For many decades, some families in Murang’a county suffered from jigger infestation that drastically lowered their quality of life.
The families, most of them living in abject poverty, were condemned to a life of suffering, not knowing whom to turn to, as neighbours and friends shunned them.
One such family is that of Margaret Wairimu. Unable to seek treatment, Wairimu and her family were so devastated by jiggers that even their walking styles changed.
This was due to the fact that the pests that had found their way to different parts of their, especially at the bottom of their feet, made it impossible for them to walk.
“Jiggers almost crippled my children and we did not have money to seek treatment. We were living in hopelessness,” she said.
But more than a decade ago, Wairimu’s family was relieved after Ahadi Kenya Trust, an organisation that fights jigger infestation, conducted medical camps in her area and facilitated the family’s treatment.
Her home, then infested by fleas, was also fumigated as the family members. Since then, they have been able to continue with their daily lives.
“My children were able to focus on their education for the first time without the discomfort caused by jiggers,” she said.
The organisation further provided the family with banana tubers to plant and dairy cows that have provided a constant income.
“Had it not been for the support we got from Ahadi Kenya, I don’t know where we would be. They also organised a mass wedding for us after we were treated. We would never have afforded a wedding,” Wairimu added.
Ahadi Kenya Trust’s CEO Stanley Kamau, who visited the families during the national Jiggers Awareness Day, said the only way to effectively save Kenyans from poverty and jigger infestation is by empowering them economically.
He said when his organisation started the campaign, there were myths that jiggers are caused by witchcraft, further excluding the affected families from the society.
“These families were stigmatised. They neither had money nor friends and were constantly in pain,” he said.
But after treatment and economic empowerment, Kamau said the families underwent a transformation that made them economically productive.
Kamau claimed that more than 200,000 Kenyans have been economically empowered by his organisation. Some, he said, have been provided with posho mills, fruit trees, poultry, dairy cows and briquette-making machines to provide them with a source of livelihood.
“As we celebrate this day, we are happy of the achievements we have made and how far these families have come. Once poor and sickly, they are now employing people in their farms and doing very well economically.”
Gaichanjiru acting chief James
Gitau on his part said that many
school-age children have been positively impacted by the organisation’s
activities over the years.
