Sunday, October 27, 2013
Friday, June 8, 2012
Amaranth Boom
BY JECKONIA OTIENO
Amaranth Boom Grain amaranth has for a long time been seen and treated as a weed in Nyanza and Western provinces. The weed which is referred to as ododo in the local language in Nyanza has occasionally been used as vegetable.
This situation is however changing with residents of Umala in South-East Alego cultivating it for its highly nutritious seeds hitherto unknown to them. A community based organisation is investing in the crop in order to improve its members’ livelihood as well as supply its flour throughout Nyanza Province and the country as a whole. Usula Wege CBO has decided to plant, harvest, mill and package the crop.
Under the Ministry of Agriculture’s Njaa Marufuku Programme, the crop which has long been viewed as a menace due to its speedy propagation especially during the rainy seasons has become a cash crop for residents of this village. It has become an alternative for staple foods such as maize, beans, sweet potatoes and cassava which rarely do well due to poor agricultural practices and adverse weather conditions.
Syprose Atieno, the chairperson of Usula Wege, was among the first to take to fully planting the crop for commercial purposes. She notes that while others adopted a wait-and-see attitude, she decided to try the crop and see what it would offer. 43 other small scale farmers cultivated it too. These farmers managed to harvest up to three tons of the crop most of which did not offer much returns. It had to be taken to Nairobi to be sold since there was ready market within the county.
‘Initially we did not reap much since people did not see its importance and prices were low,’ Atieno notes.
She says matters were not made easier by the fact that the organization did not have any means to process the crop and the voice of critics was growing louder by the day. However this has changed. The Ministry of Agriculture has bought and installed a posho mill in Umala shopping centre. This is the only mill of its kind in the entire Siaya County with the nearest one being in Kakamega County.
The posho mill which will grind the grains before the flour is packaged will make work easier for farmers since they won’t have to travel far to search for market for the crop. It will also process produce from other parts of the county. The group does not still have a packaging machine; therefore members will be forced to engage manual labour.
Currently, more than 230 farmers have their farms under the cover of amaranth in Umala alone. This is after word locals realised that they had been sitting on gold. The crop is multipurpose in terms of products associated with it. Atieno says its flour can be used to prepare a variety of food like porridge, buns, pancakes, biscuits and other confectionery products.
‘Locals of four locations around here got a taste of it during a recent display by the group on various ways it can be prepared for consumption,’ she says. The chairperson’s words are echoed by Mr Ken Owuor who is an agricultural extension officer in Karemo Division. He says the Njaa Marufuku component targets to change people’s perception that only staple foods such as maize should be planted.
Owuor states that this crop is recommended for patients who are managing various ailments especially HIV/AIDS due to its wholesome nature. Owuor notes, ‘Perception is now changing as you can see more and more farms under amaranth; partly this can be attributed to the fact that it is an immunity booster.’ He claims at the onset it was quite difficult to persuade people to invest in the crop which takes only two and a half months to mature. Amaranth does not require intensive labour since it is a free growing crop which tends to choke weeds.
Yuanita Aluoch Oluma of Nyasere Women’s Group has planted the crop in half of her two acre plot of land. She agrees that due to its quick maturity she opted to try it and see if she could earn a bit more than what she gets from her meager annual maize harvest. During a recent visit by the agricultural officer to teach farmers on how to manage the crop and ensure maximum returns, most farmers in the meeting at Umala chief’s camp had many questions not only on how commercial forces will pan out but also how to ensure a steady market; yet they had hopes on the crop changing their lives. Most of them still had scanty knowledge on how to harvest and dry the grains due to the tiny nature of the seed. Owuor urged the farmers to be vigilant and work as a team to avoid exploitation. He informed the farmers on multiplicity of benefits by the crop adding that being a vegetable; it can be used as a supplement to the commonly preferred sukuma wiki and cow peas. Another challenge still facing the farmers is lack of proper storage facilities which makes the crop rot leading to wastage and poor returns. They also foresee a situation whereby some unscrupulous businessmen will seek to gain much from the crop while giving minimum returns to the farmers. Farmers also decried the poor state of the feeder roads which are impassable during the rainy season. Despite all these challenges, the people of Umala, even Siaya as a whole, are taking a break from the usual maize meal which seems to have survived the test of time.
