TALES OF COURAGE: I was once homeless

23-year-old Caroline Rono has battled homelessness and diabetes. She found love and a home. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • My mother passed away when I was a little girl but I can't remember exactly when.
  • Our father left us under the care of our grandmother because he could not manage on his own.
  • My grandmother was struggling to feed the seven of us when she heard of the Bethel Faith Home and Training Centre, a children’s home in Londiani which was then under the care of the late Dr Eva Gilger.

They say that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. My lemonade, however, came after many hard years of eating sour lemons.

My name is Caroline Rono and I’m 23 years old. I am the sixth born in a family of seven. We were raised in Nakuru, Njoro.

My mother passed away when I was a little girl but I can't remember exactly when. Our father left us under the care of our grandmother because he could not manage on his own.

My grandmother was struggling to feed the seven of us when she heard of the Bethel Faith Home and Training Centre, a children’s home in Londiani which was then under the care of the late Dr Eva Gilger.

My grandmother decided to live with two of my brothers and take  my elder two brothers, two elder sisters and I  to that children’s home. Our father had then taken to alcohol by this time.

DEMANDED FOR US

Two years later, our father confronted my grandmother demanding she gives us back to him. My grandmother didn’t want to divulge where we were staying. But a neighbour informed him of our whereabouts.

So, he went there to demand the five of us back. This took Dr Gilger aback. On our admission to the children’s home, my grandmother had given information that we did not have any living parents.

So, she called the police – but our father left before the police could arrive. My two elder brothers too, ran after him, leaving my two sisters and me behind. Life at the home was good. We had plenty of food, and attended school at Bethel Primary School in Londiani.

In 2008, I joined Londiani Girls Secondary School and after I cleared the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in 2011, I stayed at the home for the following awaiting funding to join a college.

In 2014, I joined Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (RVIST) for a certificate course in food and beverage. The children’s home was the one paying for my school fees until in second semester 2014.

The arrangement was that the director pays for school fees, and my brother would pay for hostel living expenses, which he did not honour in the second semester.

THOWN OUT OF HOSTEL

This saw me thrown out of the college hostel. I went into the nearby shopping centre, where I moved in with my then boyfriend - who was also a student.

In a short while, we broke up and I went to stay with my elder sister – Stella Chelagat who was living in a single room in Shabaab area, Nakuru town.

I had stayed in the children’s home for over 18 years, and I so much desired to be financially independent. I considered job hunting in the town and that is how I landed a casual job with Orange.

This is where I met Steve Kebiro . Unknown to me, Steve would later become my fiancé. But this was only after a dark patch in my life.

With my little earnings, I could now chip in to my sister’s budget. Life became easier, though I had now dropped out of school.

I started saving so that I could go back to school. My sister found a job as a house help in Bomet and took it up.

This left me and her boyfriend living in that single room. Neighbours started gossiping that I had chased her away so that I would ‘inherit’ her boyfriend.

This got me agitated and I moved in with a friend in another single room. After spending at her place for a few days I felt uncomfortable because she was married. But she assisted me, she send me to her sister to stay for the time being.

There were six of us in a single room.

At night, Wanjiku’s brother, Sharon and I were sleeping on the floor where no one could turn because there was no space. Her sister was sleeping with her two children. But we were happy because we had nowhere else to stay.

COULD NOT LIVE LIKE THAT FOREVER

But one night, she called me aside and advised that Sharon and I could not live like that forever and I had to do something about it, which of course was true.

I decided to move out and left Sharon behind. I shared with a friend who was working at a movie shop, and said she was ready to host me.

But after a few days, I could tell that she was not comfortable with me. So, I decided to be going to parties – even when I did not know the host – or just sit in pubs at night – sipping a bottle of soda – for the darkness to go away. I dreaded nightfall because I had nowhere to live, in the morning I would be a very jovial person and go to work.

I used the money that I earned as a casual sales person on average Sh200 per day. Of which I saved between Sh50 to 100 every day. I lived like that for almost three months it was in late 2014 and early 2015 when I moved in with another boyfriend.

Not that I loved him, but my choices were limited. My elder sister returned from Bomet and she really blamed me for my actions – living homeless and later living with a second boyfriend. She asked me why I had never informed her of my suffering.

But I reminded her that she took up the househelp job in Bomet because she wanted to live a better life. Both of us were sad for our unfortunate states. We embraced each other in tears.

We re-united at our old one room where she lived with her boyfriend. I had saved almost Sh15,000. I contacted Steve – whom we had worked together at Orange to help me get a vacant single room and I moved out.

I later came to learn that the rental houses belonged to his father. I was then a very withdrawn and introverted individual.

Life's curveballs had worn me down. Steve was interested in knowing about me. I opened up and a friendship ensued.

Steve Kebiro met 23-year-old Caroline Rono when she was battling diabetes. They fell in love and moved in together. PHOTO| COURTESY

Two months later, we moved in together . I was still a casual worker at Orange but I was feeling very tired and my legs were swollen.

Concerned, in early 2017, Steve’s parents advised that I take a break from work for a while and stay home. Then I started to lose weight drastically, and my hair fell off. At some point I weighed 30 kilogrammes and my skin turned pale. I could not even put on weight.

DIAGNOSED WITH DIABETES

In May, I was taken to hospital where I was diagnosed with diabetes type two. My sugar levels were too high at unreadable levels.

It took three days to respond to insulin and IV injections. I was then put on clinical observation. The situation has since normalised and I am keen to fight cravings like soda, juice – which had been my main meals back then.

Though I have walked a dark patch in life, I am happy that I have finally found a home. I thank God for having finally settled me.

I was able to go back to school in September 2017 at the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies here in Nakuru, where I am doing a certificate in catering and accommodation.

I will forever be grateful for my elder sister Chelagat for having fought so hard for me. Chelagat ingrained in me the values of hard work and resilience. She is now married to her then boyfriend with whom they have a child, My younger sister Sharon is employed and lives in Nairobi. To Bethel Faith Home and Training Centre, I cannot thank you enough, you will always be dear to me. You gave me a home, and I am now working towards my own a beautiful home.”