Children Lost But Not Happy to Be Found

Nairobi — Tears flowed freely as a grandmother and a great grandmother were re-united with their grandchildren, who had gone missing for almost a month in Eldoret.

Though Esther Wandai Ngochi, 52, and her mother Grace Nyakio were full of smiles at the sight of their children, who were traced to a children’s home at Kamukunji, Eldoret West District, they were perplexed at the turn of events.

The children, Samuel Maina, nine, and Esther Wandai, six, are demanding to return to the children’s home, sending the family into renewed fears. Reason? While at the children home, they got used to watching television, listening to radio programmes and playing around with ‘white’ visitors who frequented the institution.

“We are very happy for the Daily Nation, which highlighted our plight, prompting many people to come to our rescue with all sorts of advice. Eventually, one of the advice took me to the gates of this children’s home,” Ms Ngochi said.

Ms Ngochi and her mother, Ms Nyakio, were among three families in Eldoret, who had undergone untold misery after the mysterious disappearance of their children.

Others are Mr John Leboi whose wife, Silvia, is missing and Mr David Barasa who is yet to locate his 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, who disappeared on February 14. The grandmother said she has been turned to a counsellor and has been trying to convince the children to stay at home instead of going back to the children’s home.

“I have told them that the home caters for destitute children who are yet to be re-united with their next of kin. I hope they will hear me and spare me the agony of going through sleepless nights thinking about their absence,” Ms Ngochi said.

She regretted that the children had threatened to return to the home simply to enjoy the ‘luxurious life’ there instead of living under squalid conditions with her. Together with the Standard Three and One pupils at Mwiruti Primary School, they stay at a good samaritan’s house after the post-poll violence uprooted them from their homes at Yamumbi area, Wareng District.

On the other hand, Mr Leboi is lost for words to describe the psychological torture he has gone through searching for his wife, who has remained missing since the 2007 electioneering period. Mr Leboi recalls that his wife, who ministered at Baptist Church, left their home in Ilula, Eldoret East District, at around 2 o’clock and never returned.

“Our three children, especially the last born aged eight years, keep on asking me about their mother and all I can tell them is that God will one day bring her back from her pastoral duties,” Mr Leboi, says. Mr Barasa and his wife Eldah, who stay at Huruma estate, are yet to come to terms with the equally mysterious disappearance of the Standard Eight pupil at St Patrick’s primary school, Eldoret.

“She just stepped out at around eight o’clock and there was no cause for alarm as it was still early. We have been waiting for her to return and its turning out to be days of misery,” her mother said. The families who have reported the matter to various police stations in the country are only hoping to see their next of kin alive and end the untold suffering they are going through.

They reveal they have travelled and communicated with all their relatives where they suspect the children might have gone, to no avail. With increasing cases of kidnap and scaring stories of people who steal children for ritual purposes, they can’t rule out any possibility.

Mr Barasa says he would like to know where his lastborn daughter in a family of four is, dead or alive. This will put his mind to rest so that he can continue fending for his family. “This is a nerve-wracking experience. I have never known how it feels to stay unsure where one of your own is. It’s like I am dreaming,” Mr Barasa, a businessman in Eldoret, says.

Mrs Barasa remembers how her daughter, clad in a red T-shirt, black skirt and white slippers left the house in high spirits only to disappear. She says: “After waiting for about an hour, we became worried and alerted some of our neighbours to help us search for her. We surrendered to fate after failing to locate her within the neighbourhood and wished we would see her the following morning.”

-Daily NATION