Amaranth Boom Grain amaranth has for a long time been seen and treated as a weed in Nyanza and Western provinces. The weed which is referred to as ododo in the local language in Nyanza has occasionally been used as vegetable.
This situation is however changing with residents of Umala in South-East Alego cultivating it for its highly nutritious seeds hitherto unknown to them. A community based organisation is investing in the crop in order to improve its members’ livelihood as well as supply its flour throughout Nyanza Province and the country as a whole. Usula Wege CBO has decided to plant, harvest, mill and package the crop.
Under the Ministry of Agriculture’s Njaa Marufuku Programme, the crop which has long been viewed as a menace due to its speedy propagation especially during the rainy seasons has become a cash crop for residents of this village. It has become an alternative for staple foods such as maize, beans, sweet potatoes and cassava which rarely do well due to poor agricultural practices and adverse weather conditions.
Syprose Atieno, the chairperson of Usula Wege, was among the first to take to fully planting the crop for commercial purposes. She notes that while others adopted a wait-and-see attitude, she decided to try the crop and see what it would offer. 43 other small scale farmers cultivated it too. These farmers managed to harvest up to three tons of the crop most of which did not offer much returns. It had to be taken to Nairobi to be sold since there was ready market within the county.
‘Initially we did not reap much since people did not see its importance and prices were low,’ Atieno notes.
She says matters were not made easier by the fact that the organization did not have any means to process the crop and the voice of critics was growing louder by the day. However this has changed. The Ministry of Agriculture has bought and installed a posho mill in Umala shopping centre. This is the only mill of its kind in the entire Siaya County with the nearest one being in Kakamega County.
The posho mill which will grind the grains before the flour is packaged will make work easier for farmers since they won’t have to travel far to search for market for the crop. It will also process produce from other parts of the county. The group does not still have a packaging machine; therefore members will be forced to engage manual labour.
Currently, more than 230 farmers have their farms under the cover of amaranth in Umala alone. This is after word locals realised that they had been sitting on gold. The crop is multipurpose in terms of products associated with it. Atieno says its flour can be used to prepare a variety of food like porridge, buns, pancakes, biscuits and other confectionery products.
‘Locals of four locations around here got a taste of it during a recent display by the group on various ways it can be prepared for consumption,’ she says. The chairperson’s words are echoed by Mr Ken Owuor who is an agricultural extension officer in Karemo Division. He says the Njaa Marufuku component targets to change people’s perception that only staple foods such as maize should be planted.
Owuor states that this crop is recommended for patients who are managing various ailments especially HIV/AIDS due to its wholesome nature. Owuor notes, ‘Perception is now changing as you can see more and more farms under amaranth; partly this can be attributed to the fact that it is an immunity booster.’ He claims at the onset it was quite difficult to persuade people to invest in the crop which takes only two and a half months to mature. Amaranth does not require intensive labour since it is a free growing crop which tends to choke weeds.
Yuanita Aluoch Oluma of Nyasere Women’s Group has planted the crop in half of her two acre plot of land. She agrees that due to its quick maturity she opted to try it and see if she could earn a bit more than what she gets from her meager annual maize harvest. During a recent visit by the agricultural officer to teach farmers on how to manage the crop and ensure maximum returns, most farmers in the meeting at Umala chief’s camp had many questions not only on how commercial forces will pan out but also how to ensure a steady market; yet they had hopes on the crop changing their lives. Most of them still had scanty knowledge on how to harvest and dry the grains due to the tiny nature of the seed. Owuor urged the farmers to be vigilant and work as a team to avoid exploitation. He informed the farmers on multiplicity of benefits by the crop adding that being a vegetable; it can be used as a supplement to the commonly preferred sukuma wiki and cow peas. Another challenge still facing the farmers is lack of proper storage facilities which makes the crop rot leading to wastage and poor returns. They also foresee a situation whereby some unscrupulous businessmen will seek to gain much from the crop while giving minimum returns to the farmers. Farmers also decried the poor state of the feeder roads which are impassable during the rainy season. Despite all these challenges, the people of Umala, even Siaya as a whole, are taking a break from the usual maize meal which seems to have survived the test of time.
