Efforts by well-wishers and members of the public have helped in construction of a permanent house for a Murang’a family with four mentally challenged children.
The family of Sinporian Kang’ethe from Muchungucha village has been living in abject poverty with four of their children who were born mentally handicapped.
In a family of six, four of the children who are now above 18 years, suffer mental illness hence giving their parents the challenge of spending most of their time attending to them.
Kang’ethe and his wife Emily Wanjiku were forced by circumstances to be fulltime care givers to their sickly children and never had an opportunity to engage in any income generating activity forcing them to depend on well-wishers for food and clothing.
Their plight has been highlighted in sections of the media occasioning well-wishers to stream in the home of the family to offer support.
One of the well-wishers, Nellius Wanjiru some months back came up with a proposal to construct a permanent house for the family which before then was living in a makeshift structure.
Wanjiru used her social media networks and luckily found a well-wisher who offered to build the family a 3-bedroomed permanent house.
“I was touched by the plight of this family and opted to help where I can and mine was just to raise a proposal and draw a budget for a permanent house. Lucky enough we got a well-wisher who offered to construct the house for the family,” said Wanjiru when the house was being opened over the weekend.
Samuel Murigi, a proprietor of Sampesa Agency Ltd, donated more than Sh. 2 million to put up a permanent house for the family.
Murigi while commissioning the house said he was touched by the predicament of the family, noting that it was quite a big burden for the parents to bring up the four mentally challenged children.
He said with the support from his friends, he managed to mobilize needed resources to give the family a decent shelter.
Murigi who is a member of Kikuyu elders, donated a goat far a cleansing ceremony to avert any bad luck to the family with the hope of helping the children who are mentally challenged to get healed.
“After consulting with other elders we identified some issues which needed traditional cleansing and during the commissioning of the house we had to conduct the ceremony hoping that the family will be spared from further misfortunes,” added Murigi.
The mother of the children Wanjiku lauded the well-wishers saying now her children can live in dignity.
She noted that the new house will enable her children live in a hygienic environment and also allow her attend to other chores as they could now be left in the house.
Another of the elders, Antony Njuguna who is also a special education teacher said the family should be included as beneficiaries of funds for persons with disabilities.
“The government has established funds for people living with disabilities and this family needs to be considered. I plead with the local chief to take up the matter and ensure these children are factored in the funds allocated,” added Njuguna.
By Bernard Munyao
