Boy saves villagers from killer floods

Photo/ROBERT NYAGAH
The Baraka Rimba Kahindi standard 4 pupils at Kavunyalalo in Malindi District become the hero, he rescued his family and villagers by building this raft from two old wooden house doors-which floated and hence become the saviour for hundreds of people. The boy was greeted with great joy he worked tirelessly before he was joined by the Red Cross volunteers. After the rescue of the people he shifted to a few household good and goats and emerged as the most hard working.

What you need to know:

  • Eight-year-old school pupil joined old wooden doors for a makeshift raft to help evacuate his marooned villagers

The primary school pupil says he has been in “this ferry business” ever since the Galana River burst its banks three days ago.

And at a time when several parts of the country are suffering from the furry of killer floods, and families are marooned on roof or hill tops in rural areas, many Kenyan villages would welcome the creativity of this eight-year-old boy in Kaziani Village in Malindi.

Baraka Rimba Kahindi has joined together two old wooden doors for a makeshift raft, and uses a long stick for an oar to help evacuate his marooned villagers to safety.

As other children his age look at the rising water levels from a far and wait for a helping hand, Kahindi has so fare helped the Red Cross team of volunteers to save 14 children and five women.

On Wednesday, Malindi MP Gideon Mung’aro and Mr Joshua Nkanatha who oversee the rescue efforts branding the Kavinyalalo Primary School pupil the hero of the day.

And when the Nation asked why he was not afraid that the flood waters would carry him away, he beat his chest, saying “I am a man”, to the cheers from the crowd.

“I have been using the makeshift raft to ferry people across, especially those going to Malindi town and do not want to dirty their clothes. I charge them Sh20,” Kahindi said.

The money the third born of eight siblings collects in a day, he gives to his mother.

The boy who has a passion for education, says when schools opened on Monday, he reported like other children and only continued with his business in the evenings.

But the level of flood waters increased, forcing him to halt his studies. He has left his books and uniforms behind as there was not much time during the evacuation to take all his belongings with him.

On Wednesday, as he ferries two wooden boxes his mother asked him to get from the house, he remembered they left behind water jerricans the family would need and went back for them.

“I had to learn to swim because floods have been a problem here for a very long time,” Kahindi said.

Several families in the low lying areas of Malindi and Magarini who have been affected by floods have petitioned the government to move them to higher ground as a permanent solution to the annual problem.

Red Cross Malindi branch manager Hassan Musa said Kahindi’s act of courage could not be matched among his age mates.

“When we arrived at around 10.30am, we found him testing out his raft, crossing from the marooned village,” he said.

He said the response team was intrigued by the boy’s creativity and used his invention to evacuate the 12 households in the village.

“We would have definitely used more time to evacuate them because most children do not know how to swim,” he said.

The Red Cross has pledged to train the boy as a volunteer and equip him with first aid skills to use at school and at home.

For now he remains among the more than 2,000 pupils in Malindi and Magarini districts unable to go to school because of the floods.

They hope the government, through the Ministry of Special Programmes to implement a proposal by the departments of education in the area to have satellite schools set up so children’s education is not interrupted by the floods.