Yala: Swamp of absurdity
BY JECKONIA OTIENO
Yala: Swamp of absurdity
The expansive Yala Swamp has become a real theatre of absurdity pitting investors, the local communities and conservationists on a warpath.
Just as the multimillion rehabilitation of the swamp began in earnest with Dominion Farms undertaking a massive project to produce food from the swamp, ripples of controversy started.
For a while now the people of Kadenge have been up in arms after their several attempts to venture into the swamp which is quickly drying up have been met with full force by the investor. As the Kadenge issue grabs headlines, people from down in Sumba, Usonga, have also picked up their matchettes and hoes and ventured into the drying swamp.
This is a kneejerk reaction to news that the investor plans to increase his farm to what they call ancestral land.
On the other hand is conservationists led by Nature Kenya which are worried that the ecosystem might just be lost for good if the trend continues. Alex Ngari, a conservation programme manager with Nature Kenya decries the fact that the trend the country has taken can only mean one thing, that the natural vegetation in Kenya might disappear forever if no urgent measures are taken to curb wanton environmental degradation in the name of farming.
Says Ngari: ‘It is only not about food production but we must strike a balance so that our natural bionetwork is maintained.’ Of Yala Swamp’s 17,500 hectares, 2,300 hectares have already been cultivated and a further 6,900 hectares parcel is being opened up for cultivation by Dominion Farms; actually 3,500 hectares have been cultivated.
This is where the quagmire starts. In Sumba floods displaced residents long ago before the swamp was ‘reclaimed’. But with the controlled flow of water by the investor, this part of the swamp has dried up prompting the locals to go back where their ancestors lived before the floods struck.
One such local who has lived his life here is Charles Otieno who vows that by all means he, just like all the others in the area, cannot stop cultivating what he says is rightfully theirs.
‘Our grandparents lived here before water drove them away to this relatively higher ground,’ says an emotional Otieno, his family of three beside him.
He notes that the community knows too well that there are plans to sell off their ancestral land without them being consulted. He points out that clandestine meetings are being held by unscrupulous individuals from Uranga which is quite a distance from Sumba. The gatherings, he alleges, are being held in order to throw them out.
With a forlorn look he says, ‘These people want to sell our land yet we have no other means of survival.’ What confuses the locals even more is the rumour that the place is set to be a game reserve. Though they say it is not a bad idea, they should be consulted instead of some few individuals from Uranga sitting to decide their fate.
Dominion Farms still stands as a threat to the residents of Sumba who say that the setting up of a game reserve is a gimmick meant to throw people out before the investor can move in and cultivate the area.
The Siaya District Environment Officer, Mrs Anne Owino agrees that indeed the swamp has become a real issue. She observes that seemingly when contracts were being signed or put in place the local community might not have been properly educated to know the impact of the investment.
Anne states that the cultivation of the swamp is a noble idea which if locals understand then peaceful coexistence would abound.
‘The investor has succeeded where others have failed, to turn around the fallow land into an agricultural zone,’ she points out. It is also alleged that some non-governmental organisations are fuelling the conflict for their own interests.
‘If the floods wreak havoc, then people are displaced and have to depend on relief which happens to come from donors abroad, so NGOs are seeking to maintain the status quo in order to get more funds,’ charges Anne.
People of Sumba say that they have been reliant on relief food which takes long to arrive, leaving them in precarious situations. Therefore, they are not ready to stop cultivating the dry swamp because they say it is fertile and can sustain their dietary needs. A number of them point to their granaries which have a bit of maize to keep them going, all from their farms in the swamp. This foodstuff, they say, they government cannot provide in terms of relief food which they tire of waiting for annually when the floods come knocking.
Angelina Auma, a trader at Boro Market notes that it would be foolhardy to stop the farming activities of the investor.
