Christmas under staircase ‘manger’

• Mother of four has no idea where two are, and only hopes they were adopted

As the world gears up for Christmas, one mother will also be preparing for the event in a place that bears a striking semblance to the manger where Jesus Christ was born.

Pamela Atieno will be spending her second Christmas on the streets, under a staircase.

But for her, the roles have been reversed. Whereas Jesus was with parents Joseph and Mary in the manger, Atieno is with two children under the stair case.

CMC Building

Her face bears the lines of a much older person than her 30 years, as she mops the cold cement floor of the parking lot outside the CMC Building on Bunyala Road. Her rug is improvised from an old T-shirt to prevent the morning rain from washing over her children.

How she wishes she had a roof over her head to keep away the chill of the night and the scorching sun during the day! Unending flu and rashes are her lot on the streets.

The mother and her two sons aged nine and seven years spend most nights covered by a plastic bag.

“I hardly sleep. I spend my day begging near the Railway Station,” she told the Nation. The street family lives on handouts and scavenges in dustbins for food.

When the sun rises, Atieno must find an alternative spot. She can’t be under the staircase when people report to work.

One of the flowerbeds near the exit stairway serves as her kitchen, where she lights a three-stone fire to warm water for her sons’ breakfast. She later packs her utensils, two old blankets and extra clothes into one old bag, which she moves around with, begging.

The luggage is her mattress at night. Sleeping on top of the suitcase protects her belongings from street boys who prowl the area after dusk.

“I cannot risk leaving my few possessions here,” said Atieno, who has become a part-time street preacher at the Railways Bridge.

On the day of the interview at ‘home’, she had slept late, after spending half the night moping water away from her children. Atieno is sad that her children will grow up without knowing their relatives.

Her maternal home is in Kisumu, Nyanza Province, and she was married in Siaya. She became estranged from her siblings after rivalry over family land.

She was also evicted from her matrimonial home by the father of her four children, after what she calls a plot by her five co-wives.

“My brother kicked me out during the post-election violence, and my husband does not regard me as his wife any more.”

She has no idea where her two elder children, both teenagers, are. The last she heard was that they were “adopted” by a church in Kikuyu Town.

Atieno says healthcare is her greatest challenge, as she cannot afford a public hospital card that costs Sh20. Government hospitals are free for children younger than 15 years. But Atieno says she is turned away because she “is dirty”.

“My children would be healthier if we were back in the village,” Atieno said, adding the boys catch colds, especially during the rainy season.

Atieno refutes myths that city life is fascinating and only wishes she had a little “soil” (land) in Kisumu. Life would not be as cruel, she says.

She says a quarter of an acre would feed her family and leave enough to help her save for school fees. And her children would be healthier, physically and emotionally.

In 2003, the government set up the Street Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund to train the homeless in tailoring and building. Head of media relations Jan Bosire says 7,000 have so far been trained, but “rehab is long and expensive”.

This Christmas, Atieno will have to “eat” hope.