World Aids Day

Today is World Aids day meetings are being held in all over the World to mark this day. One would imagine that the spread of the disease is going down after many years of awareness campaigns and the introduction of Anti Retrovirals (ARVs) to control it. However from the look of things the problem is still spreading especially in the villages. Young girls who drop out of School after Primary education end up getting into affairs that lead to pregnancy and HIV infection. In most cases they do not get married to the men who impregnate them, therefore after delivery once they have recovered they get into other affairs and the cycle is repeated. In this way those that get infected spread the disease further. Those that have caring families or care about their life get ARVs from Government Health Centers.

Once they are on ARVs one would think they will stop having affairs with different people before marriage, from those I know they become even worse. They take contraceptives and then continue with life as usual, it is like they are on a spreading mission. The same girls also come to towns/cities for casual jobs, when taking ARVs and eating well they look healthy that one cannot tell they are sick. This healthy look still confuses many, there are people who still have the mentality that those who are HIV positive are thin and look sickly. So when they meet healthy people they do not care to use Condoms with them.

Excess use of Alcohol is also a major factor in the spread of HIV virus, many people when drunk (ignorant or intellectual) do not think wisely and end up having affairs without protection. It is also common for girls to get the virus from rich men who give them everything they want, money and the healthy look of the man blinds them into getting into unprotected affairs. Even the very educated ladies are blinded by wealth and even end up getting married to infected men only to regret later.

I don’t know what language or method that can be used to control the spread of this disease because it seems like the situation is not improving with years going by. I think the organizations concerned should concentrate more in the villages to help the innocent village girls, giving them ARVs only is not enough but they should also be assisted socially and educated.

Current weather in Kenya

It’s a blessing to see heavy rains in Kenya after a long spell of drought. The rains are heavy causing a lot of floods. It’s a bit worrying because of the effects but we cannot afford to complain because it brings hope that there will be a lot of food in the Country. It is a good time for farmers especially those who have planted maize because it needs a lot for rain.

I hope soon prices of food will come down after the harvest because there are areas that planted earlier, some are already harvesting. I remember the last long rains, there was a lot of milk and because of poor infrastructure and storage a lot of milk got spoilt and was poured. I hope this time the Government is prepared for this and those areas that were affected by drought are now being cultivated.

Breaking news

News of death of Nobel Peace Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai from a long battle with cancer is shocking. I have been wondering why she has not featured much in news lately even with succession politics of 2012 is getting hot and Kenyans need women like her. Kenyans will surely miss this humble and noble lady.

What a relief as Teachers’ strike is called off

It is a great relief to hear news that a deal has been signed between the Government represented by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya Union of Teachers (Knut) and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to employ 23,000 more teachers.

The strike was worrying not only to parents with children is public primary schools but also to many of us parents with children in public secondary schools and especially those with children doing exams this term, because Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) had also called on their teachers to join the strike. This would have been very costly for parent because unlike public primary schools that education is free, secondary school education in public schools is not free, most of them are in boarding schools and travel to different parts of the country to attend the schools, hence it could have been very costly for already pressed parents if children were to be sent back home, then later to pay for transport again to take them back.

Now that more teachers will be employed the issue of understaffing in public primary schools should be given priority, it is also a shame for the Minister of education Mr. Sam Ongeri to term the teachers demands are unrealistic. It is a fact that the decline in performance of public primary schools is due to overcrowding of students and understaffing. I will quote the standard “Teachers have complained of being poorly and irregularly paid and teaching overcrowded classes. Shortage of learning materials erode public confidence in the value of public education, even as State takes a backseat on teachers woes”

It is true that most of us Kenyans have no confidence in the value education in public primary schools, am a good example of a parent who attended public schools but cannot take my children to the current public primary schools, secondary schools are much better and in-fact most parents after taking their children to private schools in primary rush for the best public secondary schools. I cannot imagine my child failing because teachers have more than enough children to teach and worse I cannot imagine my child in a dirty class or worse a school with poor sanitation facilities. Am not saying this with pride and prejudice but it is the bitter truth of our public schools and many parents have no choice but to take their children to these schools.

Since these schools are run by public fund from taxes paid by Kenyans, the Government should improve and restore their glory so that parents like us who spend a lot of money in private schools can take our children to improved public schools. It can even be better if the government could have two categories of public schools, free public schools and subsidized public schools for parents who are able to pay some fees this can also be a way for the Government to get some money to support paying teachers. Consequently many private schools that are mushrooming can be controlled. Most of them are in business of drilling students for exams, making quick money and doing booming business in school uniforms from the normal schools uniforms to additional uniforms like track suites, jackets, sports shoes, scuffs etc…., being sold in the schools. As a result children who are drilled in such private schools end up performing poorly in secondary schools.

Sugar now a luxury in Kenya

With one Kg of sugar costing over 200 it is like luxury to many in Kenya and not readily available so many will just have to do without it. I am so used to putting enough sugar in my tea and that means paying more for it. Now with the shortage I now have to control its consumption in the house. I hope this problem will be over soon because life is just a struggle now with the weak shilling and high prices of fuel and essential commodities.