‘Many people are employed there and the same rice produced helped people around here a lot during the famine earlier this year,’ Auma declares. Nature Kenya however says the destruction of the wetland will have a long term environmental impact around the area in general.
It notes that with Lake Kanyaboli already receding, if no proper mitigation measures are not taken to curb the governed flow of water then an environmental disaster is in the offing. With each group having a frontier and a reason to hold on to its side of the argument, Yala Swamp remains explosive – a small spark could turn it into a huge ball of fire as each group digs in adamantly.
Yala: Swamp of absurdity
The expansive Yala Swamp has become a real theatre of absurdity pitting investors, the local communities and conservationists on a warpath.
Just as the multimillion rehabilitation of the swamp began in earnest with Dominion Farms undertaking a massive project to produce food from the swamp, ripples of controversy started.
For a while now the people of Kadenge have been up in arms after their several attempts to venture into the swamp which is quickly drying up have been met with full force by the investor. As the Kadenge issue grabs headlines, people from down in Sumba, Usonga, have also picked up their matchettes and hoes and ventured into the drying swamp.
This is a kneejerk reaction to news that the investor plans to increase his farm to what they call ancestral land.
On the other hand is conservationists led by Nature Kenya which are worried that the ecosystem might just be lost for good if the trend continues. Alex Ngari, a conservation programme manager with Nature Kenya decries the fact that the trend the country has taken can only mean one thing, that the natural vegetation in Kenya might disappear forever if no urgent measures are taken to curb wanton environmental degradation in the name of farming.
Says Ngari: ‘It is only not about food production but we must strike a balance so that our natural bionetwork is maintained.’ Of Yala Swamp’s 17,500 hectares, 2,300 hectares have already been cultivated and a further 6,900 hectares parcel is being opened up for cultivation by Dominion Farms; actually 3,500 hectares have been cultivated.
This is where the quagmire starts. In Sumba floods displaced residents long ago before the swamp was ‘reclaimed’. But with the controlled flow of water by the investor, this part of the swamp has dried up prompting the locals to go back where their ancestors lived before the floods struck.
One such local who has lived his life here is Charles Otieno who vows that by all means he, just like all the others in the area, cannot stop cultivating what he says is rightfully theirs.
‘Our grandparents lived here before water drove them away to this relatively higher ground,’ says an emotional Otieno, his family of three beside him.
He notes that the community knows too well that there are plans to sell off their ancestral land without them being consulted. He points out that clandestine meetings are being held by unscrupulous individuals from Uranga which is quite a distance from Sumba. The gatherings, he alleges, are being held in order to throw them out.
With a forlorn look he says, ‘These people want to sell our land yet we have no other means of survival.’ What confuses the locals even more is the rumour that the place is set to be a game reserve. Though they say it is not a bad idea, they should be consulted instead of some few individuals from Uranga sitting to decide their fate.
Dominion Farms still stands as a threat to the residents of Sumba who say that the setting up of a game reserve is a gimmick meant to throw people out before the investor can move in and cultivate the area.
The Siaya District Environment Officer, Mrs Anne Owino agrees that indeed the swamp has become a real issue. She observes that seemingly when contracts were being signed or put in place the local community might not have been properly educated to know the impact of the investment.
Anne states that the cultivation of the swamp is a noble idea which if locals understand then peaceful coexistence would abound.
‘The investor has succeeded where others have failed, to turn around the fallow land into an agricultural zone,’ she points out. It is also alleged that some non-governmental organisations are fuelling the conflict for their own interests.
‘If the floods wreak havoc, then people are displaced and have to depend on relief which happens to come from donors abroad, so NGOs are seeking to maintain the status quo in order to get more funds,’ charges Anne.
People of Sumba say that they have been reliant on relief food which takes long to arrive, leaving them in precarious situations. Therefore, they are not ready to stop cultivating the dry swamp because they say it is fertile and can sustain their dietary needs. A number of them point to their granaries which have a bit of maize to keep them going, all from their farms in the swamp. This foodstuff, they say, they government cannot provide in terms of relief food which they tire of waiting for annually when the floods come knocking.
