Cultural Pressure: How 2 women went against loved ones who wanted their children dead

The experiences of two Kenyan women highlights the cultural pressure mounted on mothers nursing children with disabilities.

Samwell is Lydia Njoki's youngest child and he has epilepsy. Due to this condition and other physical disabilities, she received calls from family members including her grandmother who advised her on a way to kill the child.

The cultural pressure mounted on her caused her many sleepless night. On the occasions when she slept, it happened after a flood of tears.

 

A 56-year-old Njoki who lives in the Narok County of Kenya told the BBC that she was considered cursed by her community members for bearing a child with disability.

"People said I was cursed, that's why I got a child with a disability. "I hated myself and asked God, why me?", says the mother who had love in her eyes as she played with Samwell.

It was equally a tough situation to be in for Florence Kipchumba whose family sent her packing because of her child's unrelenting tears.

A friend was willing to take her in but a month after moving to her place, she also offers a permanent solution to Meshack, the precious boy that has ensured she is at odds with everyone.

"She asked me to put acid in his food so that he could die, but I refused to do so and left her house," Kipchumba tells BBC's Anne Soy what a friend had advised her to do in order to get rid of her son.

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The mum reportedly lives alone in a shack and doing odd jobs to survive. Meshack is now 8 years old. His past disabilities is not too much of a worry. Though with some difficulties, but he can still manage to sit and take short walks.

In a new study in Kenya, 45% of mothers interviewed by a leading charity faced pressure to kill their babies born with disabilities. The BBC confirms this in a report.