Help me find my parents: Pleads boy rescued from Nairobi river

Rachael Ndichu-Ngugi and Melvin Allen, the boy who was rescued from Nairobi River (Photo: Courtesy)

It all started when I noticed a young man living by Nairobi River’s bank several months ago and for about three months, I observed his daily routine.

He would come to the same spot in the morning, sleep till around noon, wake up, wash his clothes, wait for them to dry, then shower and leave at around four.

I found his mannerisms peculiar for a street person. He would not only shower but would use lotion, comb his hair and brush his teeth.

A few colleagues and I used to speculate and say that he was probably a watchman and we had even agreed that we would one day walk up to him with breakfast and find out his story.

One Monday morning in April, I came to the office and as usual tried looking for my ‘case study’ — as we had baptised him. It was raining heavily and the young man was nowhere to be seen.

We went for lunch and when we returned, we noticed a crowd of people gathered around the river and saw our friend trapped at the middle pillar of the bridge at the river!

The people around would walk up to the bridge and talk to him. Some walked away but there was this man who seemed to be frantically trying to look for help.

One of our colleagues looked for a rope and together with a few others, we went down to help the young man. We successfuly pulled him out of the swollen river.

He was little more than a teen. His clothes had been swept away and was dressed in shorts. I told my colleagues we couldn’t leave him there. The opportunity to hear his story, one that we had waited for so long, had finally presented itself.

We asked if we could buy him lunch and he agreed. Then we listened to his story, or the little he could remember about himself and his family.

His said his name is Melvin Allen. He cannot remember his middle name. He was born in Soi in the Rift Valley 15-years-ago. He briefly attended St Philip Primary School in Soi. He left the area during the post election violence aged seven. Both his parents — whom he calls Joseph and Nancy — were out of the country and he had been left with the house girl.

When the chaos erupted, he was put in a rescue truck and brought to Nakuru where police gave him to a lady from Nyanza. The lady, who worked in a hospital, took good care of him as her son and enrolled him at St George’s Primary School in the town.

Three years ago, the lady became seriously ill. Her family members came for her but could not take Melvin as he was not her biological son and rather than remain stranded in the town, he looked for a way to come to Nairobi.

Once here, Melvin opted to stay away from truancy and when he saw the spot at the river, he liked it. He got work at a hotel in Muthurwa Market where he would get food in exchange for his services such as cleaning dishes and guarding the place at night.

Melvin expressed his desire to go back to school and we decided to take him to Gatong’ora Primary School near Ruiru where he is currently in Class 7. He is being hosted by one of my colleagues, who has been involved with the case since the beginning, and we hope to take him to a boarding school come next year.

On May 18, we went to Parklands Police Station to report the case and notify them that we have the young man. The police sent us to the chief in charge of the area where the young man is being hosted. We have since reported to the area chief who told us to go for an official notification later.

In the meantime, we are trying to trace Melvin’s parents who we believe could be desperately looking for their son or believe the worst happened.

Anyone with information can get intouch with us via email: [email protected]