Angelina Auma, a trader at Boro Market notes that it would be foolhardy to stop the farming activities of the investor.
‘Many people are employed there and the same rice produced helped people around here a lot during the famine earlier this year,’ Auma declares. Nature Kenya however says the destruction of the wetland will have a long term environmental impact around the area in general.
It notes that with Lake Kanyaboli already receding, if no proper mitigation measures are not taken to curb the governed flow of water then an environmental disaster is in the offing. With each group having a frontier and a reason to hold on to its side of the argument, Yala Swamp remains explosive – a small spark could turn it into a huge ball of fire as each group digs in adamantly.
They bathe in it and drink from it
Jeckonia Otieno
They bathe in it and drink from it
Bathing in rivers and ponds, an age-old practice that exists in most parts of western Kenya, is slowly dying off but with a resistance that would deter any light-hearted law enforcer.
With numerous rivers and streams crisscrossing the region most people find it easy to do entire washing activities in the naturally flowing channels. These activities are like washing clothes, bathing, also cleaning utensils; the latest but most resistant is washing of motorbikes and vehicles.
George Ouma, a resident of Wath Bar near Siaya town finds it easy to do most of his washing on the river. Being a married man, after toiling in the farm he picks his bar of soap and sponge and strolls to Wath Bar stream where he takes a plunge.
‘Why should I waste time and energy to carry water home while I can just use it in the source?’ he wonders.
It is from this same river downstream where SIBO Water Company gets its water to supply Siaya town, not forgetting the myriads of villagers who stay downstream and drink this water untreated.
Such is the predicament of many rivers that flow in western Kenya like Yala, Nzoia, Sondu, Awach and Nyando. In fact the scenario is that men bathe in one spot and not far off, without a substantial privacy shields, you find women or children swimming.
Consolata Oigo who loves to swim says the hustle of fetching water is torturous and reiterates that there is always no shame in seeing each other naked.
She states, ‘Janam ong’iyo gi kabang’ wadgi.’ This means a person from the river or lake is used to seeing their neighbour’s behind.
The younger generation, however, is changing the trends. They find it hard to bathe as their peers watch.
Caroline Auma a student in one of the secondary schools in Gem where River Yala flows notes that it is so demeaning and shameful to just find young people naked bathing together.
Most of her peers concur that in deed unlike their parents, they find it utterly irresponsible to just bathe in the open.
Washing of utensils and doing laundry in the rivers is also another practice that is being killed. Those staying close to the rivers carry their utensils to the river to wash it there-in. Laundry is done indiscriminately including those of little children and the sick which makes the water flowing downstream hazardous to those who use it for cooking and drinking downstream.
The only people who have always not had a difficulty with water safety are those who live near naturally occurring springs from where they get the liquid fresh from underground.
Alongside these add the bodaboda menace and their unruly ways. These have neither remorse nor refinement in understanding that washing vehicles in the rivers is not healthy. As long as it is open and water is flowing, they are at liberty to do their cleaning.
Lucas Olik usually washes his bike in Nzoia just along the Busia-Kisumu road and he says it is his right since water comes from God.
Olik says, ‘Water is free as it is God who brings rain so we have to use it because, after all, as it flows downstream it purifies itself.’
His fellow riders agree with him and argue that the cost of buying water to wash their tools of trade, the motorcycles, is way above them.
They accuse the provincial administration of arresting them often thereby denying them their God-given right of uninhibited use of their natural resources, water chief among them.
Siaya District Commissioner Boaz Cherutich agrees that some of these activities have been so rampant in the past, but have been dropped mainly due to the effects of urbanization and continued access to education by many.
Cherutich asserts, ‘Urbanisation has helped mitigate the effects of this practice which had become law here; young people are a bit more reasonable and are rarely found bathing in rivers.’
The DC further observes that the environmental office has tried as much as it can to stop those still polluting rivers. He notes that the problem is still commonplace in areas around Nyadorera as one heads towards Sio Port and areas near Yala River.
The Siaya district environment office is still on the warpath in its endeavours to end this habit that seemingly will take a long way to be extinct.
