Pain beyond tears for widows and babies as terrorists hit families

Margaret Indula at ground zero of what used to be her family house at Hindi Kibiboni village, Lamu County, on July 6. [PHOTOS: FILE/STANDARD]

Lamu, Kenya: After successive waves of orgies of violence, calm may have returned to the volatile Tana Delta and the Wajir-Mandera border flashpoints. But it is only after the fires die out and the mud walls rebuilt, that the real battle begins for the survivors. These battles are fought by society’s most vulnerable lot – women and children.

The death toll is deceiving. Verified data shows only one child and one woman perished in the Mpeketoni attacks. However, behind these solitary figures, the suffering continues. Women and children who survived the ordeal wage a thousand little battles every day they wake up to their new realities; battles of loss, grief, denial and accepting their changed lives... forever.