic education.

We meet Agola at the Adams Arcade Shopping Centre where she queues once a week to get free antiretroviral drugs, for herself and several other children living with HIV at the centre.

She is in a hurry to rush back to the school as she wonders where the next meal for the children will come from.

“I started this place as a feeding centre for children who had no one to fend for them,” she explains.

Agola mooted the idea of the feeding centre immediately after the post-election violence of 20007-2008 which caused numerous deaths in the slum leaving many children without parents and no one to turn to.

During the 2007-2008 post-election skirmishes in Kenya, Kibera became the epicentre of violence that led to a number of children being abandoned. Some good hearted people like Agola picked a few children and are currently caring for them.

Little did she envisage that the ‘small’ idea would give birth to a children’s centre. At 38, Agola is a widow who is also living with HIV but her

health status has not deterred her from reaching out to the needy and poor.

“I consider myself needy too as the challenge of feeding my own six children has been daunting since the death of my husband,” she explains.

On this particular day, there are only eight children attending class.

Schools have just reopened for the first term. The children are so fascinated by our presence and cannot seem to get enough of the photographs we are taking.

They welcome us heartily and even go as far as singing ‘Jambo Kenya’ songs to our American journalist colleague. It is break time and as is the norm in other schools, the little ones are supposed to be having snacks but this is not the case here.

“Our feeding programme is faced with numerous challenges because we don’t have a consistent donor save for a few parents and well wishers who reside in the estate who give what they can afford,” she reveals.

Agola says that on a normal day, the children will have porridge for the tea break but today they are having porridge that does not have proper nutrients needed for growth but the children are accustomed to it.

Food

During lunch time, the children make do with githeri (boiled maize and beans) and they will be lucky if there is a vegetable accompaniment.

A well wisher, only identified as Mama Lucy, provides the centre with maize, beans and maize flour once a month.

Agola says the younger children often have difficulty chewing the hard grains, but still, the centre is a much better place for many, who would now be on the streets.

The older ones admit that the centre is a small ‘heaven’ because they are assured of shelter, love and food. They come from homes where food is seen once in a week and in which case, has to be divided among many hungry mouths.

Philip Owour, a teacher at the centre tries effortlessly to calm the children and get them to read some vowels to us. He does not shout at them though, for this is an institution where children need love and care if they are to understand anything taught in class.

With no prior training or experience, Owuor says his module of teaching is based on the knowledge he acquired from school.

Benter Agola with some of the children at the centre together with one of the teachers. Feeding the children has been the main challenge for the centre.

Pictures: AWC “Apart from teaching basic subjects like mathematics, Kiswahili and social education, I train the children to be responsible adults in the future,” he says.

Owuor reveals that the children are also taught good mannerisms as the centre believes they are the bedrock of society.

According to the United Nations, Kibera is the second largest urban slum in Africa has an approximate population of between 100,000 to three million in an area that is smaller that New York’s Central Park. Its inhabitants are mainly poor people who do manual jobs or operate small businesses.

Social services including health amenities are scarce. In villages such as Katwekera, Laini Saba and Soweto numerous shanties are made of mud.

Proper sanitation is a mirage as open sewers and bad drainages litter the residential areas.

In fact, until recently, there were no proper toilets in the slums and people used plastic bags which they discard outside their houses. Besides, immorality and insecurity is alarmingly high and not a day passes without one hearing of a rape or stab case. Many children come from broken homes where wife battering is common place.

“Here we take in children who

“Our feeding programme is faced with numerous challenges because we don’t have a consistent donor save for a few parents and well wishers who reside in the estate who give what they can afford.”

— Benter Agola

have lost hope. They have never experienced parental love and are always in fear,” says Owuor who admits that the centre takes pride in bringing up responsible young adults.

St. Joseph was founded on the belief that all children are entitled to basic needs of food, shelter, health and quality education. The centre provides a channel through which each member of the community can contribute towards putting hope in the lives of orphans and vulnerable children.

Parents in the area have been touched by Agola’s initiative and they contribute towards the centre’s rent and food. Rent goes for KSh2, 000 a month and is not always paid on time.

When Marion joined the centre three years ago, she was on the brink of death. With no support and medical attention, the child’s HIV status was not making matters easier. With the help of well wishers, Agola took her in and organised for her to get anti-retroviral treatment.

Volunteer

“It has not been easy at all but by God’s grace the child is up and running. It is difficult to believe that she is HIV positive because she actually looks healthier than other children,” observes Agola.

Lydia Wandera is a volunteer at the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) unit of the Holy Trinity Church in Kibera. She occasionally visits the centre to ensure that children who are on ARV treatment are taking their drugs regularly.

She does this purely on a voluntary basis and hopes to see a Kibera devoid of disease and poverty. The Church is home to 150 children, 50 of whom are HIV positive. “We liaise with Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF)

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello

Editor: Jane Godia

to help women and children acquire ARV drugs,” explains Wandera.

MSF has a huge presence in Kibera slums and has been very instrumental in providing medical care. They offer their services for free. Some of the children at the centre are direct beneficiaries.

Rescue centre

The centre also acts as a rescue point for children who are subjected to child labour in their homes.

Milicent Akinyi is seven years old and looks pale. She is the third born in a family of ten. Her father, a habitual drunkard denied her and her siblings access to school and subjected her to manual jobs at home. Her mother, a victim of gender based violence watched helplessly as her children were reduced to destitution.

“I managed to rescue Akinyi who had run away from home to seek refuge at her aunt’s house here in Kibera,” says Agola.

At the time of her rescue, the young girl had bruises all over her body, a clear indication of the numerous beatings she received from her father. She was also under weight, an indication that she was probably not feeding well.

“I am happy to be at this centre because I can receive basic education, food and shelter at no cost. Here there is love and we are always smiling,” says the shy girl.

Agola appeals to well wishers to support the centre as she does not have the capacity to offer them with proper basics. She believes something can be borne out of nothing and this is evidently so, as she kicked off the project with purely nothing.

She plans to build a pre-school, primary and later a fully-fledged secondary school for Kibera’s top performers.

Write to:

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Sub-Editors: Florence Sipalla and Mercy Mumo Designer: Noel Lumbama

www.mediadiversityafrica.org

Contributors: Lydia Ngoolo, Kariuki Mwangi, Macharia Mwangi, Henry Kahara, Robby Ngojhi, Carolyne Oyugi, Abjata Khalif, Waikwa Maina, Ekuwam Adou, Joyce Wangui, Yusuf Amin, Marion Ndeta, Joy Monday, Samuel Kipsang, Ben Oroko,

By Kipkoech Kosonei, Philip Kirui, Timothy Kariuki, Eutycas Muchiri, Eliud Waithaka, Pam Inoti, Henry Owino, Joseph Mukubwa and Edna Mokaya. .

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