S. G. K.'s Story

In the outskirts of Kilifi there lived a woman who was left by her husband. Her name was Mama Eliza. She was married to Hank. Their marriage was nice until they relocated to Likoni.

 

When they first moved to Likoni  they were a happy family making neighbours turn their heads. Going shopping in Nakumatt Likoni with their kids was done every weekend. Also Mama Eliza had a business in Likoni. She used to bring goods from Dar Es Salaam to Likoni where she sold to teachers and neighbours.The husband was given early retirement because the company was relocating to Mariakani. He was asked by the company to relocate to Mariakani with his family but he refused to bring with him his wife and children.

 

So the husband left to work in Mariakani and left the wife and children in Likoni. They had three children. At first he used to come to Likoni every weekend but after three months the husband changed, he started not coming back home. He sent another man who used to be his workmate living in Likoni. 

 

During their conversations with this man, he told Mama Eliza " Do u know that your husband got married? He did a wedding last weekend. i thought u knew.'' 

 

Mama Eliza responded "What did you say? I Mama Eliza ironing for him only to go get married, it's ok.'' 

 

So the man left and Mama Eliza got in the house, took her phone and called the husband but he did not pick the call.

 

The husband never came and never cared until Mama Eliza house had rent arrears because the husband was not paying the rent and Mama Elixa business was going down because she had to pay school fees for her two children, who were in St Kelvin school in Likoni. She had challenges in marriege.One afternoon the husband showed up and said he was attending a burial in Kitale. He said he is paying the rent but it was a lie. So the landlord locked Mama Eliza's house and went. Mama Eliza called the husband but he never picked the phone.

 

Mama Eliza was a brave woman; they had a house they were constructing and it was remaining roofing. Mama Eliza went to her chama and applied for a loan and used the money in roofing the house and also took her television and gave it to the landlady to cover her rent arrears. She took her belongings to her new house and she started living in her own house.

 

The husband kept silent in shags and never bothered himself for seven months. Mama Eliza had cultivated in the remaining plot which brought yields of cassava , maize, cow peas, and green peas and mchicha kilimo ya magunia of which reduced the cost of living.

 

One afternoon the husband showed up, he got in the house without knocking and stood straight without talking. He was tall and brown and he was serious looking. It was lunch time, they were having lunch, Ugali served with coconut green peas. 

 

The boy shouted “dad dad dad...'' Mama Eliza turned her eyes towards their door and yes he was there.   

 

Mama Eliza said " shhhhhh....  sit down,” holding the boy’s hand forcing him to sit  down and eat. 

“Do u have a father?'' she asked and the son kept quiet.

 

"Good afternoon'' the husband said.  l heard watu wa chama took all your belongings.  l can't sleep on the floor, give me their no so that l can pay them and bring everything home.” He was going round the house with disbelief. She told him her phone had also been taken by the chama and all the telephone numbers were saved in it. 

 

So she went to her chama books and got the number and called the secretary and they came for the money. In the evening they brought all the house furniture and the phone. The husband looked guilty, he said, " l will make your house beautiful and all the people who laughed at u will be ashamed.'' 

 

Mama Eliza was astonished about what her husband was saying. 

 

As they went to bed, Mama Eliza was keen about her health and told her husband to visit a VCT centre as a couple but he said  "We mwanamke una ringa sana. Do u know there so many women outside crying for me?''

 

Mama Eliza said, “yah but my health matters a lot.'' Mama Eliza refused to cooperate with him in bed and the husband got annoyed. 

 

So Frank, Mama Eliza's  husband left for work because the company was searching for him. He was an engineer in that company. So the husband never came back again for three months. Mama Eliza said enough is enough and decided to go to Kilifi with her three kids.

 

She took her kids to government school and asked for help from her family members but it was hard to get. It was a hard decision for her to separate herself from her kids at the tender age. So she called her kids and sat  them down. 

 

"My kids, we have had a lot of problem and l choose to risk my life, l’m going to Saudi Arabia to work as a house maid so that l will be able to pay school fees and also put food on your table.'' As she was talking tears rolled down her cheeks. 

 

The kids were not happy. The elder kid said, "no mum who will take care of us?'' ' 

 

“I leave u in the hands of your grandmother. l trust her, nothing will happen to u.'' So the kids agreed and Mama Eliza went to Mombasa for preparations to go to Saudi Arabia.

 

In Mombasa a friend directed her to an agent. The agent's name was John, he was a tall and black slim young man. John directed her to the testing hospital at Mapembe ya ndovu. Mama Eliza's friend  who directed her to the agent worked in Doha Qatar. She wanted to help her to travel for a job in Saudi Arabia. She kept track of every step of the process through chatting with her on the whatsapp. When the results came negative she was told that she qualified to travel to Saudi Arabia.

 

Within two weeks she was told by John that her visa and ticket are out, she has to be in Nairobi on a Thursday so that she can join the other people traveling together. She was happy that at last the Visa is ready. 

