Couple’s agony of raising physically and mentally challenged children

Hezron Ayugi, his wife Anyango and their physically and mentally challenged children in Mbita, Homa Bay County. They are appealing to well-wishers to help them get proper medication. [PHOTOS: PETER OCHIENG’]

Homabay, Kenya: When Hezron Ayugi and his wife Anyango fell pregnant 34 years ago, their hearts were filled with joy - they were going to be parents! But their joy would be short lived. Rose Atieno, their first baby, became sick when she was only six months old. Her legs and hands became weak.

She became shy and her tiny hands could not even hold her mother’s breasts while suckling, like other infants do. The distraught parents took her to Mbita and Homa Bay District Hospitals, but the doctors could do little to save the situation, since they could not detect the disease. Surprisingly, the child looked healthy and normal.