Reject Online Issue 28

November 1-15, 2010

ISSUE 028

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

Mourn not to your own peril

A Kenyan company gets funding to manufacture ARVs

By Patrick Mwanzia

Dancers from Taita Taveta in action during a public ceremony at Wundanyi stadium. Inset: A wooden coffin. Among the Taita, those who shun funeral ceremonies are reviled. Picture: Benson Mwanga

By BENSON MWANGA Not so long ago, a local administration official almost lost his life. His crime?

The assistant chief was accused by irate mourners of persistently failing to support the village during funerals and was setting a bad example as a leader.

And for this, he became a victim of mob violence as angry mourners set on him with blows and kicks in the remote village of Kishushe, Wundanyi Division.

Apart from rudely ignoring the mourners, questions were raised as to why the assistant chief snubs burial fund raising.

The chief had infuriated the mourners when he snatched the collection record book from them and fled with it. The administrator had done the same thing on three previous occasions. The enraged villagers vowed to teach him a lesson that day.

Deeply enraged by the uncouth way they had been treated by the administrator, the mourners cornered him and beat him up thoroughly as clergymen who presided over the burial watched helplessly.

Two administration policemen who tried to rescue their boss were also roughed up by the enraged mourners

who described him as insensitive and callous.

This incident illustrates how deeply the Taita feel about funerals. As debate ranges on whether feasting and spending lavishly on funerals is a problem, in the Dawida community also known as Taita, contributing towards burial funds is mandatory.

Woe unto any person who dares to shun funeral ceremonies in the community. It is still a grave matter that defaulters are usually reviled, ostracised and even punished severely in extreme cases for spurning a bereaved family.

Continued on page 2

The fact that HIV infection leads to Aids, a condition with no known treatment makes it very expensive to manage.

For long, Kenya has been importing the Anti-retroviral drugs that are meant to slow down the dilapidating effects of the scourge.

Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) have never found a home in developing countries until recently when Kenya woke up to a new dawn of manufacturing them.

Antiretroviral drugs are taken by people living with HIV/Aids to reduce the multiplication of the virus in the body. It helps in boosting the CD4 count and immune system.

Kenya has for long depended on drugs imported from developed countries or India. Speaking to the press, Mr Palu Dhanani, Director of Universal Corporation Limited, said the company is getting global funding to enable it manufacture ARVS. Most drugs for the common diseases in the country are normally imported.

“About 95 percent of the drugs for treatment of malaria, tuberculosis, antibacterial and ARVs comes from donors,” explains Dhanani.

This means that none of the local pharmaceutical firms manufacture them.

Kenya spends around KSh640 million of its budget annually on purchase of drugs for people living positively with Aids.

Universal Corporation Limited, a pharmaceutical company now manufactures antiretroviral drugs, anti- malaria tablets and pain killers among other 40 products, including tablets, capsules, syrups and suspensions as well as ointments and creams.

Dhanani said the country’s economy has declined, donor funding has also gone down, meaning the availability of ARVs also waned..

“The country has to think of alternative ways Continued on page 2

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ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Artisans to benefit from HIV programme

By Nick Odhiambo Jua kali artisans in Nyanza Province are set to benefit from a programme that has been started to sensitize and create awareness on the HIV/Aids prevalence which is said to have reduced the performance of the sector.

In a two-day workshop held at a Homa Bay hotel, the National Informal Sector Collusion (NISC), in collaboration with National Aids Council Committee (NACC) said the sector could not be successful in the

province since the scourge had affected and infected many artisans and their families.

“The sector is facing serious problems brought about by the HIV/Aids pandemic and something needs to be done to enable the artisans be successful,” said Ms Gladys Nancha, NISC Project Coordinator.

The workshop attracted health practitioners and jua kali artisans as well as officials from 36 districts in the province. It resolved to create awareness and eradicate stigma that has rocked the sector.

“We need to sensitise the informal sec-

tor on matters of HIV/Aids and remove them from the mud of stigmatisation,” explained Nancha.

So far KSh7 million has been allocated for the exercise countrywide and Nyanza Province will benefit from the fund.

Nancha said: “We shall ensure the fund is used in sensitising the informal sector in the province among other areas in the country since if we are not careful, the sector will go down.”

The motorbike boda boda operators have been seen as the most vulnerable in the sec-

tor and should embrace behaviour change.

“We are appealing to the boda boda cyclists to embrace behaviour change since the scourge is affecting them more than any other in the sector,” said Mr Thomas Ogweya, interim chairman Motorbike Association of Kenya.

Boda boda operators have been accused of having sexual affairs with their female passengers including school girls. This could be one of the factors contributing to the escalating spread of HIV infections among them.

Kenyan company to manufacture ARVs Continued from page 1

on how to use local funding to make the ARV drugs available,” advised Dhanani.

He urged Kenya to adopt ways that are within its reach. This means the country has to manufacture its own drugs to help boost not only its economy but also create employment to its citizens.

The company’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Mr Raju Dhanani, said: “For a company to manufacture ARV drugs and start supplying them, there are standards set by World Health Organization that it needs to meet.”

