Story By Dickens Wasonga.

Somewhere in a remote village in Siaya County of Western Kenya lives a 57 year old jobless widow.

To Consolata Wagua and her five grandchildren,life has never been rosy.

The challenge of fending for herself and that of her grandchildren abandoned by her two daughters due to failed marriages is clearly taking a toll on the life of this granny of Siaya who lost her husband in 1984.

Before he died,her late husband , a former game warden with the Kenya Wildlife Services was the sole breadwinner in the family,but life has not been the same again after his death.

Now the poverty stricken grandma not only look after the young grandchildren but must also ensure they acquire basic education and somehow she has resolved to try.

But one issue has remained her biggest nightmare.The living condition for her and the hapless children given they do not have a shelter that would be described as fit for human habitation.

The family stay in a mud house with several gaping holes and a leaking roof. While rainy seasons are a blessing to many villagers here , for this widow’s family, the rains brings with it such a pathetic experience.

But even when it does not rain, matters are not any better.At night the glares of the moon and the condition of her house cannot allow them to have a wink of sleep.

They cram into a corner in the room at night where they hope that day will break . The nights are chilly and long.What they know as their house is two roomed with what they use as their sitting room which is almost bare.

When asked why she has to stay with the young ones in such a house she says,” I arrived at this decision after receiving information that my grandchildren were continuously being battered by their father at their home.”

She says that her eldest daughter got married at Karariw in Gem District but divorced husband several years ago due to domestic problems forcing her to find another husband to take care of her.

She adds that the daughter got married for the second time but her second husband demanded that he would only stay with her on condition that her two sons Vincent Onyango, now aged 14 and Kennedy Ochieng’, 12, were out of their home.

Aluoch adds that her daughter tried to oppose the demands thus the infuriating husband reacted by consistently battering the children. “The children then abandoned their home and sort refuge here,” she says.

The soft spoken Aluoch said that her second born daughter who was married at More village, Nyamila sub-location in Siaya however lost her husband forcing her to get married to another husband under customary laws.

Since the duo could not provide for their 3 children Millicent Akinyi, 15 years, Beatrice Atieno, 11 and Edwine Onyango, 5, their grandmother Aluoch decided to take them for assistance.

She says she could not sit back and watch her innocent grandchildren suffer in the hands of an inheritor.

“I even wanted my daughter back home but due to Luo customs, it is a taboo for a widowed lady to go back and stay at her parent’s home,” she said.

Despite all the upheavals, Aluoch says that she has tried much as she can to feed and educate the siblings, thanks to the free primary education.

She says she practices subsistence farming where she reaps to feed the family. “In addition to the small farming I carry out, I also work on people’s farms where I earn to feed the young ones,” says Aluoch adding that her biggest problem is when there are no farms to work on.

The biggest hurdle that boggles her mind however, is the condition of her house. She says days and nights have turned into 8 years of despair for her and the young children in their deplorable shelter.

She says she has never made good money to construct a house from the services she provides on people’s farms.

However, she says she decided to actively participate in helping local leaders in Alego/Usonga constituency in their campaigns with an aim of getting assistance to construct a new house but her dreams have never become true.

Aluoch says that she campaigned for former councilor in Siaya Municipal council Dolphine Oduor Otieno who won and became a councilor till 2002 when she contested for the Alego/Usonga parliamentary seat but lost to former MP Sammy Arthur Weya.

She however, adds that no assistance was offered to her by the former councilor despite the fact that she helped her in the campaigns thus emerging the victor.

In the run up to the 2007 general elections, Aluoch says she actively participated in the campaigns of Siaya town ward councilor Julius Ochieng’ but still did not manage to get a new house.

“Ochieng’ has since not offered me any assistance despite the fact that he made that promise during the campaigns,” she says.

The 57 year old widow also pointed out having taken an active role to help in the campaigns of former Alego/Usonga parliamentary loser Charles Odunga Mamba.

She says she participated in mobilizing local women in her area to vote for the Kisumu based businessman who came second to the incumbent Alego/Usonga MP Edwine Ochieng’ Yinda in the 2007 ODM parliamentary nominations.

Aluoch says she has however, tried in vain to contact Mamba for help as those close to him have often prevented her way through.

At Aluoch’s home, they even lack a toilet and are compelled to use flying toilets- plastic bags that are then thrown into the nearby bushes.

And with Alwala stream where they fetch their water just a stone throw from their home, this has risked their lives most.

It has exposed them to diseases such as typhoid and other sanitary infections thus posing their lives at great danger.

She says she has however, managed to take back her grandchildren to school who had earlier on dropped due to lack of uniforms.

“A friend of mine offered them the uniforms and currently they have reported to the nearby Nyakongo primary school,” she says.

She adds that the eldest of her 5 siblings Millicent is a pre-candidate (class 7) at Nyakongo primary school while the youngest Edwine is in nursery school at Siaya Central.

She says the reason as to why the siblings delayed to go to school was due to the many problems they face as a family.

She thus appealed to well-wishers and the local leadership in Alego/Usonga constituency to come on and help her before the condition of her house worsens.

Ends