 

Mama Eliza took a bus to Nairobi. She travelled during night time so that she would have time to rest during the day before taking her flight later that night. In the morning she had reached Nairobi safely and got out of the  bus and went to the bus office to relieve herself. Then she sat down and she thought it was good to inform her sister in law about her move.

 

So Mama Eliza called her sister in law. 

 

"Hallo mulamwa how are u?” she asked. 

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Her sister inlaw said “lm fine Mama Eliza. How are the children?'' 

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Mama Eliza responded, "they are fine thanks to God. ln law, i'm calling  to inform you that i'm traveling to Saudi Arabia for a job. l took this decision because l have no other option. l hope u will understand me." 

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The sister inlaw said, " no Mama Eliza, that place is not a good place to go. Please stay for your kids." 

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But Mama Eliza insisted and said, "u know how your brother has refused to take care of his kids and l can't sit down and watch my kids miss school and the basic needs. I need to work.” 

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The sister inlaw said " it's ok, l understand your situation but please be careful , here is a number to call, it’s  an NGO, they will help u incase u get any problems." 

 

Mama Eliza took the no and proceeded to Kencom bus stage where John had said he would pick the group from. When she reached there, she saw many people and there was one group she recognized from Mombasa. She got excited and she greeted them, and after ten minutes Agent John came.

 

He greeted them, "good morning everyone. l hope everyone is here, you will all get in a bus to  the hotel to clean up. I'm with u but l’m using my car''  

 

So the bus came and he told the conductor  where to drop  them.They  all got in the bus and off they went. When reaching the destination they all came down and waited for some minutes before Agent John joined them. So they gathered together and he said because everyone has to  clean up they need to pay for two rooms in the guest house, one for men and the other one for ladies. So everyone was paying like three hundred for the room.

 

So everyone cleaned up, took breakfast and waited for the agent John to bring the Visa and air tickets. It took long for agent John to come back. Some people divided in groups whispering to one another. U could  see in their faces how angry they were. Then agent John came and called us and said he will give visa and tickets to those who will give out ten thousand shillings to him. Everyone looked at him with disbelief. He went to his rental car and drove away.

 

Mama Eliza smelled a rat and she updated her sister in law who told her to call the no she was given for assistance, after hanging up from that call she gathered everyone together and informed them about Haart Kenya and how they need their help. The group was divided, some wanted to wait for agent John up to the bitter end and some left to go back to Mombasa and some didn't respond. So Mama Eliza called the NGO and they talked with the office. She was told to put the phone speaker on so that everyone would hear their advice. After the phone call, they had a small meeting. Mama Eliza talked to them never to give out money without checking the Visa . And if the Visa is not valid she will bring Haart Kenya to help them. 

 

It took so long for agent John to come with the visas and it was about 6.00PM when people started complaining how long the agent was taking. At last he appeared and said "l will take u to the airport in a group of five people, only those with money. One lady gave money and she was given the visa, they checked the Visa it was invalid. Mama Eliza became suspicious so she decided to go with the last group. Knowing that every person had to know  whether the Visa is invalid so that they do not give out their money. In the car Agent John collected money from everyone. When he got to Mama Eliza, she  told him she had no money. He pretended that he was calling Mama Eliza's friend and he told the gr oup that Mama Eliza's money was sent to him via mpesa. 

 

He then told them to come out of the car and wait for him at the entrance, he went to park the car. The agent left the car door open and went to the check in lounge, but it was already past 10pm; there was no flight for the middle east that was leaving at that time. As they waited for him to bring them the news, the airport police came to his car and asked whose car it was. One man from the group went to call the agent and he was asked to park his car properly.

 

So he got in his car and drove away. When they called him, he could not be reached. He also went with one man's phone. Then Mama Eliza got courage and called them all together and asked them if they gave the agent money, almost everyone had given him money. She asked them if they had means to get home but every one had spent their last penny. They thought agent John would come back but he never did until the airport started being cleaned and that’s when everyone accepted that agent John had conned them.

 

Mama Eliza had to call Haart Kenya and apologized for the group for calling very late at night. And they indeed came to rescue them. When Haart Kenya reached the airport they thanked God for helping out. It was raining and the cold in Nairobi and Mama Eliza was shivering a bit. So they greeted Mama Eliza and the whole group and gave a short briefing on how to start the whole process to get the help. 

 

They issued forms and every one  read and filled the questionnaire. After they finished the forms they were taken back and then one by one entered a mini bus. So Mama Eliza was told to join the Haart Kenya crew in the car. The car was started and off they went. They got in a hotel where they had to stay there for two nights, so that they got counselling from the Haart Kenya crew.

 

Then arrangements were made for everyone to go back to their hometown.  So the second day after breakfast, a bus came to pick  Mama Eliza to Mombasa  where she reunited with her family again.

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