He said Universal Corporation Limited is the only Kenyan pharmaceutical company trying to achieve WHO certification.

The company has passed through nearly all the stages of inspection and hopefully by next month, WHO is expected to have approved it operations.

“Inspectors have to come from Geneva and Canada for the inspections. We have

undergone almost all the stages. The remaining one will be done before end of this year. After that, we will be able to supply drugs to the global fund,” he explained.

Dhanani said many pharmaceutical companies in Kenya are multinational and this makes it susceptible for a drug product to mix with another and become poisonous to the user.

The company’s product manager, Mr Deepak Sharma said they are going to make quality and affordable medicine for the poor who cannot afford multinational drugs.

This is the first pharmaceutical company in Kenya to receive global funding for ARVs. “We will be able to manufacture 20 million tablets daily by next month and soon will be the largest pharmaceutical company in East Africa,” he said.

The company is situated in Kikuyu town and has a staff of 400. It aims at increasing this number by 300 in the near future.

Farmers cautioned against tobacco pay vultures

By Odhiambo Odhiambo Tobacco farmers in Nyanza have been warned to be wary of commercial sex workers who prey on them when they receive payments from the buying companies.

Rongo DC, Mr Arthur Osia said many growers had been fleeced off their hard earned cash by commercial sex workers who come from as far as Nairobi, Nakuru, Kericho and Kisii.

“Many marriages have collapsed during the payment seasons. During planting, it is the women and their children who do the donkey work but during payments, it is the men who pick the money and take off to unknown destinations,” Osia said at Hotel Sugarland in Awendo during a two-day workshop on child labour, sponsored by Alliance One Tobacco Company.

Osia noted most tobacco growers continued to wallow in poverty due to reckless lifestyles that they engage in after receiving payments.

“Poor planning combined with the desire to engage additional women in their lives is to blame for their desperation,” explained the DC. The tobacco company is organising a series of farmers’ workshops to sensitise contracted growers on the need to stop using children in tobacco farms.

The farmers from Migori, Rongo, Kuria West and Kuria East Districts were taken through labour laws that prohibited child labour. They were asked to give their young ones a chance to pursue secondary and university education.

Workers at the packaging room at Universal Corporation Limited. Below: Tom Ogila, the production manager displays a sample of one of the ARVs the company produces. Pictures: Patrick Mwanzia

Mourn not to your own peril Continued from page 1

Punishment varies according to the gravity of the situation. One can either pay the sum defaulted in cash or through traditional fines imposed on them usually in the form of a goat or a cow. It all depends on the decision of a powerful village burial committee whose word is final.

Woe betide any person who becomes a habitual defaulter. You are isolated and treated as an outcast for not minding others’ welfare in times of need.

Such people are left to bury their own and deal with other misfortunes that might befall them. They are only spared the agony of isolation only if, they pay up any outstanding amount, or fine owed to the burial funds.

Defying this old custom of practically empathising and sympathising with fellow bereaved villagers is something you do at your own peril if you are a true Mdawida (Mtaita).

The case of the assistant chief illustrates the seriousness with which the cultural norms of helping out during funerals are treated among African communities. It underlines how actively people should be involved in burial arrangements. Attending a funeral without contributing towards its expenses, to some people, is not enough.

That is why monetary contribution towards a burial fund is a must among

the Taitas. Defaulters are held in contempt and viewed as sadists who rejoice at other peoples suffering.

As a result, such characters are punished in accordance with the customary laws governing the participation of the community members in funerals just like any other social functions.

For instance, villagers boycotted the funeral of a girl in Bungule village, Voi District accusing the parents of avoiding other people’s funeral.

Fined

The body of the girl identified as Pricilla Mwadime remained unburied for two days until her parents gave in to the villagers demands that they pay a fine of two cows.

It was not until the animals were finally slaughtered and feasted on by the villagers that the body was ultimately buried. Asked why such hefty fines are imposed on defaulters, a local civic leader, Councillor George Soghe said such drastic steps were necessary as a deterrent to others who may be tempted to snub funerals.

“Every Taita clan has a funeral fund and a register of all villagers showing the order of their contributions in every funeral. It is this register that is used to identify defaulters,” explained Soghe.

But some people expressed strong opposition to what they termed as

forced contributions towards funeral funds contrary to the harambee spirit of giving voluntarily.

A former Taita-Taveta County Council chairman, Mr David Righa is among those opposed to the mandatory contribution towards funeral expenses.

He says the practice should be discouraged and wananchi left to decide and determine the form of support to offer during funerals. “Definitely majority will contribute willingly. It’s all a matter of one’s conscience,” says Righa.

However, those in support of this practice insist it should be upheld as it is consistent with what used to happen in the past.

Wrong-doers and rebels were usually summoned before the council of elders locally known as “Waghosi Walughongo”, who decided the form of punishment to be meted out on them to avert anarchistic tendencies in the society.

Wundanyi MP, Mr Thomas Mwadeghu recently warned his constituents living in urban centres that a time will come when they will be forced to bury their dead in public cemeteries if they kept relying on him to provide for transport.

“Transporting bodies from urban to rural areas has become expensive and I cannot continue supporting it,” said Mwadeghu. He added: “There is need to form welfare societies where people can contribute money for such purposes.”

ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Guides on a walk to open up tourists spots

By JOSEPH MuKUBWA A team of guides recently walked for a 60- kilometre trek inside Aberdare forest in order to promote tourism.

The team of 14 guides who did a five-day safari at Aberdare National Park walked from Kiandongoro gate to Wandare gate.

The guides want to open up routes of Aberdares to promote local tourism.

The walk was a joint effort of two organisations which include World Challenge Expedition and Summit Ventures Expeditions.

The group which was aiming to prioritise tourism issues in the new Nyeri County had also invited members of the public to join them in sensitising people on the importance of local tourism.

The guides were trained at Green Hills Hotel for the theory work before the walk. The Summit Ventures Expeditions manager, Mr Charles Gichuhi said his organisation offers African adventure in climbing and hiking the Kenya, Elgon, Ruwenzori and Kilimanjaro mountains.

“We offer guides, porters and cooks to facilitate your climbing and hiking experience to be a memorable one. We offer services in all the East Africa mountains ranging from Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Meru, Elgon and Ruwenzori as well as the Aberdare Ranges,” explained Gichuhi.

World Challenge expedition leader, Mr Roy Jarvis said his organization provides educational expeditions in the developing world which teach life skills and

Some of the members of the World Challenge Expedition climbing Mt Kenya. The public is encouraged to participate in activities that promote local tourism. Picture: Joseph Mukubwa

expand minds outside the classroom.

“Our bespoke three to six-week student travel itineraries foster team spirit and leadership skills.

Our 22 years of experience mean

Farmers prepared for expected drought

By PAUL MWANIKI The Government has issued farmers in Laikipia East District with seeds of drought resistant crops to enhance food security in the coming dry months.

Farmers in Daiga and Central divisions have received 8.5 tonnes of sorghum, beans, cowpeas and green grams which are expected to mature faster before the expected Lanina drought.

Laikipia East district agricultural officer, Ms Ann Kimaita said farmers are expected to plant the seeds with the ongoing rains in the region so that they are ready by January.

Kimaita noted that one tonne of cowpeas and green grammes as well as six tonnes of sorghum and a half tonne of beans have already been distributed in the region. “Some farmers have planted urging the rest to follow suit,” Kimaita said.

She added that farmers have been advised to use the current technology of modern farming to maximise yield in their small farms.

Modern farming “We have been training them on conservation Agriculture where we are emphasizing on minimum or zero tillage which has shown great improvement in the region and we hope they will slowly adapt to this mode of farming,” noted Kimaita.

The Ministry of Agriculture has provided the farmers with farm equipment and machinery to aid them in conservation agriculture. “We have bought oxen drawn planters, jabs planters, swallow weeders, zam wipes, rippers and subsoilers that the farmers are using in groups to plant the seeds without ploughing their farms,” said the

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agriculture officer.

With the World Food Day having been celebrated on October 16, the issue of food security was emphasised in Laikipia East District with farmers being urged to plant drought tolerant crops like sorghum, millet and cassava.

Most farmers, however, believe that sorghum is used in cooking porridge but Kimaita has called on farmers to be attending agricultural field days in the region to learn the different ways in which the traditional crops are used in making different types of food.

“You can use sorghum to make ugali and pilau which are very nutritious and we are training farmers how to make different types of food from these crops which do well in this region at all times even with minimal rainfall,” she explained.

In collaboration with Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Ministry of Agriculture extension staff started the Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development (CA-SARD II) in Laikipia where six groups were trained.

The area under conservation agriculture is estimated to be about 1,000 acres for small scale farmers, 100 acres medium scale farmers and 4,000 acres for large scale farmers. Last season farmers were issued with 44 tonnes of short term maize seeds which they are currently harvesting hence they were not given the seeds this season.

However, Laikipia East District Commissioner, Mr Julius Mathenge confirmed that some areas in Daiga Division have been put under the World Food Programme of Emergency Operation and some residents are getting relief food after their crops failed.

that students and teachers benefit from a level of expedition safety and service second to none,” said Jarvis who was the expedition leader and trainer.

As the original school expedi-

tions company, World Challenge offers an unrivalled range of expeditions geared to the education of young people. The organization is ready to provide additional training to guides in future.

Community gets loan to boost environmental conservation

By DAVID KIARIE About 400 farmers from Mbeere, Tharaka and Kitui areas are set to benefit from KSh188 million to engage in forestry enterprises. The fund from Japan government will be loaned to farmers’ groups through the World Bank to fund various projects on farm forests.

According to the head of Eastern Forest Conservancy Mr Samuel Ihure, the funds will help farmers to establish tree nurseries, process honey, add value to fruits like mangoes and convert trees to timber.

Field schools

The revolving fund will be loaned to 20 groups of farmers each with a minimum of 20 members who will be required to repay the loan to allow other groups to benefit from the money.