Kenyans for Kenya new target

The initiative at the beginning had a target of half a billion due to demand and support it has managed to pass the half a billion and now the new target is one billion. It is encouraging to see how people and companies have come out to support this worthy cause.

KENYANS for KENYA

Kenyans are contributing to save other Kenyans from starvation an initiative started by Media owners, Safaricom and Kenya Commercial Banks partnering with Kenya Red Cross. By now contributions have reached over 100 million. One can contribute through Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) account no. 1133333338 or Safaricom Money transfer MPESA pay bill no. 111111.

Lets save our people.

House girls’ problems, mainly HIV, abuse and unwanted pregnancy

The other day I wrote this post about house helps pay hike that is not workable in Kenya now, still on this issue of house helps I realized the Government needs to do more on issues affecting house helps apart from their pay hike.

Just like many Kenyans I have had the experience of employing different house girls both middle age and young adults, from the rural areas and from the city. From my experience the ones from the city are more experienced, enlightened and demand more pay than the ones from up country. The only problem with the enlightened ones is they can leave at their own pleasure because they know how to go about getting other jobs. The ones from the rural areas may not be as enlightened as the one from the city and can be paid less. They may be good for a while when staying within their employer’s compound, because they rarely take offs and may take a while to know their surrounding. However when they get to meet other girls or people to enlighten them about they city, they can be very dangerous to have in the house. Therefore both girls from the rural and city have their good and bad side.

Now my story is about the problems house girls experience, I never used to subject my house helps to medical check up when I employ them but two cases made me change my mind. I once got a very good lady from a relative in my rural home, she was very hard working and liked my kids but she looked frail, she would get sick quite often and I would spend a lot on her treatment until I decided to get her properly checked. I talked to her first and she accepted. It turned out she was HIV positive, unfortunately she felt ashamed working for me because I knew and left. Later I got another girl from home again because I thought they are good, the girl is an orphan and told me she is on some drugs for a stomach problem and can only get them for free at a Government hospital. When I took the names of the drugs to a friend who works in a hospital, she confirmed they are ARVs. I talked to the girl and she accepted and because I had worked with another similar case I didn’t mind. After counseling and directing her to a nearby institution I felt there was nothing wrong staying with her. Furthermore I had lived with many house girls before and never tested.

Apart from being HIV positive I later realized she was also pregnant, this was more shocking to me than the other problem. I got confused and through I wanted to keep her, I could not bear both burdens. I once got a house girl from home that was pregnant, I did not notice because I was busy working but would wonder why she liked sleeping a lot and ignored. When I came to notice some friends told me you mean you didn’t see it and looked stupid for someone who had kids. When I was preparing to get another one she went into labor just two days before the other one came. I had to take some time off from work to take her to hospital and bought everything for her and the baby. It was a very trying moment for me and I swore never to employ and girl again. But here I was again with another girl not only pregnant but also sick.

From these cases I have learnt a lot and decided to share the story, many friends told me to send away the sick girl immediately. But I said so long as she is good and is on drugs I will keep her. She looked healthy and was not as frail and the older lady, the older lady was a widow and it seems her husband had died of the same. Now I decided to investigate the root cause of this orphan girl’s problems.

I came to learn that this girl had worked for a couple in Nairobi, the lady was sick and mostly bed ridden and the man looked healthy. It seems they were HIV positive and man was taking drugs, it is said this man was the one employing and firing the house girls and most were sent packing after getting pregnant. He would sack even the good ones and people wondered why, so this is when I came to a conclusion this girl may have gone through the same. Once pregnant they are taken direct to the bus that takes them to their rural home. So this girl’s aunt brought her to work for me a few days after leaving her employer.

I felt very touched and annoyed by this case, many girls are sent back home in/into desperate situations after getting pregnant or falling sick. Their life became a mess and their children enter into the poverty cycle because of the mess. Many girls in Kenya, after dropping out of school get into early marriage that do not work, are abused and get pregnant. Many also get infected by STDs and HIV virus. It is very wrong and evil for men to abuse innocent girls and use them to sambaza (spread) diseases. Because they are not enlightened and cannot sue those who abuse them, they are scared of reporting the problems. Their relatives may be poor or do not care to do anything for them and many do not have parents to speak for them. Many women still blame house girls for their problems but we should now see them as humans and see how they can be helped. This is why I say the Government should see how they can help these girls and open a help desk for them at local Chief’s offices or police stations where they can report abuse.

Maisha ya Kenya

Maisha is a Kiswahili word which means life, so Maisha ya Kenya is about life in Kenya. Currently Life in Kenya is now is tough bad weather and poor harvest in parts of the country that are lucky to harvest something. Otherwise its the worst drought ever been experienced in the country in most parts of the country. Food prices have doubles in a few months, things are getting worse, maize meal Ugali our staple food now costs 150 for a 2kg packet. This is what some people earn per day, it is a desperate situation that needs urgent measures. It has always happened and we never learn from it to store food for future.

Only God can help, man never learns from his mistakes.