I will die if you do not return, says Nangole

By Biketi Kikechi

"I will die if you don’t come back and the whole village could follow me to the grave."

Those were Ms Ethuuko Nangole’s grim words yesterday.

Nangole is the emaciated woman from Turkana Central who became the face of a Standard Group famine relief campaign. We discovered her near the point of death near Kalokol due to starvation.

When yesterday she saw ‘The Standard’ team, that in January highlighted the plight of her starving village, she was full of gratitude for the supplies she had received.

But she was crestfallen when told that the Standard Group-sponsored Tuungane Tuokoe Maisha campaign is ending.

However, despite the official closure of the campaign, more donations will still be accepted through the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Eldoret Standard Bureau Chief Biketi Kikechi donates food to Ethuuko Nangole, Thursday.

How Nangole looks now.

How she looked early this year. [PHOTOS: Peter Ochieng’s/STANDARD]

Nangole’s story was first published in The Standard early this year. Kenyans were shocked to see her famished frame as she fought hunger pangs at her manyatta in Kalotum village, Turkana Central.

Her story and picture elicited overwhelming support from well-wishers in Kenya and worldwide for starving Kenyans.

Four visits

Since that first visit, a team from The Standard has visited her four times, including yesterday, and her life has been different since.

That was, indeed, the reason she was quiet for about 30 seconds when our interpreter told her that the Mercy Train campaign was coming to a close.

Nangole beamed when The Standard team entered her tiny manyatta. Eyes glistening, she whispered: "These are my children. Thank God they have come to see me."

The sun is still scorching Turkana and temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius during the day.

This means the region has no food and vulnerable people like Nangole are still in danger of starvation.

The elderly woman told us she had not been feeling well and could not support herself. She was lifted out of her dome-shaped hut.

She happily received three bales of maize flour, two cartons of UHT milk, bananas, oranges and water we had brought.

She peeled off five bananas in quick succession and ate them, and gulped down a litre of water.

Looking jovial, she cracked jokes, telling a group of villagers that had quickly gathered at her compound that the mineral water was "very tasty" unlike the ordinary water she drinks.

She took a long pause and told our interpreter that the six bales of flour she had received from us in January had just run out.

"I share what you bring me with these villagers, otherwise they would curse me," said Nangole, gesturing at the food we had placed next to her.

Nangole said she prepared a bash for her neighbours who had come to her home to celebrate over the food we gave her in January.

More than 30 people gathered at her home within minutes after our arrival, expecting "something small" from her.

Good neighbour

Nangole’s environment changed significantly since she started getting help, with new manyatta’s mushrooming in her neighbourhood, courtesy of her generosity.

Mr Ejore Lomelu said he had no strength to search for food like other younger men in the village. He, therefore, depends on food Nangole receives from a few visitors who learned about her through the media.

Nangole looked at us anxiously as we prepared to leave and raised her hands to offer prayers.

"Thank you for coming. God will bless you. Have a safe journey. Please keep on coming. Don’t go forever," she pleaded.

Nangole also appealed for the food donated to the Mercy Train to be taken to Turkana where many people are hungry because of prolonged drought.

From the look on her face, Nangole appeared unsure if she would get more when her ration runs out.

She feeds four grand children, among them Lomuria, a 13-year-old girl who sat close to her throughout the interview.

 

 

 

 

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