The farmers will, however, be required to undergo a year’s training in farm forestry field schools where group members will share experiences with the aim of learning from each other.

“It is after this training and graduation that farmers will get the loan to fund the various projects,” said Ihure. The farmers will be assisted by the Kenya Forestry Service officers to identify projects to ensure they are economically viable.

The four-year farm forestry enterprise project targets dry land forests and is aimed at improving farmers’

livelihood besides conserving the environment.

“We want Kenyans to take forestry not just as an environment conservation measure but also as a livelihood improvement activity,” explained Ihure.

Hundreds of farmers from the three zones had earlier benefited from funds donated by the Japanese government through JICA where they were sensitised on environment conservation and helped to establish forests in their farms.

During the four-year programme dubbed Intensified Social Forestry Project (ISFP) which ended last year, farmers were able to plant, exotic, indigenous and fruit trees as well as putting up bee hives.

“The farm forestry enterprise program is a continuation of (ISFP) and will help the farmers to add value to their produce which includes processing and packaging honey instead of selling it raw, converting trees to timber and processing fruits like mangoes instead of selling them fresh.”

The forest officer said the successes of the project will be replicated in Makueni, Mwingi and Meru North zones which also fall under dry land forests.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Forestry Service has rehabilitated 220 hectares of degraded area in Unturiri Forest of Mburi District in Meru.

Ihure said they have planted indigenous trees on 150 hectares area and exotic trees on 70 hectares.

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ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Henna painting remains a mark of beauty

By Barwaqo Aress Henna patterns, the intricate and elaborate traditional designs drawn on a woman’s legs and arms have been a mark of beauty for the Swahili and Coastal residents in the region since time immemorial.

The designs, a special work of art are skilfully performed by knowledgeable young women who have learnt under the tutorship of older generation.

Beauty There are special designs for brides, wedding parties and married women whose motivation is to beautify their bodies for their husband’s pleasure.

In the coastal region, Henna body painting is synonymous with social occasions such as weddings, engagement parties and for beauty purposes. Culture forbids unmarried women from applying the paste.

Never has a work of art been appreciated as much as henna painting for the coastal woman. Lamu women’s leader, Mrs Hababa Nuru Omar, says the pattern bestows identity to a married woman and elevates her status in the eyes of society as one who has been ‘taken’.

In the Swahili culture, it is expected that a married woman would seek to explore all possible ways to please her spouse.

Apart from being submissive, beautifying oneself with henna patterns to please a husband is considered important.

“Girls up to the age of nine years are decorated with simply patterns on the hands but not the legs, while those above that age have to wait until they are married,” explains Omar.

Ceremonies

Forty days after a Coastal woman delivers a baby, the new mother who remains indoors for the entire duration is then skilfully decorated with henna patterns before she is taken outside the house in a ceremony. After this ceremony, a new mother is then officially allowed to rejoin her husband for a second ‘honeymoon’.

“A wedding ceremony at the Coast would also be easily identifiable by the elaborate designs on the women and for the bride. Special patterns would be reserved for her,” explains Omar.

Coastal women also use henna during celebrations such as Eid el Fitr that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan. Other celebrations include Maulid events and Swahili cultural days which celebrate the coastal culture including local cuisine and language.

The historical town of Lamu as other towns dotting the coastline such as Mombasa, Malindi and Mambrui are well known for their local henna artists who charge between KSh300 for ordinary patterns and upto KSh5,000 for bridal parties.

Henna, which is a paste from the grounded leaves of a special tree, fades

From right: A henna painter at work. A lady displays the beautiful finished henna designs. Hamida Abubakar with her husband Seif Abdallah during their wedding recently. Hamida had elaborate henna patterns done on her arms. In Swahili culture, it is important for a woman to beautify herself with henna designs to please her husband.

Pictures: Barwaqo Aress and courtesy

within a few days after several washes, necessitating that a lover of the art repeats the procedure after a week or so.

Several henna painters are available to serve the Swahili clientele. In recent years, brides from upcountry have also had their legs and hands painted with henna.

The Old Town, Kisauni, Majengo, Bamburi and Likoni among other suburbs have skilled henna painters whose fame is spread through word of mouth. Tourists also seek services from henna painters for them to identify with the locals while on holiday and generally enjoy their time at the Coast.

Salma Mohamed, 32, a resident of Majengo Mewa says painting one’s hands and feet in selected patterns using henna enhances a woman’s beauty. Although the mother of three paints to please her spouse, she considers it a monthly treat to do so, and spends between KSh300 to KSh800 monthly for the same indulgence which takes about three to four hours to complete.

It’s a culturally acceptable practice and some men who were interviewed concurred that it enhances a woman’s beauty.

Mr Munir Omar, a businessman says he finds his wife very attractive whenever she paints her legs and hands in the black

or brown patterns on her delicate limbs.

A civil servant, Omar says the henna painting culture enhances romance in a relationship since a husband is able to appreciate the effort and time taken to paint one’s limbs for him.

A non-Swahili who resides in Likoni area in the South Coast, Mr Miguongo Rutan, says his spouse has also embraced the henna culture and that he personally does not mind as it is a beautiful practice.