The district environmental officer, Anne Owino, points out that arrests have been made but still people seem undeterred. She places blame on the bodaboda and vehicle riders.
‘They wash in the rivers but are always constantly on the look such that when they see our officers then the speed off with their bikes which puts them at risk of getting involved in accidents,’ Anne intimates.
Hillary Okumu who is the deputy district medical health officer in Siaya observes that at times scarcity of water is the problem that pushes people to wash in the rivers and streams.
He notes that only a policy document to outlaw the habit in totality would act as a deterrent measure to some extent. She states that if people know they would face prosecution, they would not clean in the rivers.
Okumu decries the fact that sick people’s clothes are washed in the rivers, putting the health of those downstream at risk. He puts it that some went as far as defecating in the water channels. This has been since solved by educating the communities to dig pit latrines.
Though the inappropriate use of water is slowly being stopped, it seemingly will take just few more years to completely wipe out other factors remaining constant, not only in Siaya but the entire Western Kenya.
Expelled for emceeing
BY JECKONIA OTIENO
Expelled for emceeing
Cluck, as he is popularly known, was expelled from Musingu High School for allegedly involving himself in organising parties for his fellow students, something the school administration saw as a departure from school norms core of which was academics.
The soft-spoken events organiser, whose real name is Davies Paul Indimuli Weku got this nickname that has stuck from the same school just before his expulsion. He claims his friends called Cluck, for whatever reason he is not aware, but he liked the name and kept it.
“My friends started calling me Cluck when I was in Form Two before I got my marching orders and it has remained so,” says Cluck.
Cluck might have been working behind the scenes, letting the American gospel hip-hop group 116 do their mission in Nairobi during the Unashamed Concert held at Mavuno Dome on November 18 this year, but he is one of the people who saw that the group’s tour and concert in Kenya was a success.
He currently works with XII Agency as the Project and Events Manager. When I caught up with him he could not forget reminding me that he grew up in Huruma Estate which makes part of the concrete slums that stretch from Mathare North all the way to Dandora.
From Musingu, he joined Jamhuri High School in Nairobi where rules were a bit slackened for those who wanted to explore ‘queer’ talents like organising parties. He says the principal of the school and other teachers were very supportive of his interest in organising events.
Cluck says, “I particularly remember Mr Okumu, the drama patron, since he kept urging me to explore my talent because it would open doors for me – and in deed it has.”
Nevertheless, the young man who grew up in the buzz of Eastlands is thankful that he escaped ills associated with young people from the slums. He says that during his early days as a pupil at Moi Forces Academy he knew that he wanted to be an MC, a DJ or something closely related. Yet he had to follow a winding path to get where he is.
After his secondary education, Cluck, whose name Indimuli means fireworks, trained as a chef in Utalii College. This did not earn him a job but an internship that ran for one year and a half.
Says he: “As an intern I used to escape to do events on the side in order to raise money for my bus fare around the city since I was not employed.”
He quit internship after he realised that no employment contract was coming his way. Cluck then decided to follow his heart so that he could study events management. He says he would fly out to study in Dubai and come back for the much needed experience.
On how the agency managed to get the American group of Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, Andi Mineo and KB to come to Kenya, he says it was a matter of linkage and knowing when to hit.
“We started linking with 116 in January this year and used the social media to convince them that Nairobi was a destination with a formidable fan base; luckily enough, they had planned a tour of Africa and they added Kenya to the list” states Cluck.
He can only thank God that he realised his talent and went for it despite having to struggle to make it.
Cluck advises the youth that life is not all about white-collar jobs. He says it is not only white collar jobs that pay pointing out that Emcees, DJs and Musicians are making it big yet they have employed themselves through their talents.
Thus he advises the youth, “In order to make it in life, follow the right channel, work hard, and know the right people but above all pray.”
He observes that it is hard to believe that he is part of the team that organised the biggest gospel concert in the country for the year 2011. Cluck says he hopes to organise more like this even as he seeks to nurture talent in Nairobi’s slums.
The humble, quite talking young man, apart from being in the organising team, was also the designated driver of Lecrea and Tedashii when they came for the concert sponsored by the Standard Group among others.
