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YOUNGEST KENYAN MOTHER WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF TWINS
Gladys Bulinya is 35 years old and the mother of six sets of twins - a total of 12 children. Most women would struggle to cope with six sets of twins but for Gladys Bulinya it is even more difficult - as many people in her part of Kenya think twins are cursed.Her relatives will have nothing to do with her, and her husband left her, fearing she was jinxed, after the sixth pair of twins arrived in 2010.
She now lives in a one roomed grass-thatched house a few miles from the shore of Lake Victoria and she and some of her children do odd jobs in order to feed the family. She got pregnant at high school - but her boyfriend was too young to marry her.Her sorrow then turned to shock, when her own family ordered her to leave the babies at the district hospital for adoption.They told her that the Bukusu people, to which her family belongs, believe twins bring bad luck - and that unless one of them dies, it means certain death for one or both parents.The Bukusu tradition of eliminating the second twin is no longer practised, though occasional cases of infanticide are still reported in rural areas of western Kenya.
She now lives in a one roomed grass-thatched house a few miles from the shore of Lake Victoria and she and some of her children do odd jobs in order to feed the family. She got pregnant at high school - but her boyfriend was too young to marry her.Her sorrow then turned to shock, when her own family ordered her to leave the babies at the district hospital for adoption.They told her that the Bukusu people, to which her family belongs, believe twins bring bad luck - and that unless one of them dies, it means certain death for one or both parents.The Bukusu tradition of eliminating the second twin is no longer practised, though occasional cases of infanticide are still reported in rural areas of western Kenya.
Luckily, Ms Bulinya says, when her boyfriend's father learned the twins had been abandoned, he took them in and has cared for them ever since. (He is from a different ethnic group, the Kalenjin.) But her troubles did not stop there. Five years later she fell in love with and married a primary school teacher.She was living with his family when she gave birth to her second set of twins, Duncan and Dennis.Fearing she had brought them a bad omen - and that someone would die - her in-laws chased her away.She was put on a motorcycle taxi with her twins and sent to her father's home.Yet again, however, her family had no sympathy. Still considering her cursed, they did not allow her on to their property.Instead, they quickly organised another marriage for her, to a man 20 years her senior.He agreed to the alliance, she says, as he had not expected to marry at his age.But more twins followed."Mercy and Faith were born in 2003 and Carren and Ivy in 2005, Purpose and Swin in 2007.Afterwards Baraka and Prince were born which led to her husband walking out.
A few of the children attend the local junior school.Gladys Bulinya says she misses her eldest boys - and last saw them two years ago . Eleven-year-old Dennis has been given a scholarship to a private boarding school nearby, while his twin Duncan looks after the livestock for a retired teacher.Duncan's monthly ration of maize for his herding duties is enough to feed the rest of the family.
Gladys Bulinya's non-identical twins are:
1993: John and James
1999: Duncan and Dennis
2003: Mercy and Faith
2005: Carren and Ivy
2007: Purpose and Swin
2010: Baraka and Prince
How Likely Is It?
Dr Maggie Blott, a spokesperson for the Royal College of Obsetricians and Gynaecologists, says:The chances of having six sets of twins is extremely low, though once you have one set of twins, you are more likely to have another - and once you have two sets, you are more likely to have a third.If a woman repeatedly has non-identical twins, her ovaries are regularly producing two eggs rather than one.In Britain, the chance of having twins is one in 80, in Africa it is higher.I'm not sure anyone knows the chances of having a second or third set of twins - there probably isn't that much information out there. But all obstetricians have stories of a woman who has had twins having twins again. I have a patient who had twins followed by triplets.Twinning runs in families too. A woman who is a twin herself has a higher chance of giving birth to twins."The lady should have undergone sterilisation after discovering that men were using and dumping her," she says.
Ms Bulinya says she has no regrets and sees all her children as God's blessings.However, she admits that she has now reluctantly been sterilised, "against the wishes of my church", as she could not cope with any more children."I am a Catholic. When I made the decision I asked for God's forgiveness and I am sure God understands and will forgive me for doing that."The one thing that really upsets her, she says, is the absence of her 17-year-old twins.She weeps when she recalls their last meeting, two years ago, at their circumcision, a ceremony which marks a teenage boy's rite of passage to a man.At the gathering, each parent must hand over their son to the community elders for the circumcision. "I was invited to the occasion and asked twice to pick my sons from among the crowd of 30 boys," she explains."In both cases I picked the wrong children and my heart still bleeds each time I think of that day."
Source:www.bbc.co.uk/
Charity Ngilu: First woman prsidential candidate in Kenya and sub saharan Africa
In Kenya’s new government, Minister of Health Charity Ngilu is regarded as a powerful player and a role model for a younger generation of female politicians.In 1992, she surprised many people when she rose from obscurity to unseat former Cabinet Minister George Ndotto as member of Parliament for the Kitui Central district. In Parliament, she continued to make waves, especially when she struck out at the vice-ridden Moi regime, telling reporters, “You cannot touch or take anybody to court over corruption when you yourself are corrupt.”