Henna painting is usually performed in the artist’s home and in specially secluded areas instead of salons so as to ensure privacy for clients.

Continued on page 5

ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Henna painting remains a mark of beauty

Continued from page 4

Fatma Ali, an artist who paints women during weddings and other ceremonies in Maweni area of Kisauni charges between KSh150 to KSh3,000 depending on the occasion.

Ali, who is not married sees between three to five clients per day during celebrations such as Eid el Fitr. During weddings the number may be higher.

Setbacks Some of the challenges faced by the artists include spending too much time sitting at one place drawing the patterns which is nerve wrecking. In the event that a client is not patient, the designs may not come out well.

Aisha Saggaf, a married woman who resides at Floringi, Mvita Constituency does not need any reason to put henna on her limbs. She strives to have it on her nails all the time.

“I have allocated a monthly budget of KSh1,000 for henna decorations every month,” she says. Her efforts have been appreciated by her husband through different loving gestures such as showering her with gifts.

As part of the local culture, the annual Swahili cultural festival seeks to promote this art that is increasingly gaining popularity in the region through competitions where the winners are given cash rewards and certificates.

There are also institutions such as the Lamu Polytechnic that has art classes specialising in henna painting and designs.

Some older women artists also charge those wishing to learn the art between KSh500 to KSh1,000 per month from their homes.

Asha Hassan who has been studying the art for the last three months hopes to be ready to receive clients after six months.

“Henna painting is one of the best paying jobs for women at the Coast since there is a high demand for services,” says Hassan. She adds: “The client brings the paste and the only thing the artist should have is patience and time.”

Hassan reiterates: “Students do not need any academic certificates to learn the art.” Once one graduates, she is ready to make a living drawing patterns on women’s limbs.

Celebrations During a current henna painting competition to celebrate the Malindi Cultural Festival, the organisers said elaborate designs depict happiness and joy, making it very popular with coastal women.

Sheikh Nabhan, cultural consultant and lecturer of Swahili culture at the Research Institute for Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa (RISEA) says henna is widely used among women in coastal towns in the East African region.

Locally, henna is used in towns where the Swahili culture is practiced such as Mombasa, Malindi, and Lamu.

Ms Hayaty Abdul Hakim Amir, the organiser of the recent Malindi cultural event and lover of the art says that no wedding for local women is complete without the traditional henna patterns for the women.

“Some daring women even request for elaborate patterns including those of flowers, butterflies, love symbols and other patterns on their waistlines, breasts, shoulders and thighs in order

Henna painting culture enhances romance in a relationship since a husband is able to appreciate the effort and time taken to paint one’s limbs.

to entice their husbands,” says Amir.

She adds: “Henna experts swear that husbands are so glued to the patterns on the inner body parts that this is now the new secret among henna enthusiasts at the Coast.”

Henna paint is sourced locally and in neighbouring Tanzania, Zanzibar and other islands. Some families also grow the plant on their backyards, harvest the leaves, dry and blend them into a fine powder which is then mixed with water for use.

Most preparations, however, are added with a chemical called ‘tina’ which helps the paste turn to dark brown on the clients skin when applied. This addition is, however, safe for clients, although some may react if too much is added.

Favourite areas for henna application remain the sole, feet, palms, ankles and nails. Some clients, including men use the henna as a hair treatment and with continued use it reportedly strengthens the hair cuticles.

Men using henna In Bondeni and old town areas, several men spot dark yellow beards which have been treated with the henna paste.

Apart from being revered as a mark of beauty and joy for women, henna is also believed to contain medicinal properties.

Some users claim that henna has the ability to cool down the human body and hence refresh the soul as well.

Ready made henna paste is readily available in beauty shops in Mombasa and other coastal towns at Kikowani, Old Town and at private homes where it is prepared and stored in fridges. The paste which is packed in plastic cone shaped pieces retails between KSh50 to KSh70 while the powder can be

purchased at between KSh20 to KSh50 per packet.

Cooling effect The scientific name of the plant that produces henna is Lawsonia Inermis and is believed to have helped the desert residents of Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat in Asia to cool their bodies.

Reports indicate that residents would dip their hands and feet in a mud or paste made of crushed henna leaves to benefit from the medicinal properties of the plant.

The plant is reportedly named after an 18th Century Scottish army doctor Mr Isaac Lawson, who was a friend to Linnaeus Inermis which means unarmed without spines.

It is not clear whether the plant is indigenous to coastal towns or was brought by early settlers from the Middle East but it grows very well in humid coastal weather.

Neighbouring Tanzania settlements such as Tanga, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam also grow it.

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Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

Hope for widows and orphans

By PAUL OLALE

The future for Alice Osundwa was nipped in the bud when her parents died and she had to drop out of school.

Though not even into puberty, Alice was forced to act as mother and father to her siblings.

“My parents death forced me to drop out of school in Standard Seven to care for myself and my two younger brothers and sister,” says the 12 year old, girl from Nabongo Location, Mumias Municipality.

To take care of her family, Alice has to work for at least four hours daily, weeding sugarcane farms to earn KSh80 a day.

