Holding lightly to life

We had a tragic reminder today of how fragile many people’s grip on life is in our area. This week-end is very important for our church as we become members of the Elim Gospel Church in Kenya. A church service was held this afternoon as part of our celebration of this new step. We enjoyed a good turn out from the church members and a rousing sermon from Pastor Paul, one of our visitors.

At the end of the service it became apparent that something had happened to one of the ladies who attends the church. The lady in question is a widow with a young son who we have supported for some time. Apart from a very elderly mother-in-law the lady has no close relatives to support her. I was shocked to learn that she died very suddenly today, leaving her young son a total orphan.

The death is, at the moment, unexplained and is difficult to comprehend. Her mother-in-law came to our place to explain what had happened. She told us that her daughter-in-law had been to Oyugis, our nearest town, yesterday and had eaten some porridge and bananas at a 'hotel'. Shortly after this meal she felt very ill, with violent stomach pains. She was eventually taken home, firstly on a piki piki, (motor bike), taxi and, for the last leg of her journey, in a wheelbarrow. A herbal remedy was prepared for her which made her sick and appeared to relieve some of her symptoms. The mother-in-law told us that she went to check on the situation this morning and to encourage the patient to go to the hospital. She, somewhat surprisingly, said she did not want to go to hospital and could not be persuaded. This in itself is unusual as she was HIV positive and had been used to collecting Anti Retro Viral, (ARV), drugs on a regular basis. The mother-in-law left to do a few chores and came back a bit later. She couldn’t get any reply when she knocked on the door but neighbours suggested her daughter-in-law might be resting and that she would be best left alone. When the mother-in-law came back at one o’clock this afternoon there was still no answer at the door so the door was broken down and the lady was found dead in her chair.

We have taken her young son in at our place to be cared for and will be following up the case in the course of the week. The church leaders will make the necessary arrangements for the funeral and we have arranged for the body to be taken to a local mortuary. It seems unlikely than any kind of autopsy will be performed and the death will, in all likelihood, remain a mystery. At the moment the top explanation in the community is that it was a case of witchcraft, especially given that the body was found seated in a chair. There is a chance that she may have taken her own life or succumbed to an underlying chronic medical problem linked to her HIV positive status. Either way her death is a sad and shocking event. It remains to be seen what arrangements will be made by any family members about the welfare of the little boy in this case. I have a feeling that we have just added another member to our family here. Our thoughts and prayers are with him tonight. As our friend Hilda said, “No two days here are ever the same.” I wish they could be different for more positive reasons sometimes.