Not too poor to be philanthropic

By Joan Barsulai

It is mid-day and business as usual in Kibera slums. A robust 48-year-old woman is slowly making her way through the food stands, as she delicately balances a basket of bananas on her head, while holding a loaf of bread. She seems to be popular, and everywhere she passes, people wave her with excitement, or stop her for a little chat on the roadside.

Peris Onyango, or Mama Aggy as the residents fondly call her, has been a resident in Kibera slums for the last 16 years. She moved here with her five children after her husband was involved in a tragic road accident that left him blind.

"My husband stayed in the intensive care unit for three months, and when he came out, he went temporarily insane for about a year because of the trauma. We lost everything, and I had to move to Kibera to raise my children and take care of my husband."

Mama Aggy (in white) joins some of her 31 children in song and dance. The children have found love and care in Aggy’s home in Kibera. [Photo: Evans Habil/Standard]

Despite her struggles, Mama Aggy stands out from most people because of her selflessness for, amid abject poverty and great financial constraint, she started adopting children three years ago, and her brood has since expanded to 31.

While here, she witnessed this same calamity among children who had lost their parents, and she opened her home to them.

Abandoned children

She started by adopting two children, and she would especially target children who had no parents or living relatives to care for them. As the number grew, so did her reputation, and the area chief would sometimes place abandoned children in her care; this would end up becoming their permanent home.

Mama Aggy sometimes moves around Kibera with a purpose – to rescue abandoned children.

"I get calls from neighbours and strangers regularly, informing me of children in need of my care. Just recently, the chief dropped off three children who had been abandoned."

To make ends meet, she expanded her semi-permanent structure, which is made from mud walls and tinned roofs, and rented out a few rooms in order to provide for her children’s basic needs. She planted vegetables on a small piece of land next to her house, which her growing family relies on.

She has piped water into her home, and the children sell some every morning to get money for mandazi and tea for breakfast. The water supply has, however, since run out due to a present severe water shortage in the area. She has also converted her living room into a small school, and hired a teacher.

The school is attended by neighbours’ children, who pay Sh300 every term, some of which goes to feeding the pupils as well as meeting some needs of Aggy’s children.

Aggy’s children are aged between four and 14.

"I sometimes wonder why I took this responsibility. There are times there is no food in the house, and I am left stranded.

"None of my grown children is able to support me, as most of them are still in college. I feel overwhelmed most of the time."

Squeeze into

A small pig farm she recently started out as a means of eking a living failed to bear fruit after all the pigs died due to a disease outbreak. Her worst fear, however, is when the children get ill, because they have no medical cover. Once a month, she takes them all to a clinic in Otiende in Langata, where she pays Sh20 for each child for medical check-up. The clinic also provides her with medication.

She is also concerned about the living conditions of the children. There are only two rooms, which all the children have to squeeze into.

"Some of the children are now teenagers, and it’s unhealthy for them to share same sleeping quarters with the little ones."

Aggy’s other challenge is now providing for the children’s secondary education. One boy finished his primary education last year, and scored a remarkable 347 marks out of a possible 500, but he has been unable to join secondary school due to lack of fees. He now spends his day doing house chores.

Aggy gets support from well wishers occasionally, but says this hardly meets the basic requirements the children desperately need.

The living conditions may be appalling, but the children are loved and cared for, to the best of Aggy’s ability.

Despite the present debilitating circumstances, Aggy is still willing to take in more children, especially if she can get the support that will enable her to care for the children more efficiently.

"I will never close my door to a child in need of love and care. Even though I may lack in many ways, everyday I see the joy and life on these children’s faces and it gives me great contentment," she says.