Her parents’ death is not all she has to contend with, Alice and her siblings are living with HIV and are prone to myriad opportunistic infections having themselves caught the virus from their parents.

Goodwill Barely 15 km away in South Wanga Division, Lucy Akego, 51, is a widow living with Aids who has to fend for herself. She depends on the good will of neighbours for upkeep and only when they have extra food do they remember to pass some to her.

“Otherwise I survive on chewing sugarcane dropped from tractors transporting the commodity to the factory,” she says.

According to Matungu and Mumias District Technical Committee on Aids, there are about 5,000 Aids orphans in the area and the number is rising fast.

It is against this backdrop that Rosca Feed the Orphans Programme, a community base organisation (CBO) decided to intervene. It is run from a home situated one kilometre south of Mumias town.

Feeding programme “I was inspired to start the programme after seeing orphans and widows’ sufferings in Uganda when I attended a conference organised by Society for Women and Aids in Africa (SWAA) in 2001,” says Ms Prisca Atieno Oulo, 61, Rosca project manager.

The name Rosca was derived from her name Prisca, and that of a British lady friend Rohina, with whom she founded the organisation in October 2001. Two years later, Rohina left the country, leaving her in charge. Since then, 768 orphans and 485 widows living with HIV/Aids have been enlisted into the programme.

“We have focused in four most affected locations in the two districts but we hope to expand to other areas if we get more funds,” explains Oulo.

Initially Rosca sent a proposal for funding to an organisation known as Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI) and has been receiving support from which it caters for about half the number of widows and orphans.

“We spend the money on food, clothing, beddings and medical care for orphans at

helped are the provincial administration, government departments, Mumias Sugar Company and St Mary’s Mission Hospital-Mumias. A private medic in town, Dr Mahmoud Said, treats the children free of charge.

Oulo attributes her success to God’s grace. A born again Christian, she says: “I feel in my soul God is weeping for Aids orphans and widows, and that it is my duty to dedicate myself to helping them.”

She recalls that before her salvation and eye-witness experience of the Aids scourge in Uganda, she could not imagine being involved in the lives of the disadvantaged.

“I held supervisory and managerial positions in my employment years at Mumias Sugar and Longmans Shipping companies and was far removed from the lives of the lowly people.”

Calling When she got saved and got the calling to serve orphans, she had to retire from employment pre-maturely to fulfil it.

And since then, because of her Prisca Oulo together with some of the orphans. She believes in helping orphans in their achievements, she has earned other original homes as it helps them grow culturally and psychologically. Picture: Paul Olale feathers on her cap. She is a member of Society of Women and Aids in Kenya (SWAK), Kenya Christian Aids least once a month subject to the availabil- The organisation has helped them form Network (K-CAN) and Peer Educator on and register five groups through which ity of funds,” says Oulo.

HIV/Aids prevention for senior members With the introduction of free primary they are helped to get credits and grants to of Kenya Girl Guides Association. She is education, the organisation has ensured start income generating activities. Those also a member of Mumias/Matungu Diswho care for orphans are also given supthat all the children are enrolled in school. tricts Area Advisory Council (AAC) on Rosca opposes the idea of secluding plies to cater for their basic needs. children affairs.

Rosca also offers legal assistance to widchildren living with HIV/Aids to orphanShe is now a mother to many spread ages or special homes and, therefore, assists ows and orphans who get into inheritance in homes all over the area and two dozen disputes with their relatives. the children from their original homes. others who live at her family house for Because of financial limitations, the or“We help children in the environments various reasons. Some were picked from they are familiar with because that way ganisation is only run by a committee of the streets, some were found abandoned they develop better psychologically and four; the chairperson, secretary, project as others were left too young to fend for manager and treasurer. The rest of the culturally,” states Oulo. themselves when their parents died.

Having the orphans remain in their tasks are undertaken by volunteers who “She is like two fathers and two mothoriginal homes also helps restrain unscru- include the project manager’s husband, Mr ers to me and makes me forget my sorpulous relatives from grabbing their inher- Sam Oulo and some of their children. rows easily,” declares eight-year-old Lillian “My family has been very supportive; itance, especially land.

Akolo who has been living at Oulo’s house Rosca also received KSh420,000 especially in soliciting for assistance, orafter her parents died when she was two from the National Aids Control Coun- ganising get-togethers for our beneficiaries years old. cil (NACC) in 2003 which it used to pay and distributing aid,” she explains. Oulo school fees for 37 orphans in secondary appreciates these efforts because it has schools. Many others missed out because been hard to find other people ready to Rosca plans to expand to care for 1,000 the money was not enough. Other funding help without pay. orphans in the next two years if more funds The Rosca treasurer, Mrs Emily K. and material assistance occasionally comes and resources are found. The organisation Otieno, who is also the Company Secrefrom individuals and public institutions. needs more funds for feeding. It would also Alongside the orphans, Rosca also tary at Mumias Sugar Company, handles like to buy a vehicle for transporting benfunds the education of bright but vulner- legal issues involving beneficiaries and eficiaries particularly to hospital. It would able children including the poor and those maintaining support networks. She says also like to pay fees for more orphans in network support has kept Rosca going with physical disability. secondary schools and colleges and aspires “This is done to save them from abuse especially when donor funds run out or to build a recreational and counselling by people who may offer to support them are late.

