Counselling ‘family’ comes to the help of Al Shaabab victims

Judy Wawira, after going through a counseling session at Gituba Village in Gichugu, Kirinyaga County on January 13,2017.She is still waiting for her husband Corporal Munene Miriti who went missing after El Adde attack on KDF troops camp in Somalia, on January 15,2016. PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD

Families that lost their loved ones in the El Adde attack by Al Shaabab militants last year are receiving counselling help.

Heroes Oasis Counselling Centre (HOCC), an organisation comprising the relatives of troops who were in service, is providing psychological support for families of soldiers deployed to the battlefront.

The organisation is run by Immaculate Kukubo, the sister of a serviceman. She is also engaged to a soldier who served in Somalia.

The centre is set up in collaboration with other military family members, mainly wives and sisters who have been affected by the war.

In partnership with International Professional Counselling Centre (IPCC), the organisation has been able to send out counsellors to the families of KDF soldiers who lost their lives in El Adde or are presently unaccounted for.

According to Susan Gitau, a counselling psychologist at IPCC, the families of military personnel experience secondary trauma as a result of their loved ones' ordeals.

"Unfortunately, little is done to help families cope with the loss of their sons, fathers and husbands. It is especially hard for the relatives of those who are missing. You have no idea if you are a widow or not," Ms Gitau said.

She refers to the situation as complicated grief because the families are unable to resume their old lives fully.

"It is a new experience for all of us. Kenya has never gone to war before and what we need most of all is goodwill from the Government and the corporate world to support these families," she said.

Using the network of families in the organisation, they have managed to reach families in Nanyuki, Bungoma, Thika and Kirinyaga.

Ms Kukubo said the centre would give pre-deployment training for families whose relatives were going to the battlefront.