Gogo, the woman with a heart of gold helping orphans
A dusty road leads to a homestead with five mud-walled houses and an old wooden granary in Kambi Nyasi village, Baringo North constituency, Baringo County.
Here, Mrs Rebecca Talaat Kitilil, 54, is busy fending for children who include orphans, abandoned children and those from humble backgrounds.
Mrs Kitilil has converted her home into an orphanage, with more than 40 children.
As early as 2pm on the day of the interview, Ms Kitilil was busy preparing vegetables for the children’s supper.
Her journey started in 1988 after she got married and moved to Kambi Nyasi from her home in Kuikui village. A young boy who was an orphan sought refuge in her home, inviting another one two months later.
She said she gladly took them in, not knowing that it was the beginning of her calling.
She started with the two children, and soon found herself taking in more abandoned children living in the streets and those whose parents had died.
The children have found solace at the hands of the woman they’ve grown up knowing as their mother, while others call her Gogo – grandmother.
All the children are enrolled in school.
Mrs Rebeca Talaa Kitilit prepares to serve food to children.
Mrs Kitilil recalls an incident in 1994, when, together with her husband, the Reverend Jacob Kipkorir Kitilil, she rescued a 15-year-old girl who was being prepared for female circumcision. There was backlash from community elders who cherished the practice at that time.
However, that did not deter the family from saving the girl from forced early marriage, and with help from well-wishers, the couple was able to take the girl back to secondary school.
“Now she is a nurse in one of the hospitals in Baringo, she is even married and has her own children. I remember last year she came here with her colleagues and they brought mattresses, beds and gifts for the other children. We were so happy for her good gesture,” said the mother of six.
She has also been able to take two special children to school. She enrolled one of them in a deaf special school. The other, who was paralysed, was taken through treatment and is in school.
Currently Mrs Kitilil has more than 40 children, but was forced to place others with their relatives due to a government directive that recently banned running of children homes.
Mrs Rebeca Talaa Kitilit speaks to some of the children who are needy at Kamp Nyasi village in Baringo North on October 15, 2021.
She has at least 35 children in primary school, five in secondary school whom she monitors because they live with their families, while others have completed their education.
Through the help of the community she was able to buy three acres of land where hopefully, a home will be built for the children when the government allows it.
The home depends on well-wishers, who donate food and clothes.
“I want to thank my community for always coming through whenever I need their help. All these children are in school because of them and other well-wishers. I till a small piece of land where we get our food but it’s not enough,” she said.
The Rev Kitilil praised his wife, saying through her heart of gold, she has helped many children who were in need.
“I am very proud of her; she does a good job. I love her for that and I will always support her in her work of helping other,” he said.
Ms Vyonne Kiplaal, a beneficiary of the home, said she was taken in by the couple when she was only 14, having completed primary education and lacking fees for secondary school.
Her father died when she was about to sit the KCPE exams.
The second born in a family of 11 children said she walked the five kilometres to Mrs Kitilil’s home for help.
“I scored 285 marks and I was hoping that I would join high school but my father died and he was the only hope I had. I had no option but to just stay at home for that one year, but luckily, Gogo, through the help of the community, helped me go back to school,” said Ms Kiplaal.
She complete secondary education, attaining a C-, even with her irregular attendance due to fees woes. She wants to be a nurse.
Mr Reuben Kimwetich, a village elder at Kambi Nyasi, said Mrs Kitilil’s acts of kindness have touched many in the community.
He said she had helped children from the local community, as well as those from other villages in Baringo North.
As a village elder, Mr Kimwetich is usually called upon to mobilise the community to help raise money for the children’s school fees and other needs.
“Despite the challenges she is facing, she still has that heart of helping the underprivileged in the community. We as a community really love and appreciate her work. She has done something I don’t think just anybody can do, since it is very challenging,” he said, calling on well-wishers to help Mrs Kitilil in her noble cause. BY DAILY NATION


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