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e-mail: ictk@africaonline.co.ke
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The Turkana way of life does not transfer well to urban dwelling, for many of the adults the days are spent odd jobbing, begging, scavenging and, in desperation, drinking - starvation no longer danger. Malaria, diahorria, dysentry, typhoid, scabies, jiggers, STDs, TB are common in this impoverished settlement. For the children town life holds little opportunity. For many their days are spent on the streets where scavenging and begging fill the stomach. Odd jobs, stealing and favours keep their peers at bay while solvents numb the mind.
In the March 1999 issue we introduced you to the young twins Paul and Leia Erum-Ekai. Just one year old at the time. The two, with their older brother Stephen (7) had been left at District Hospital, Kitale after their mother had died while undergoing treatment. Nobody ever claimed her body. Now almost 2 years on we have managed to trace an uncle of theirs, the children have visited him and he has also visited the project. Unfortunately he is not in a position to take care of the kids being a labourer on a large estate where subsistence is his pay. Finding him has made a great difference to the kids especially Stephen who could still remember him.
In the December 1999 issue Aswan Ambani was the 'focus on a child', inspite of alleged abuses by his father he had repeatedly asked us to find him although he had disappeared when released from prison in 1998. Following a trail that started at a carpenters workshop in Kitale, where he had worked before being arrested we finally managed to trace him to a village near Vihiga in December '99. He has since visited Aswan to Aswan's clear delight. The nature of Aswan's case demands very carefully monitored reintegration with his father that will probably not be complete until he reaches adulthood.