Wedding at the gravesite

Ordinarily one would not think of conducting a wedding at a grave site.

It would perhaps be considered as a bad omen to the new life that the two had chosen to start.

For Marco Bigi and his wife Lara Crippa, a renewal of vows at the grave site of Giriama warrior Mekatilili wa Menza in Bungale, Magarini district is the ultimate expression of gratitude for the new culture that they have been assimilated into.

The Italian couple were first married at a small wedding ceremony that involved close friends and family members in Milan, Italy twenty years ago.

“At that time we were young and did not have the funds to have a very big wedding and I had been toying with the idea of remarriage since 2006,” said Bigi

When they first came to Malindi for winter holiday in 2010 Bigi and his wife were intrigued by the warmth culture and reception of the local Giriama people.

 They took time to learn more about the Mijikenda culture once they returned to Italy from friends and acquaintances that lived in Malindi.

“He wanted to surprise me with another wedding but last winter I asked him if we could get married again and we agreed to do so in the Giriama culture that we had grown to love over the years and that was so different from the distant European culture,” Lara said.

Before the two could go on with their plans to tie the knot which they started in June this year, they had to be assimilated into the Giriama culture.

The colourful initiation ceremony took place at the Mekatilili wa Menza cultural resource center in Malindi on Friday where Kaya elders and members of the Malindi district cultural association welcomed the two into the Giriama fold.

First they selected the names of their clans and sub clans before choosing their surnames and finally their own names before they were blessed by the Kaya elders.

Marco Bigi who now hails from the Giriama clan of Mumbi lulu was given the name Yongo Bembera and his wife Lara Crippa who is of the waprwa clan named Karembo fondo.

Dressed in Giriama traditional regalia, Bigi was taken into a separate hut from his wife as the wedding celebrations began to signify the different clans and families the two had come from before they were joined in matrimony.

There was song and dance as the groom was brought out of the hut by his family members and escorted to the home of his bride where he brought gifts for the in laws.

After a brief ceremony where the couple was blessed by the elders the two were ushered into the new home with jubilation.

In an interview the spokesman of the Giriama elders in Malindi Joseph Mwarandu said that the elders had assimilated several European couples into their culture and also conducted inter-racial wedding ceremonies.

“We have had people who have accused us of selling of our heritage to foreigners and that we are commercializing our culture but when people come to learn of our culture and go back to their homes they are able to identify with these roots and diminish ideologies that African culture is uncivilised,” he said

The couple who has an eighteen year old son back in Italy say there is need for cultural heritage to be passed onto to younger generations so that it is not forgotten and to give them their identity.

“It feels good to be a Giriama and humbling when people open their doors and assimilate you into their culture without any reservations,” said the teary Lara who was overcome by emotion

Mr Bigi who is a musician and produce said that the couple would be looking to stay for several months in Kenya from December and probably finally settle here.

“We have no immediate plans for a honeymoon maybe we take time in September and go to Italy to visit our son maybe we can even have him come and be assimilated into our new culture and be called Kazungu Yongo,” he said

Needle exchange program

By SANDRA CHAO

Religious leaders and members of the public have been urged to embrace the needle and syringe program that the government is set to introduce to drug addicts  next  month.
Coast provincial director of public health and sanitation Dr. Anisa Omar said that the injecting drug users(IDU) were the most at risk populations with regards to the spread of HIV and the program would go along way in preventing spread among addicts.
Speaking during an  IDU roundtable at the Pride Inn hotel in Mombasa Dr Omar  noted that country could only move to a state of zero infection for HIV if new infections were prevented.
"Many of the addicts we have at the coast are injecting drug users, as much as these are ailing people we need to prevent them from getting other  blood bone diseases,"she  said
Dr Omar explained that the government cannot embark on a project that is not beneficial to Kenyans and that had not been tried and proven in other countries.
countries like USA,  Mauritius,Tanzania, Canada, Ukraine and Vietnam have successfully implemented the program.
The provincial Director explained that apart from HIV the IDUs were at a greater risk of contracting diseases like Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C which could result in liver failure and liver cancer.
According to a report on HIV prevalence by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released this year,one in every five injecting drug  users in Nairobi and co0ast provinces are living with HIV.
Over a third of the drug users sampled in the study admitted to  have reused  needles in the  past six months.
The needle and syringe program is expected to target the 22,500 injecting drug users in Nairobi and  26,667 in Coast province.
Eight million needles and syringes are expected to be rolled out in the next one year of the program which is partly funded by USAID.
Dr Fred Owiti explained that the successful execution of the program could help bring out the drug users  and help rehabilitate them.
"Though the whole idea sounds awful the exchange program will help organizations working with drug addicts build a trust with them and help those willing to be rehabilitated.it has been tried and proven that it can help prevent some of the vices like thuggery that are associated with drug abuse," he  said
Dr Owiti added that apart from HIV counseling the program would provide an opportunity for drug addicts to be given referral to rehabilitation centers and to access other medical services.
NACADA Sheikh Juma Ngao urged religious leaders not to dismiss the program without first getting to understand what it was all about.
"I have seen for myself what the program can do so why not use it here and save the youth  of this country who are already afflicted by drugs from perishing," he said.
He noted that the government was yet to secure the country's borders and drugs like heroin and cocaine still found their way into cities of Mombasa and Nairobi.
opposing the view Famau Ali Mohammed the chairman if community policing in Malindi noted that by enrolling the program the government would be agreeing to the sale of drugs in the country and urged the government to engage all stakeholders in pursuing other avenues before rolling it out.

