Home where mother tongue is prohibited

In March 2014, Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi issued a directive that primary schools start teaching in local languages in lower classes.

But at one children’s home, no one is allowed to speak in his or her mother tongue. They must all speak only in English or Swahili.

Some speak impeccable English, others with a bit of an accent that betrays their tribal origin, but it is a large close-knit family where speaking in mother tongue is unacceptable, for Mum won’t allow it.

Welcome to the Seeds in His Garden Home, where matron Becky Adams has strived to nurture a generation of Kenyans devoid of tribal roots.

The 70-year-old matron is emphatic that Kenya’s most serious problems are caused by ethnic identity and allegiance to tribe.

She has a strong case for her argument, citing the periodic tribal clashes dating back to 1992. She argues that since Kenya chose English and Kiswahili as her national languages, then other languages should have been discarded by now for they have no place in the academic development of a child.

'VERY WISE DECISION'

“I'm not the person who came into your country and mobilised it under the British rule. You opted as a country to adopt English as your national language. It was probably a very wise decision. The only unfortunate bit is that it came under colonial rule,” says the American philanthropist, who has chosen to make abandoned and orphaned Kenyan children her own.

Granted, the question of language and identity has been a thorny issue in most African countries ever since they attained independence from their colonial masters.

Some have argued that language, or to be specific mother tongue, which contributes to tribal identity has been a source of tribal conflict since the days of yore.

However, there are countries that basically have one unifying language, such as Somalia or even Egypt, and yet the conflict experienced in those countries is nowhere near the experience in Kenya, where there is a multiplicity of distinct linguistic groups.

Ms Adams has 27 children under her care in the SIHG home, which is located in Kitengela, Kajiado County.

'WE ARE ALL KENYAN'

The children are drawn from different parts of the country and some do not know any other language as they were brought into the institution when they were babies.

“Children must be taught that they are all one. We don’t care where they come from. We are all Kenyan and they should be proud to be Kenyan, period,” She says.

“I have 40 to 50 kids who come out of this house who really don’t know anything about their past, so I don’t want any conversations around my kids on tribe. My job is to create a peaceful place for those kids to grow in,” says Ms Adams, who is simply known as "mum" at the home.

She explains that some kids are brought in the home when they are "not speaking at all’ due to trauma. At first there is usually a language barrier, which is overcome with time.

The institution then attends to their physical and psychological needs before introducing them to academics.

The majority of the kids in the home do not have families where they can be re-integrated back to, but there are a few with relatives who have no interest in them, according to Ms Adams.

RE-INTEGRATION PROBLEMS

She gives an example of a girl from the home who used to visit her grandmother once every year but when she turned 15 she was told never to visit again.

Ms Adams adds that 98 per cent of attempts at re-integration into the family do not work because the children are not needed by their families in the first place and that is why they were brought to a children’s home.

“My Mum brought me here at the age of 9. She said she didn’t want me and I don’t know my dad. I have other siblings, a brother and a sister, but I don’t visit them,” says Martin Gachoka, who has grown up in the children’s home.

Ms Adams says since there is almost no interaction with the children’s families, continued usage of a child's mother tongue is not beneficial to anyone.

“Language is about the way of presenting yourself academically either in English or Swahili, but if you talk about mother tongue, it is not allowed here.

We do not believe in tribalism because there is too much discrimination. I have people from all different tribes working, but I will not allow them to use mother tongue. I will terminate someone’s employment on account of tribal behaviour," says the stern matron.

POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE

The 2007/2008 post-election violence was a very scary moment for Ms Adams. A boy from the home was travelling from a school in Nakuru when he came across a gang that was cutting people’s heads, but just as they reached him, the GSU came and rescued him.

“At that time in my house I had boys, a Luo and Kikuyu, and trust me the Luo boy came to me and told me, ‘Mum, I am feeling very uncomfortable now’,” says Ms Adams.

Ms Adams says some of the very brilliant physicians in the world are to be found in Kenya and that means there is a lot of potential that comes through learning the English language.

The institution has many leavers working in various positions in the corporate world.

Ms Adams says the leavers are independent and do not require support from the institution.

Others are pursuing further studies abroad and also in Kenyan universities.

More than 30 children have been adopted from the home. The home works with Little Angels Network in the adoption process.