I was forced to wash a corpse

[Guest guest]

I was forced to wash a corpse

BY SARAH WAMBUI

Updated : 2 hours and 57 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3 - Those who live in informal settlements the world over

are considered second class citizens. In Kenya the situation is not any

different.

With extreme poverty levels many slum dwellers, especially women, find

themselves doing everything within their will just to rake in that extra income.

Often times the working conditions come as an afterthought.

In Mathare and Kiamaiko slums of Nairobi, some women perform household chores

for as little as Sh100. Gladys and are such women. But their horrid

accounts of human rights violations, at the hands of their clients, are

disheartening.

" A man came asking me if I was interested in household chores. After the usual

haggling we settled for Sh150 and I went to his house to wash clothes as well as

tidy up the house. When I finished, he called me into a room telling me he

wanted me to do something else before I left, " she recalled.

" He then took out a corpse and told me to wash it for Sh800; I said no! That's

when he pulled out a gun, held it to my head and made me wash it with nylon

paper bags covering my hands. When I finished he gave me some lotion and asked

me to apply it on the corpse. I had no choice, " says 35-year-old Gladys.

Thirty year old has a different account but one that she would like to

forget.

In November 2007, one of her clients held her against her will for two weeks and

would rape her every day. He would lock her up in a dark room and only got her

out when he 'needed' her.

" He had a gun and he would threaten me with it every day. After the first two

days, I gave up the fight; I had no strength and I lost all hope, " she says.

But her story does not end there; her ordeal followed her.

became pregnant with twins and as if that was not enough, she became

infected with HIV/AIDS. She unsuccessfully tried aborting the pregnancy and in

the end she gave birth to premature twins. Of them, a girl, was taken up for

adoption while she went home with the other.

Her health also took a toll on her; if it wasn't tuberculosis it was pneumonia

and if none then it was malaria.

, who lives in a shanty in Kiamaiko slums, is the first born child in her

family. She found herself in Nairobi, alone, after her family was evicted and

displaced following the 2002 general elections.

Her first two children live with her mother in Korogocho slums.

" I feel very bad because I cannot afford their upkeep. My children dropped out

of school and I can hardly do anything. I get food from a missionary centre in

Kiamaiko and clothes from donors, " she says before breaking down.

Sometimes the domestic workers are also denied food and they have to go about

their tasks on an empty stomach.

" We normally don't get any food and we are even used to it. I remember this time

I had gone to Eastleigh and the person who I was working for emptied all the

food remains from the plates to a container and gave me. "

" Knowing the situation I had left at home, I took the remains to my children and

we shared them. We hadn't had anything to eat the previous day, " says Gladys.

The Dobi Women's Campaign movement has brought some reprieve to the likes of

and Gladys. It brings together such women and gives them an opportunity to

document their stories. One of the organisers, Beatrice Karore, adds that the

group educates the women on their rights.

" Women who live in the slums give up on hope very easily; they don't put up a

fight when their rights are violated. Maybe it is because they have been ignored

for a long time. Our movement gives them a chance to air their grievances and

also lets them come up with ways forward, " she says.

The women's group, which is free for all, is also planning on increasing the

security of its members.

" We will be following each other up such that if someone goes to wash clothes in

a certain house, then we will know which house it is they are in and they will

alert us in case of anything, " she says.

The group is however facing financial constraints which risk paralysing its

activities.

Follow the author at https://twitter.com/wambuindonga

Read more:

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/I-was-forced-to-wash-a-corpse-11522.ht\

ml#ixzz1Ct7pLi6g

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

[Guest guest]

I was forced to wash a corpse

BY SARAH WAMBUI

Updated : 2 hours and 57 minutes ago

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 3 - Those who live in informal settlements the world over

are considered second class citizens. In Kenya the situation is not any

different.

With extreme poverty levels many slum dwellers, especially women, find

themselves doing everything within their will just to rake in that extra income.

Often times the working conditions come as an afterthought.

In Mathare and Kiamaiko slums of Nairobi, some women perform household chores

for as little as Sh100. Gladys and are such women. But their horrid

accounts of human rights violations, at the hands of their clients, are

disheartening.

" A man came asking me if I was interested in household chores. After the usual

haggling we settled for Sh150 and I went to his house to wash clothes as well as

tidy up the house. When I finished, he called me into a room telling me he

wanted me to do something else before I left, " she recalled.

" He then took out a corpse and told me to wash it for Sh800; I said no! That's

when he pulled out a gun, held it to my head and made me wash it with nylon

paper bags covering my hands. When I finished he gave me some lotion and asked

me to apply it on the corpse. I had no choice, " says 35-year-old Gladys.

Thirty year old has a different account but one that she would like to

forget.

In November 2007, one of her clients held her against her will for two weeks and

would rape her every day. He would lock her up in a dark room and only got her

out when he 'needed' her.

" He had a gun and he would threaten me with it every day. After the first two

days, I gave up the fight; I had no strength and I lost all hope, " she says.

But her story does not end there; her ordeal followed her.

became pregnant with twins and as if that was not enough, she became

infected with HIV/AIDS. She unsuccessfully tried aborting the pregnancy and in

the end she gave birth to premature twins. Of them, a girl, was taken up for

adoption while she went home with the other.

Her health also took a toll on her; if it wasn't tuberculosis it was pneumonia

and if none then it was malaria.

, who lives in a shanty in Kiamaiko slums, is the first born child in her

family. She found herself in Nairobi, alone, after her family was evicted and

displaced following the 2002 general elections.

Her first two children live with her mother in Korogocho slums.

" I feel very bad because I cannot afford their upkeep. My children dropped out

of school and I can hardly do anything. I get food from a missionary centre in

Kiamaiko and clothes from donors, " she says before breaking down.

Sometimes the domestic workers are also denied food and they have to go about

their tasks on an empty stomach.

" We normally don't get any food and we are even used to it. I remember this time

I had gone to Eastleigh and the person who I was working for emptied all the

food remains from the plates to a container and gave me. "

" Knowing the situation I had left at home, I took the remains to my children and

we shared them. We hadn't had anything to eat the previous day, " says Gladys.

The Dobi Women's Campaign movement has brought some reprieve to the likes of

and Gladys. It brings together such women and gives them an opportunity to

document their stories. One of the organisers, Beatrice Karore, adds that the

group educates the women on their rights.

" Women who live in the slums give up on hope very easily; they don't put up a

fight when their rights are violated. Maybe it is because they have been ignored

for a long time. Our movement gives them a chance to air their grievances and

also lets them come up with ways forward, " she says.

The women's group, which is free for all, is also planning on increasing the

security of its members.

" We will be following each other up such that if someone goes to wash clothes in

a certain house, then we will know which house it is they are in and they will

alert us in case of anything, " she says.

The group is however facing financial constraints which risk paralysing its

activities.

Follow the author at https://twitter.com/wambuindonga

Read more:

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/I-was-forced-to-wash-a-corpse-11522.ht\

ml#ixzz1Ct7pLi6g

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives