- Ojwang' went to the US in 2012 after he fell in love with a white woman named Virginia Hendrick who had been visiting Kenya as a tourist.
- Ojwang' tied the knot, took his lover home and later introduced her to his family members before moving to the US.
Image: FAMILY
It is a painful race against time for a Kenyan family whose relative was found dead in his car in the US as they are required to raise Sh1.7 million in 10 days to ship body to Nairobi or face forceful cremation.
Wilfred Ojwang’, 40, was found unresponsive in his car in Pennsylvania on May 31 by a neighbour and declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
His family is now faced with the impossible task of raising $13438.67 (Sh1,726,869) to cater for the morgue charges, as well as shipment cost to Nairobi before being moved to his rural Butula home in Busia county for burial.
Ojwang' went to the US in 2012 after he fell in love with a white woman named Virginia Hendrick who had been visiting Kenya as a tourist.
They met in Mombasa, where he was born and bred. Love brewed on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
Ojwang' tied the knot, took his lover home and later introduced her to his family members before moving to the US.
But after six years of marriage, the two separated before eventually parting ways. Hendrick would move from Pennsylvania to the neighbouring West Virginia.
The two did not have children of their own but had adopted one. It is not clear if Ojwang' was living alone at the time of his death.
His elder sister Everline Ojwang’ said that since 2019, her family have only known tragedies, with one burial after another, sucking all the family finances and putting unimaginable pressure on her as the first born.
The family lost their father in 2019 just before Covid-19 struck and in 2022, one of the brothers passed away suddenly. The doctors concluded he had suffered a heart attack.
Eveline said the brother who died in 2022 left a wife and three children whom they care for.
“Its been a tough time for us as a family and me in particular. My payslip is miserable as I have taken loans to the full limit, and with a child needing mental healthcare, I have been going through a lot,” she said clearly grief-stricken and teary.
Eveline said they had been in communication with their brother and was supportive in meeting family needs.
“He had even come home last December and this was the first time he ever came home since 2012. He did not even come to the burial of our father in 2019 but he has been supportive in sending money to help us meet various needs, including helping the family of our other dead brother,” she said.
Eveline said she received the news of her brother's death on June 4 when the former wife called her early in the morning as she prepared for work.
“I was in a heart wrenching distress and my pressure even reached 160,” she said.
Hendrick later asked the family to send money for the funeral home and that for shipping body, or else have the body cremated.
“She told me that I send money immediately or she get the body cremated. I asked if she was supporting us in anyway but she said no,” Eveline said.
“We asked if there was any asset left by my brother that can liquidated to help us in meeting the cost [but] she turned hostile.”
The family was given two weeks to send the money and has up to the end of next week.
Eveline, however, says the family is not interested in getting any his brother's assets. The family's only plea is to get the body back home.
“We are asking well-wishers to chip in a help us raise the money and bring my brother home. It is for the same of our mother who is 74 years old. If she sees the body, she will be peaceful. Wilfred was her hope,” she said.
Eveline's contact is 0727899380