Ajuza wa miaka 80, abakwa

Na SANDRA CHAO

Ajuza wa miaka themanini katika kijiji cha Madzeyani kata ya Magarini katika Kaunti ya Kilifi anauguza majeraha baada  ya kubakwa hapo jana na mwanaume wa miaka ishirini na moja.

Mkongwe huyo  alikuwa ameenda kwa shamba lake lililoko umbali wa kilomita moja unusu kutoka kwa nyumba yake mwendo wa saa tisa mchana ili kupalilia mahindi.

Kwa mujibu wa kaimu chifu wa eneo la Pumwani Bw Albert Kazungu mwanamke huyo hakuweza kupiga mayowe kwani kijana huyo aliyetambulika kama Huzuni Kahindi alimfunga mdomo na kutishia kumuua.

“Mama huyu hakuweza kupiga mayowe baada ya kutishiwa lakini aliweza kuripoti kisa hicho kwa majirani punde tu baada ya kuwasili nyumbani kwake,” alisema chifu huyo.

Bw Kazungu alisema kwamba kijana aliyemvamia mknogwe huyo alikuwa ni mchungaji kutoka kwa kijiji cha karibu cha Mpirani na alikuwa anaelekea na mifugo hao katika eneo la malishoni huko madzeyani alipokumbana na ajuza huyo na kumtendea uhalifu huo.

Ilichukuwa juhudi za wananchi na utawala wa mikoa kuweza kumkamata kijana huyo na kumpeleka katika kituo cha karibu cha polisi kilichoko Marekebuni.

“Tukishirikiana na wanakijiji tuliweza kulinda mlango wa kutokea Madzeyani na  kumkamata mshukiwa akiwaanarudi n mifugo yake na tukampeleka polisi baada ya ajuza huyo kumtambua,” alisema Bw Kazungu

Kwa sasa Kahindi anazuiliwa katika kituo cha polisi mjini Malindi huku akingojea kufunguliwa mashtaka pindi polisi wanapokamilisha uchunguzi wao.

“Kitendo hiki ni cha kwanza cha aina yake kuwahi kutokea katika eneo hili nan i matumaini yetu kwamba  afunguliwe mashtaka na kufikishwa mahakamani haraka,” chifu alieleza

Ajuza huyo alipokea matibabu kutoka kwa hosipitali kuu ya wilaya ya Malindi na kuruhusiwa kurudi nyumbani.

                                 

Know where you access your health care

By Sandra Chao

Members of the public have been asked to be cautious about seeking treatment and other medical services abroad.

Chairman of the Kenya orthopaedic association Dr Fred Otsyeno told Kenyans to conclusively look for treatment within the country before choosing to go abroad.

Dr Otsyeno explained that some of the surgeries that people go for in far of destinations can successfully be conducted by specially trained doctors within the country.

“Medical tourism has begun taking root in Kenya and the exploitation is now becoming a very worrying trend. So many people are going for treatments away from here because it is said that they are cheaper and better provided out there which might not be case. Who is to blame after you go out there and something goes wrong?” he queried.

The chairman noted that the country’s medical field had evolved through the years in the provision of quality of services illustrating that it was possible to have knee and hip replacements done within the country unlike before.