Pharisee to Scribe
BY JECKONIA OTIENO
Pharisee to Scribe
One hot afternoon in Nairobi, Elizabeth Auma Oriedi, eyes full of tears, walked out of a convent; her bag of clothes and Sh 20, 000, were her only companions after ten years as a nun.
The second year communications student’s journey into and out of religious life will forever be etched in her mind. Elizabeth recalls that the decision to be reverend was probably not well informed hence her ill preparedness for what she faced.
From Class three at Kariobangi North Primary School in Nairobi she had an intrinsic passion to be a journalist. But when she joined Nyamonye Girls Secondary School in Nyanza her dream changed mainly due to peer influence. Her journalism vision was radically replaced with the desire to be a missionary.
Says Elizabeth: “I would hear my schoolmates talk of how they would become sisters and I admired the call.”
She applied to be a nun immediately after Form four but her dad was against the idea, only budging when his terms were accepted by the religious community - that she had to study professional courses.
Elizabeth joined Kenya Polytechnic for a certificate course in pharmacy during her formation. Her parents catered for half of her fee as the congregation paid the rest.
Her initial profession was in 2004 and Elizabeth believed all was well.
“Being submissive I thought religious life was for me,” she says.
After profession, Elizabeth with her certificate in pharmacy was sent to serve at Tabaka Mission Hospital in Kisii – she worked in the kitchen.
“I was told it doesn’t matter where you serve as long as you’re of service to the sick,” she says emotionally.
She says she was told that in cooking for the sick, she was still in ministry. She was promoted to assist in the pharmacy.
Elizabeth recalls, “One day, health inspectors came and told me bluntly that with my certificate, I was not qualified to serve in any pharmacy, not even as an assistant.”
This prompted her superiors to propose that she studies nursing in Tanzania but she declined. So she was enrolled for Diploma in Pharmacy in a backstreet college in Nakuru. Elizabeth notes that it was closed a year later before she could complete.
The congregation’s religious council decided that she joins the Institute of Youth Ministry at Tangaza College; she obeyed against her wishes but did not complete her degree because she had to go back and serve in the community where she became an assistant mentor even as she served in the kitchen – she says she was just a cook.
Her journey out started after a year of humbling servitude in the convent kitchen.
Elizabeth laments, “My mother fell sick and my siblings said that since I had no money to send, I had to go and nurse her while they worked for money for her for her treatment at Siaya District Hospital. First time I was granted permission.”
When her mum fell sick again, Elizabeth asked for permission from the congregation and her superiors told her that nobody puts a plough on the ground and looks back.
Her heart sank as she wondered if it was right to forget family because she was a missionary. She took this to mean she had two options, to stay or quit. Elizabeth opted out.
Her superiors started showering her with praises to convince her to stay but her mind was made up and she left on September 6, 2009. The first person that Elizabeth informed was her Mum who gladly received the news.
“I was taken to Toi Market where we bought clothes because I only had gowns and veils,” declares Elizabeth.
She went to live with her brother whose wife mistreated her. A gas cylinder explosion burnt Elizabeth’s arm and her brother’s wife blamed it on bad omen for quitting convent.
She spent all her money in hospital. Elizabeth got a job in Ukambani but her mother fell ill after three months and she rushed to Siaya and took her to Kisumu for an operation to remove fibroids.
This left her mum in critical condition and she was transferred to a hospital in Nairobi where she could not be admitted until they had deposited Sh 20,000.
Her mum finally passed on after being transferred to another hospital.
Elizabeth sobs, “I had visited her the previous evening and I knew she would die.”
After the burial, Elizabeth’s friends contributed Sh 15,000 with which she decided to pursue her childhood dream – journalism. She joined Tangaza College’s Institute of Social Communication despite having less than quarter of a semester’s fee.
After leaving convent, even getting a recommendation letter was a problem.
“The very same parish priest who wrote me a letter to join convent refused to write me a letter for sponsorship because I was a ‘sinner’ who deserved no life,” laments Elizabeth.
Despite all these, she has learnt to forgive and is now pursue her dream to the end – communication.
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