By Ferdinand Mwongela
The mud and wattle hut stands wobbly, with stones piled to hold together the polythene sheets that serve as its roof.
It seems solid enough to keep its dwellers out of harm’s way – at least from the vagaries of nature.
But natural elements in Kajiado district include wild animals, which locals have learned to tolerate, in spite of their constant, and at times, threatening menace.
That was what the John Keroket Lengiok household believed, until last April when, in the dead of night, they were roused from sleep by piercing screams from one of the huts.
It was a hyena’s howl but this was no cause for alarm as they were accustomed to them. The worst it could do was to attack the livestock. Or so they thought.
A close-up of the injuries. |
The events of that night changed the course of the large family of 18 children and three wives.
Seven year-old John Sangiti was sleeping with two of his siblings when the hyena broke through the cordon of thorns and thistles thrown around the entrance. The eldest boy tried to ward it off but soon saw that this was a losing battle and sought refuge in the rafters.
The second child boy chose to hide in a corner while Sangiti was grabbed by the head, the beast sinking its strong teeth into his skull while dragging him out of bed.
It was 2am, and Sangiti’s mother had gone to her co-wife’s manyatta to help her deliver a baby, which went well with the birth of baby girl Sintoiya.
Sangiti’s father, Lengiok, responded immediately, armed with a spear and a sword. The low roof of the huts prevented him from using the spear but he managed to pin the animal to the wall with his spear while hacking it with the sword.
Ndicho Lengiok outside the manyatta where Sangiti was attacked by hyena. Photos: Jenipher Wachie/Standard |
He finally managed to kill the hyena but not before it bit him on the hand. Together with his son, Lengiok would start the endless trips to the hospital, first at the Kajiado district hospital and later the Kenyatta National Hospital.
Two months later, Lengiok succumbed to his injuries, the arm having rotted away from an infection from the hyena’s bite.
"We have been left with a lot of work," laments Ndusho Parteyi, Lengiok’s brother now the serving as Sangiti’s guardian.
Sangiti bounced back to health after many hospital visits, although doctors were initially very sceptical about his chances of survival.
The youngster looks quite healthy, until he lifts the hat covering his head. The boy’s scalp is yet to grow back after being peeled off by the hyena.
He requires reconstructive surgery that costs between Sh200,000 and Sh300,000 that the family cannot afford.
The family says that the Kenya Wildlife Service rangers visited the homestead and burnt the carcass of the hyena but did not talk about compensation.
Sangiti, who was in Class Two has since dropped out of school, as the family fears his delicate head could get injured easily, or expose him to infections.
Enduring power of a smile: Sangiti photographed outside his family home in Kajiado is happy to be alive, if unwell, after a hyena mauled his head. He need reconstructive surgery that his family cannot afford. |
Even worse the family wealth is declining rapidly. After Lengiok’s death, and with no grown up sons to take care of his herd, the animals have diminished considerably as his kin take to grabbing the animals.
When The Standard visited the home, the widows were fighting to survive.
"Mzee had property. But now all that is gone," Ndicho said, explaining that her husband’s relatives have little regard for the welfare of the family he left behind.
As a consequence, only 50 cows are left of the herd of 500 that Lengiok left, taken away by his relatives.
In the thick of the problems that have befallen them, restoring Sangiti’s health is top in her mind. But Ndicho has no idea how soon that shall be, if at all.