The local communities and institutions centre. but with ulterior motives,” says Oulo.

Oulo’s hope for a better future has been Rosca has started working with widows are positive to Rosca Feed the Orphans boosted by the new Constitution which in South Wanga Division, Mumias District. Programme. Among those who have provides that the State shall put in place affirmative action programmes to ensure that minorities and marginalized groups have access to water, health services, education, income and infrastructure.

“With God’s grace, I hope more people will see the need to join us,” she declares with enthusiasm.

— Prisca Oulo.

Expansion

“We help children in the environments they are familiar with because that way they develop better psychologically and culturally.”

ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

In the name of compassion for abused children

By JOSEPH MUKUBWA Her vision throughout her life was just one, to give a home to the homeless.

Since her childhood, Veronica Mumbi Muhuri has always empathised with orphans who have been violated, neglected or abandoned on the streets and wants to give them hope. She has done it before and wants to continue.

Five years ago, Mumbi, 46, left a well paying job in a big company in Nairobi to do charity work and she has no regrets.

Vision “I felt uncomfortable with my job and said my vision must now be followed after I noted the increasing number of abused children in the society,” says Mumbi as she holds a child she found abandoned at Nyeri Provincial General Hospital.

“Desires are fulfilled and mine has always been to run a children’s home. I kept to my dream and believed beyond reasonable doubt that I will start one. I have stayed with belief, faith and determination that I can do it without getting profits,” she explains.

Mumbi’s desire was fulfilled the minute she started the Belwop Children Rescue Centre, situated at Asian Quarters within Nyeri town. The home was started in March 2005 and registered as a community based organization in June the same year.

“This centre was born out of the call and desire to serve the less privileged children.

The name Belwop came after a group of seven women started for a ‘better life for women’ project (Belwop).Their main aim was to go round in hospitals, homes especially slums to visit needy children,” she narrates.

Challenges However, the group of women that started with her later left as they were unable to cope with the many challenges that came on their way. Most of them thought it was a money making project only to realise later that the project meant spending much of their own money and time.

Mumbi was left alone but did not give up and has pushed the journey to date.

Despite the many challenges, her mission has been only one, to give hope to the violated, neglected, abused and orphaned children. Mumbi has always advocated having a society where every child has a safe home and enjoys equal rights.

“I have always wanted to reach out to the silent suffering children who are abused out there. I want to enlighten the children on their rights, encourage and assist them to speak out on the injustices inflicted upon them,” says Mumbi.

7

She adds: “I am on a rescue and rehabilitation mission which will help in providing equal opportunities to the less privileged in the society.”

Mumbi has rented the sevenroomed house where she houses the children for KSh10,000 monthly.

She recalls a case five years ago where a father brutally murdered his wife, a mother of a two-month-old child at Kiawaithanji, Nyeri municipality. He was later killed by a mob and the child was left alone without a parent. Today, the child who is in Mumbi’s custody happily plays with others oblivious of the foregoing events.

In Mumbi’s custody are 22 needy children, mostly girls aged between two and 18 years. These are mostly HIV/ Aids orphans from Othaya, Mukurwe-ini, Tetu, Kieni, Nyeri Central and Mathira districts.

Victims of abuse These children do not know anybody else and believe that Mumbi and caretaker Sarah Muthoni are their parents. Among them are also children who are victims of sexual abuse, majority by their own fathers.

These children are now able to go to school where 18 of them are in primary school, three are in nursery schools and one is expected to start school soon.

“This boy was born in the streets of Nyeri town to a retarded mother. I took him when he was hopeless and today he is in Standard Eight at Githwariga Primary School. This other one was taken from the streets of Karatina town which is 20 kilometres away, today he is in Standard Four in the same school.

The other one there was a beggar with her mother here in town, she is also in school. The list is endless,” says Mumbi as she introduces the children remembering with pain their sad stories.

They have been provided with support and care which involves medical care, provision of basic needs such as a good balanced diet, clothing, educa-

“Desires are fulfilled and mine has always been to run a children’s home. I kept to my dream and believed beyond reasonable doubt that I will start one.”

— Veronica Mumbi Muhuri

Veronica Mumbi holding five year old Peter Ndirangu while Mishek Mwangi, 7, stands next to her.

Below: Some of the children studying in their dormitory room.

Pictures: Joseph Mukubwa

tion and shelter and even spiritual nourishment. Counselling services have also been offered free of charge.

The rescue centre relies on well wishers, schools, community, children’s offices, churches, local corporate bodies and the local administration. At times they organize activities aimed at bringing in more money.

Mumbi says the house is full to capacity and they cannot take in more needy children despite many individuals asking to bring them more. She hopes in the near future she will be able to set up a bigger home

to accommodate the rising cases.

