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Mystery of family weighed down by host of misfortunes

Details

Published on Friday, 29 February 2008 05:29

Misfortune dogs the family of Mr Evans Kiriago Gesinya from every possible direction.

Mr Evans Kiriago Gesinya (also bottom), his children and younger brother Ezekiel, who has since died.

His is a story of a calamity after another and whose cause remains unknown. It is a classic example of how unfair life can get.

Mr Gesinya was born with good eyesight 49 years ago in Nyamemiso village in Masaba. His father and younger brother, who have since died, had similar problems with their vision.

Vitamin A deficiency

He began experiencing sight problems in 1995, and when he sought medical attention at Kisii District Hospital, he was diagnosed with Vitamin A deficiency. Doctors prescribed vitamin supplements.

The problem would not go away and he was later operated on as his vision got worse. The operation did little to correct the anomaly and he was later referred to Kikuyu Eye Hospital.

At Kikuyu, Mr Gesinya underwent another operation that, rather than restore his fast failing eyesight, led to total loss of the same.

With irreversible loss of vision, he had to bid farewell to his farm, the main source of livelihood for his family, as he could no longer till it.

Now, he has been reduced to waiting for donations from well-wishers to raise food and other necessities for his family.

When he lost his sight, he was a father of two little girls. The younger of the two, Joyce Kwamboka, was born with good eyesight but gradually developed sight problems. By the time she celebrated her second birthday, she had totally lost her sight.

A major headache

She is now 14 years old and is a Standard Six pupil at the Salvation Army, Kibos School for the Blind. Two of her siblings, Anna Nyaboe, 8, and Hezron Nyansarora, 5, who are also blind, go to the same school.

Hezron, the last born in the family, was also born with slight vision problem, but as he grew up, it gradually got blurred, before he too became blind.

The blind children are on a-bottle-a-day fresh milk diet upon doctors’ recommendation to boost their Vitamin A levels. Providing this is a major headache for the Gesinya family.

The children’s loss of sight has not been without effort towards remedying the situation. Mr Gesinya has been in and out of several hospitals in the country without success.

He took Hezron to Kikuyu Mission Hospital, while Joyce has been to Sabatia Eye Hospital. She has been to operation theatres thrice, but little improvement has occurred. She dons spectacles, that help her see, albeit slightly.

The heaviest burden for this family remains education expenses, which run into an annual bill of more than Sh100,000. So great is the burden that the children have accumulated huge fees arrears at their schools.

Mr Gesinya got a reprieve last year from the constituency education bursary fund when part of the arrears was cleared for him, but there is a backlog from this year’s fees.

Well-wishers remain his only beacon of hope in helping the children attain an education, which Mr Gesinya holds dear. Factor in the medical expenses arising from the management of rheumatic fever from which one of his daughters, Anna Nyaboe, suffers, and you have a family in great need.

Damaged heart valves

According to medical reports, rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease common among children between ages six and 15.

It affects the heart, joints, skin and brain that is said to be responsible for cases of damaged heart valves.

Anna was diagnosed to be suffering from the disease in 2005 after she complained of tiredness and developed swellings all over her body.

The seven-year old girl was put on weekly injections expected to go on until she is 15 years old, before the frequency of the injections is reduced to monthly doses. She will thereafter receive monthly doses until her 25th birthday.

In addition, Mr Gesinya is responsible for the upkeep of the children of his younger brother, Ezekiel, who was blind but died in 2005, together with his wife.

One of his nieces, Penina Bosibori, who is in Form Three, is also blind and has been enrolled at Thika School for the Blind.

Last November, as he was getting used to his condition, Mr Gesinya began developing hearing problems.

He went to Kisii District Hospital and was referred to Kericho Nursing Home where he was advised to acquire hearing aids costing about Sh250,000.

This was way beyond Mr Gesinya’s reach and he headed back to Kisii District Hospital to request for cheaper alternative.

It is then that he was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital where he has been and has a reserved booking. KNH doctors also agreed to help him get a pair of battery-powered hearing aids for Sh40,000.

As he ponders where to raise the money, Mr Gesinya has to make do with one ear, as he lost hearing capabilities of his right ear.

But even if he raised the money, sustaining his hearing aids on batteries is causing another headache to Mr Gesinya.

Washing for him

At the centre of the family’s struggle with disability is Mrs Teresa Kerubo Gesinya whose calmness and composure betray the pain she undergoes in raising her family members.

She is his eyes and ears, guiding him wherever he wants to go. Apart from cooking and washing for him, chores that have been her responsibility for the 27 years they have been married, she also bathes and clothes him.

It gets worse when schools close and all the children are at home. She has additional clothes to wash and more people to cook and wash for and bathe.

She is, however, assisted by two of her children: Miriam Nyanganyi a Form Two student at Geke Secondary School and Naomi Boisabi, a Standard Five pupil at Victory Academy Tombe.

One of her dead brother-in-law’s children, Hyline Mokaya, who is not blind, also helps.

Mrs Gesinya says that neighbours marvel at her ability to juggle the chores, sometimes without assistance. “They are amazed how one person can do all the work that I do,” she adds.

Her work is compounded by the great distance between the family home and the source of water.

All that remains for her is to wish that someone will come to their aid and help them meet their many needs.