Mercy Ogbonna Chidi

Mercy Chidi
Kenya

Where a culture of impunity used to exist, we are now seeing successful prosecutions for child sexual abuse.

I established the Brenda Boone Tumaini (Hope) Centre in 2006, with support from our benefactor Brenda, as a shelter for sexually abused girls in the Meru region and all of central Kenya, where no other such shelter exists. We provide counseling for the girls and their families, medical care, vocational education, and legal support and advice. So far we have admitted 63 girls into the shelter and 108 to the vocational school, for a total of 171 girls. Thirteen girls, including 3 ½ year-old K, are currently in residence, as well as one baby. We currently have two counselors coming to see girls for both individual and group counseling. Counseling has brought healing to many girls. In all, 95 have been released into the community with continuing support―though some have no homes to go to, and some, unfortunately, have had to return to the Centre.  

K, the 3 ½-year-old girl, was defiled by a man well known to her, the one she would have run to for safety, a grandfather who was also her mother’s landlord. The mother had left her under the care of their landlady. After this beastly act, the wife, who one would have expected to rescue this innocent, cleaned her and her clothes (destroying evidence) and locked her in for a day and night, while the girl was bleeding and unconscious. Thank God the girl was found alive the following day and rescued by community police. She was taken to the hospital and the case was reported, then referred to us in early March. Due to the intensity of the damage, K was referred to Nairobi Women Hospital for reconstructive surgery, then to Kenyatta National Hospital for further surgery. In May she went for her first appointment after the first operation. The doctor said she was not ready for the second operation and she was brought back for eight more weeks. She has gone through counseling and she is doing well in the Centre, so playful and jovial. Her court case can’t continue until she fully recovers. The perpetrator is in police custody, but the wife was released and took refuge elsewhere.

Counseling in progress

N, a seven-year- old girl from Buuri District, was a class 2 pupil in Primary School. Her father passed away and the mother abandoned her to her grandma, who is a squatter. The grandmother had two old men friends who were from the neighborhood and well known to the child. According to the girl, when the two men visited the grandmother, one would defile her and the other went to the grandmother. This happened on several occasions. The little girl innocently tried to seek help from the grandmother, who she trusted and who was supposed to be protecting her, but this never happened. She later confided in her head teacher, who took her to the hospital. When an HIV test was done, N tested positive. The perpetrators were arrested and are currently held in police custody. After the arrest of the two men the grandma turned out to be hostile to the girl, who was referred to Tumaini Centre by the head teacher for medical help, counseling, and legal advice. She is currently in the Centre and doing well.

Primary school is not part of our program, and we are not financially able to send all the girls who are ready to go out to boarding school. Some have found places, including two young sisters, and we celebrate that success.

We have two girls who have not been able to grow even after several series of counseling. One of the girls is putting everybody on her/his toes. She has attempted suicide four times in a period of barely one and a half months and she has refused to open up to the counselor.

The good news is that where a culture of impunity used to exist, we are now seeing successful prosecutions. In June, 13 court cases were pending. One case was adjourned to July since the accused’s lawyer was not prepared. A second court case was very short but a success. The uncle who had defiled the girl pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. One judgment that had taken so long was read and the perpetrator sentenced to life imprisonment. We have an increase in cases referred to us, mainly defilement cases, and we know this is due to mobilization and sensitization on child abuse that we have done in the community. It’s not a secret anymore.

By the Grace of God we have come this far. We thank God for all our donors and well-wishers.

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The Brenda Boone Tumaini Centre is a program of Ripples International, co-founded by Mercy Chidi and her husband Chidi Ogbonna.