Double tragedy: Floods force grieving mother to seek refuge in church
By Kevin CheruiyotWhen heavy rains paralysed normal activities in many estates in Nairobi County, they did not spare one family still mourning the death of their 19-year-old son.
The family had buried their son barely a week earlier when they were awakened one night as they slept in their one-room tin house at Budalangi in Githurai 44, Kahawa Ward.
Ruth (not her real name), a mother of four who was divorced six months ago, said the family had lost their son, who committed suicide after they refused to give him money to gamble with his friends as usual.
The family say that they were unable to take their son (Lewis) to further education after he finished high school a year ago.
Since then, they have been struggling to control their son, who had fallen into the bad company of his peers in the area and ended up gambling and smoking bhang.
Lewis decided to move into his house, just a few metres from his mother’s. That was when he started bringing his friends over to party and smoke, Ruth said.
“I went to his house that day and found him wakichana (chewing jaba), he was with some ladies and he was upset that I went to wake him up while he was sleeping. He argued for some time and then left,” says Ruth.
It was Sunday when she woke up and prepared herself and the children for church as usual. The effects of the heavy rains had not yet been felt in the area.
During the sermon at the nearby church she had been attending for some time, she heard people shouting.
“They told me that Lewi had tried to hang himself. When I rushed to his house, I found him already dead,” she said.
Funeral arrangements were made and Lewi was laid to rest.
With the family still in mourning, the floods reached their home for the first time in many years.
Ruth says that in the longest time she has lived in Budalangi, floods have never reached her house.
“Floods have never come into my house. But this time my house is like a dam. Everything is submerged, including my children’s school uniforms.
Along with other affected families, Ruth is being sheltered in one of the nearby churches while they wait for the situation to calm down.
Jane Wangui says they were asleep on Sunday night when her Grade 4 daughter suddenly felt cold and when she went to check, there was water everywhere.
“She woke us up and I took the other two young children to a safer place but the water level kept rising and that was when we left the house without taking anything with us,” Ms Wangui said.
The affected families have yet to receive any assistance from the national government or the Nairobi County government.
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