Speaking during the 6^th Annual Scientific Conference at the Temple Point Resort in Watamu, Dr Otsyeno warned that there was no way to protect Kenyans from quacks if they pursued services of quacks in foreign countries.

At the same time, the orthopaedic doctors warned of fake doctors purporting to come into the country to provide specialized treatment cheaply.

The chairman elucidated that unqualified people were using these affordable services platforms as ways of getting into the country and setting up their own practises despite being incompetent.

“Some of these people who come from foreign countries to offer their services of a short while soon end up opening their own private practises when we cannot be sure that what they are doing here is what they have been practising in their home countries,” said Dr Otsyeno.

He urged the medical board which is tasked with issuing temporary licenses to such visiting doctors to look beyond the papers and investigate what they do at home adding that certificates in this day and age could easily be forged.

He also decried the small number of practising orthopaedic surgeons in the country, adding that the Government needed to capitalize in the training of those who wanted to pursue orthopaedic surgery.

“We acknowledge that training an orthopaedic surgeon is very expensive but the Government needs to invest in the infrastructure not only for the training but also facilities within public health facilities where they can practise and become better in the skill,” he said.

There are less than 100 orthopaedic surgeons when we could do with a ratio of one doctor to a population of 10,000,Dr Otsyeno added.

RISING SEA LEVELS NEGATIVELY IMPACTING THE KENYAN COAST

Kenya’s 600 km coastline is fast succumbing to Mother Nature’s wrath and retaliatory attacks. A single aerial view of the magnificent ocean and sandy beaches can give the false impression that all is well but at a closer look it is possible to see the degradation that is as a result of climate change.

The depletion of the ozone layer by the continued emission of greenhouse gases like carbon has resulted in global warming as the sun rays reflecting from the earth’s surface are blocked by the blanket of gases.

The increased temperature around the earth’s surface has led to the melting of ice caps on mountains and thermal expansion of water masses causing the rise in sea level.

Kenya has two tidal gauges one at the Fisheries jetty in Mkowe, Lamu County and another at the Liwatoni jetty in Kilindini Harbor, Mombasa County which are part of the Global Sea Level Observing System. The gauges that are managed by the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) provide high quality standardized data from monitoring the sea levels.

According to KMFRI senior scientist Dr. Charles Magori the gauges have each been fitted with different monitoring systems for redundancy checks and to provide more credible data.

 The set of data recorded by the two tide gauges from 1986-2006 reveals that the sea level along the coastline has had a gradual increase of 1.9 mm.

“Despite the gaps from unprecedented breakdown of the tide gauges there is a continuous set of data that agrees with the global increase trend of 2mm,” he said.

Despite the increase being considered negligible the impacts on a global scale are far reaching affecting both terrestrial and marine biodiversity.

“It may look like a very small increase but oceans account for 2/3 of the earth’s surface and that is an enormous volume of water which is moving inland,” he noted

The most visible of these impacts has been the erosion of land along the coastline. Many residents and hoteliers in low lying areas of north coast and some in the south have experienced loss of land due to erosion.

“Unlike Mombasa the northern banks of Malindi and Lamu are low lying areas and are more vulnerable to the effects of sea level rising,” he explained

Ngomeni in Malindi is one such area with a serious erosion problem. Buildings and trees have literally been swept away as the sea has gotten inland. Accretion has also taken place though on a much smaller scale with buildup of sand in areas that was once covered by the sea.

With each tidal excursion there is a salt water intrusion into the ground water systems.as such those with dug boreholes end up having more saline water than usual. Those dependent on such wells have to seek other sources of water for use.

Marine biodiversity has not been spared either; eggs of turtles that are laid on the sandy beaches are washed away and eaten by predators. Deep sea creatures get stuck along the coastline after being washed ashore during tidal excursions.

The warm temperatures deny the sea the much needed oxygen leading to bleaching of coral reefs and reducing their ability to form limestone skeletons.

Dr. Magori lamented that the impacts of sea level rising are worse during springtide where waves are higher than normal.

“The tidal variation in spring tide is close to 4 meters plus the general rises in sea level then the excursions are likely to be longer with more intrusions inland,” he added.

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) prediction puts the sea level increase in the worst case scenario at 50 cm by 2050 and 100 cm at the end of the century.

This directly means that more water will be displaced inland putting low lying islands across the world at a major risk of disappearance.

