By George Olwenya

In a neat compound dotted with mud houses, the midday calm is interrupted by an ear-shattering yell from a woman. Moments later, another shout, this time from a deep-voiced man, responds.

They are both chained to trees either by the leg or hand, and look a little inconvenienced.

But they are not alone. Others similarly chained at different spots within the compound.

Welcome to Apostolic Evangelical Christian Church (APECC), located in Nduru village, South East Alego in Siaya. The church was turned into a home for the mentally retarded and the destitute.

Majority of the residents are elderly, and appear to have no known relatives.

A girl admitted with mental problems at Siaya District Hospital Psychiatric Unit for 7 years, is now at APECC.

Lunch is served before they hold prayers under a tree and children (APECC also runs an orphanage) dash back to school, as the adults return to their spots for chaining.

APECC’s spokesman Apostle Okelo Omwasi Oriah, who also manages the home, says several of their patients were brought in from the Siaya District Hospital psychiatric unit.

He says the institution takes care of some of the most violent mental patients in Nyanza and Western Provinces, a majority of whom have been rejected by the society.

Some have lived there for more than seven years without a visit from relatives.

“They (Government officials) bring here patients with mental problems who have stayed at the district hospital for long without any of their relatives going to claim them,” Oriah says.

Information about the patients’ background is scanty but they are an interesting mix of characters.

Chained to one of the trees is a young woman only known as Awuor. Oriah says Awuor has to be chained throughout the day because is violent.

“She can be very destructive and that is why we have to restrict her movements,” Oriah says, adding that Awuor was brought there from the Siaya District Hospital’s Psychiatric Unit, where she had stayed for over seven years. Her relatives are not known.

At the far end of a room, is a man identified as Prof Oduor Were, and who is reported to have been delivered there by his sister nearly seven years ago.

There is little information about Were save for the fact that he comes from Nyabondo in Nyando District and that the sister who brought him to the home died five years ago.

Currently, there are more than 25 mentally ill patients at the home.

Another function of APECC is to care for the elderly, such as Roselyn Okelo from Kabodho who stays here.

Roselyn is reported to be a former headmaster of AIC Nyakach Primary School.

The centre has been the last resort for many people with mental problems. Photos: Titus Munala/Standard

The home also shelters some 35 total orphans, who are enrolled in several nearby schools. Some are in nursery schools, and others are in primary and secondary schools.

According to Oriah, many sick people have been taken there for prayers since the home was established in 1983.

“They kept coming here for healing and this has continued to date,” Oriah explains, adding that they only administer prayers. All patients in need of medical interventions are referred to Siaya District Hospital about 10 kilometres away.

“We only do exorcising prayers. The healing depends on the mercy of God and can take a long time,” Apostle Oriah clarifies.

Prayers are conducted from 6am and repeated after three hours’ intervals till 6pm.

Since its inception, Apostle Oriah says the home has handled more than 1,000 mentally sick people, including those who left after getting healed.

Oriah says APECC’s main goal is to restore hope and happiness to those in need.

The institution relies on about 30 volunteers from the church who are the care givers.

“We need to have a health facility here so that we can get professionals to help in treating the mental cases because we do not believe prayers are all that one needs to heal”, he says.

The home depends solely on proceeds from its locally established projects like poultry keeping, dairy goats and horticultural farming and donations from church members.

The management says the number of patients and the needy keeps rising, but they lack enough structures to accommodate them.

“Feeding them is a problem and getting treatment is also a nightmare since we lack transport to Siaya and we have to make do with the little resources we have,” Oriah says.