A child who got lost twelve years ago was
reunited with her family at Nanyuki Children's home last Friday. Her
sister Anastacia Mukiti said Jessica Wanza, who was then known as Mary
Wanza, lost her way from nursery school in 2001 at Kibera slums in
Nairobi.
Wanza was then picked by an unidentified woman who took her to Tunza Children's home in Nairobi. Tunza was later closed down and she was taken to Mama Ngina Children's home where she stayed for two years before she was transferred to Nanyuki in 2003.
"We did not eat our supper that day when she got lost and our home was in a state of mourning for three weeks. We searched for her everywhere including mortuaries in vain," Mukiti said. "My younger brother who had been sent to collect her from the nursery school was also frank that he got there late when the child had already left and gotten lost."
The family was new to Kibera slums where it had relocated permanently from its Kibwezi rural home. Mukiti her mother got fed up with living in Kibera and returned to Kibwezi where she passed on in 2003.
Their uncle, Bernard Munuve who went with Mukiti to collect Wanza from the children's home, said a number of relatives from Kibwezi spent three months in Nairobi looking for her in vain. "We have travelled even to Tanzania but we have not been lucky. Today is a great day for us and we have no words for thanking the welfare society," he said.
Children at the home sang songs for Wanza and hugged her in turns wishing her well in life. The officer in charge of rescue and reintegration at the Child Welfare Society, Margaret Kwamboka, said the success story began to unfold in July after names of missing children were placed in two national dailies.
She said Wanza was lucky to have been spotted by her relatives among other 20 children.
"The relatives came to our offices in Nairobi for an interview and we carried out a DNA test later. It is indeed true now that Wanza shares genes with her sister who is with us here today," Kwamboka said. She said that the Welfare Society will not supporting Wanza until she is an adult.
Wanza was then picked by an unidentified woman who took her to Tunza Children's home in Nairobi. Tunza was later closed down and she was taken to Mama Ngina Children's home where she stayed for two years before she was transferred to Nanyuki in 2003.
"We did not eat our supper that day when she got lost and our home was in a state of mourning for three weeks. We searched for her everywhere including mortuaries in vain," Mukiti said. "My younger brother who had been sent to collect her from the nursery school was also frank that he got there late when the child had already left and gotten lost."
The family was new to Kibera slums where it had relocated permanently from its Kibwezi rural home. Mukiti her mother got fed up with living in Kibera and returned to Kibwezi where she passed on in 2003.
Their uncle, Bernard Munuve who went with Mukiti to collect Wanza from the children's home, said a number of relatives from Kibwezi spent three months in Nairobi looking for her in vain. "We have travelled even to Tanzania but we have not been lucky. Today is a great day for us and we have no words for thanking the welfare society," he said.
Children at the home sang songs for Wanza and hugged her in turns wishing her well in life. The officer in charge of rescue and reintegration at the Child Welfare Society, Margaret Kwamboka, said the success story began to unfold in July after names of missing children were placed in two national dailies.
She said Wanza was lucky to have been spotted by her relatives among other 20 children.
"The relatives came to our offices in Nairobi for an interview and we carried out a DNA test later. It is indeed true now that Wanza shares genes with her sister who is with us here today," Kwamboka said. She said that the Welfare Society will not supporting Wanza until she is an adult.
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