This would mean the vanishing of Lamu, Pate,Watamu,Wasini and Kiunga islands which are major tourist attractions. The establishment and enforcement of a comprehensive coastal zone management policy remains to be the only solution for loss of land along the coastline.

Many of the hotels in north and south coast built close to the ocean have already begun constructing sea walls to prevent further loss of land through erosion but this according to Dr. Magori is not permanent reprieve as some of the walls have been built without the consultation of coastal engineers.

“Those sea walls will only help for a time; we need to set up a legal framework that would enforce adherence to set back lines that will prevent people from building too close to the ocean,” he reiterated.

Varying set back lines provide a safe distance for construction and cultivation from the ocean’s high water mark depending on the land’s topography and vulnerability. South Africa has put up one such set back line of 200 meters in Durban  where construction of buildings to close to the sea is not allowed.

Rampant Malnutrition in children

Young Baraka Kitsao struggles to make a meal from the trifling remains in a small purple dish whose contents have been eaten up hastily by those who came before him.

 

His fingers try to scoop the little of what is left of the ugali and boiled greens that are in the bowls.

 

It is evident that the food will not appease his hunger  but it will have to do particularly if this will be the only meal served today.

 

By looking at his frail body it is hard to imagine that he is four years old or that he is older than some of his siblings.

 

He is malnourished and underfed with no comparison to other boys of his age.

 

The Standard made its way to the tiny village of Mizingo in Bamba, Kilifi County just as the children in the Kitsao homestead were having late lunch and witnessed firsthand their daily struggle.

 

And right in time to find a hungry eight month old Salama crying and yelling to get the attention of her older sister at least to have a handful of food diverted to her yearning mouth.

 

Noticing that her pleas are falling on deaf ears, Salama stretches her arm trying to reach into the bowl of ugali.

Salama’s older sibling is prompted by her attempts to reach for the bowl and feeds her.

She stops crying only after she is given a piece of ugali but resumes moments later when she realizes that another serving is not forthcoming.

 

It is no wonder that Salama like her half brother Baraka is underweight.

 

The Kitsao homestead portrays the reality in many homesteads in Kilifi county where food is hard to come by and one has to be content with the little they have.

 According to  Kilifi district nutritionist Ronald Mbunye  malnutrition is common particularly where poverty reigns.

“Many of the children in poor households have to survive on the reality of sharing food because it is a scarce commodity,” he said.

He decried that many of the younger children had to do with the care of their older siblings as the women had to tend to the farms.

“Women here go to the farms to dig after the rains but they hardly benefit because of the inconsistent rains.” he noted

Many of the children have to scramble for their daily rations that hardly meet the nutritional requirements for healthy growth with their siblings.

 

Younger children are fed at the mercy of older siblings and wait until they have had their fill or like Salama protest to have their way.

 

Many of the women have left their homes to dig in their farms with the hope that they will benefit from the inconsistent rains of the recent past.

 

The government supplementary feeding program offers a little help to children like Baraka and Salama by providing them with food rations that meet their nutritional needs twice a month.

 

The prolonged drought has however made it difficult for those on the feeding program as they have had to share their rations with their siblings.

 

And if like Baraka they miss out while the restof the children are feeding they have to do with what is left.

 

The future is bleak for those whose weight has not picked as the feeding program supports malnutrition children for 59 months.

“The supplementary feeding program supports children until they are four years of age,” says Mbunye

 

Baraka was diagnosed with acute malnutrition when he was six months old and has been on the feeding program ever since.

 

He had deviated from the norm in both height and weight by a negative four in the linear scale and put on the high impact nutrition feeding program, first as an inpatient then afterwards during regular visits to the clinic.

 

Children on the feeding program are expected to graduate after four feeding cycles when they have regained their body weight and normal health.

At 51 months he is about to finish his cycle but with little improvement in his health he is faced with the challenge of stunted development throughout his entire life.

 

Malnutrition is a common phenomenon in Mizingo like in many rural areas where poverty reigns and where having unbalanced diet is better than having no food at all.

 

Many families depend on relief foods from the government and donor agency for their daily provisions but poor infrastructure and corrupt individuals have also made the rations minimal.

 

For now Baraka and Salama are counting their luck for being in the system that has provided the food that benefits the hungry mouths around them.

SmattaKenya News — iRadeo

SmattaKenya News — iRadeo