Lack of funding as well as enough and experienced personnel are some of the major challenges the rescue centre faces. The home is being run by her and a group of volunteers.

A local organisation known as Friends of Youth (FOY) has helped in providing medical care for the children. Don Bosco, a Catholic men’s association in Upper Hill in Nairobi helped by providing beds, mattresses, bedding, cash donations and assorted foodstuffs when the home was being set up.

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ISSUE 028, November 1-15, 2010

Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth

Traditional oath taking was norm among the Gusii

By BEN OROKO Before the missionaries’ arrival in the Kisii highlands, the Gusii people, also referred to as the Abagusii, like many African societies, worshipped God, Engoro.

Besides worshipping Engoro, whom they believed created the universe as well as man and lived up in the skies, the Gusii applied oaths alongside traditional religion to administer justice and maintain law and order in society.

In the traditional Gusii society, oaths were applied alongside religion to enforce decisions passed during trials presided over by a council of elders in traditional courts.

Mzee Moses Onchabo says: “Oaths taken during trials had a strong link with religion since they invoked God’s name or ancestral spirits to bear witness to the parties giving evidence to the clan court assessors.”

Oaths at trials The Gusii used oaths at the beginning or end of every important case, especially trials which proved difficult for the elders to identify offenders.

“Oath-taking in the Gusii tradition meant if the one taking it was not speaking the truth, a calamity would befall him or her immediately or sometime in the future after the trial. If the accused was speaking falsely, a certain evil would also befall him or her,” explains the elder.

According to Gusii traditional beliefs, an oath was a solemn declaration to God or ancestral spirits. By taking an oath, one had to speak the truth because if one spoke falsely in oath-taking, he or she would receive a supernatural wrath upon his or her head.

Some of the consequences of one speaking falsely during oath-taking included one being struck with thunder or becoming insane in his or her lifetime among other repercussions.

“Oath-taking during traditional court trials had a strong relationship with the community’s traditional religious beliefs since elders presiding over cases did not have standing armies to enforce their decisions,” explains Onchabo.

Instead enforcement of the decisions depended on the fear of the consequences out of one’s oath-taking which involved supernatural sanctions.

“Besides applying oaths during traditional trials, elders in some unique circumstances used oaths to perform cursing rituals, especially when the local communities witnessed rampant cases of cattle rustling and other thefts,” explains Onchabo. He reiterates: “The elders convened

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Catholic faithful in one of the churches in Kisii. The Church was the first in the region, changing the community’s age old traditional religious beliefs. Picture: Ben Oroko.

special public meetings during which they performed the cursing rituals with the suspects being taken through oath-taking and cursing rituals after consuming a mixture of cow milk, cow dung and traditional beer (busaa).”

The elders and members of the public would then escort the suspects to the river and force them to wade through water at the final stage of the cursing ritual.

Onchabo explains: “After wading through the river, if any of the suspects was involved in the evil activities condemned by the elders during the cursing rituals, he/she would be killed if they attempted to engage in the activities.”

Suspected cattle rustlers who defied the looming repercussions of the cursing rituals were later killed in the course of engaging in the vice.

Octogenarian Martha Orenyo says while the Gusii believed the ancestral spirits were a supernatural link between god and man, the sun, moon and stars were some of the mysterious ways through which God manifested himself to the living.

Orenyo observes: “Besides the Gusii believing the sun was one of God’s eyes, they also directed their prayers to God through the sun.”

She explains: “In the traditional Gusii society, when a baby was born, the mother would hold it across her breast and face

the rising sun before saying a short prayer known as ‘Rioba or Engoro nderere.”

This was a prayer asking God to protect the child as he or she grew up.

Orenyo says: “Though the Gusii did not confine their religious systems to shrines, they had direct communication with God through prayers and offering of sacrifices which was done by heads of homestead.

Communal sacrifices could be offered alongside some special songs and dances to appease the ancestral spirits and God in times of disasters, especially when famine and drought struck the community.

Thanksgiving

“Though the Gusii did not confine their religious systems to shrines, they had direct communication with God through prayers and offering of sacrifices.

— Martha Orenyo

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello-Orlale Programme Coordinator: Wilson Ugangu

Editor: Jane Godia

Sub-Editors: Florence Sipalla and Mercy Mumo

Designer: Noel Lumbama

Contributors: Ben Mwanga, Patrick Mwanzia, Nick Odhiambo, Odhiambo Odhiambo, Joseph Mukubwa, Paul Mwaniki, David Kiarie, Barwaqo Aress, Paul Olale and Ben Oroko.

“If it was the period of harvesting or beginning of a new year, communal thanksgiving ceremonies were performed under the leadership of the chief of every clan.

Consequently, the homestead heads would offer sacrifices at convenient places within the clan territory,” observes Orenyo.

However, with the arrival of the Catholic missionaries from the Mill Hill Society in 1911 at Nyabururu and later the Seventh Day Adventist missionaries in the area, majority of the Gusii have stopped practising traditional religion.

Only a few conservative members of the community are still clinging to traditional beliefs of ancestral spirits and supernatural powers.

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info@mediadiversityafrica.org

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