When Ngilu announced in 1997 that she intended to run for Kenya’s presidency, excitement rippled across the country. As the first woman presidential candidate in sub-Saharan Africa, Ngilu was a trailblazer on a continent known for its corrupt “Big Men.” Though she became fourth and didn’t win the top job in 1997, Ngilu left her mark on the political landscape. In 2002, when opponents of President Daniel arap Moi joined forces as the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), she became known as “Mama Rainbow.” Quick to recognize her contributions to the party after he won the presidency, NARC leader Mwai Kibaki made her one of the key members of his first Cabinet.
However,as the chairperson of NARC she was later left stranded after the Liberal Democratic Party left the coalition after the defeat of the Government-sponsored draft constitution, while most of the remaining NARC members founded the new Narc-Kenya party, though NARC is still officially the ruling party. She has been viewed as a flip flopper who could not decide whether she was in the government between 2003 and 2007 or against the government.
On July 31, 2007, Ngilu took Ann Njogu, a protester, to a hospital after Njogu had allegedly been beaten by police. Ngilu was then accused of helping Njogu escape the police, and she was arrested on August 2 before being released on bail. She reported to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department on August 3 as she was ordered, but would not leave her car, saying that she should either be charged or released. Later on the same day the Nairobi High Court ruled that Ngilu's arrest was illegal, and she was allowed to leave. According to Ngilu's lawyer, she was not aiding an escape and Njogu was returned to the police by the hospital a day after she was taken there.
On October 5, 2007, Ngilu announced her support for the Orange Democratic Movement and its presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, in the December 2007 general election; she has compared Odinga to Nelson Mandela. She initially said that she was remaining in the government, despite backing Kibaki's main rival. However, her dismissal from the government by Kibaki was announced on October 6.
Ngilu was re-elected to her seat from Kitui Central in the December 2007 parliamentary election. Kibaki won the presidential election according to official results, but this was disputed by the ODM, and a violent crisis developed. The crisis was eventually resolved with a power-sharing agreement, and in the grand coalition Cabinet named on April 13, 2008 and sworn in on April 17, Ngilu was appointed as Minister of Water and Irrigation.
Charity Kaluki Ngilu was born in Mbooni, Makueni District in 1952. She was educated at Alliance Girls High School, then worked as a secretary for Central Bank of Kenya, before becoming an entrepreneur. She acted as a director of a plastics extrusion factory. is a Kenyan politician. She was the ninth of 13 children born to poor parents in rural Kenya, and before entering public life worked as a secretary, a bank manager, and an entrepreneur, opening businesses as diverse as a bakery and a plastics factory. She also became a wife and mother of three.Her husband passed on in 2006 while undergoing treatment in South Africa.
Click the link below to watch Ngilu's video clip
ReferenceWikipedia.com
Orie rogo manduli: First woman to head an NGO and compete in world circuit safari rally
Orie Rogo Manduli first came to the public limelight while in high school after was crowned Miss Kenya at an early age of 16. In 1974 she became the very first black African woman in Kenya to compete in the world circuit Safari Rally. Moreover, she is the first woman to head the Kenya Non Governmental Organization council (NGO council). Orie Rogo Manduli, a strong willed Kenyan woman famously known for showcasing ‘original’ African attire with matching headgear that attracts attention wherever she goes.In Manduli’s telling, the headgear, which looks like a worthwhile load is like tying a bow; but with a pinch of versatility. It does not even take her five minutes to have the rose petal semblance on her head. She seeks attention in her bright montage on – in her own words – her perfect African figure, bold makeup and accessory accompanied with a power husky voice. But what began as an experiment almost two decades ago is what has turned out to be a personal brand for Manduli. “I turned to the headgear as an act of rebellion,” says Manduli. It all started one day when she was invited to a wedding. Tired of seeing women looking ridiculous in the name of fashion in borrowed Western cultures, she wrapped a headscarf, just to prove a point; African culture is too rich to be confined in a box. “I am a proud and beautiful African woman and my headgear is a reflection of how an African woman should dress.”
Manduli’s imagination is as wild as her nature. Her style is always consistent, polished and with a touch of ‘nyadhi’ style. She borrows largely from the environment, from the colour contrast to how the flowers bud and bloom. On a good day when her mood is busting, her headgear will go as high as two meters and styled to match with her different clothes. Each day she spots a different design. “Repeating a headgear is unthinkable,” she says adding it would bore her stiff.
For Manduli, speaking her mind is second to nature. It is probably this very reason that has driven her to great heights, fighting battles – many women would shy away from – but still maintain her femininity. In the political circles, her name stands out for controversy sometimes being regarded a political activist or a rebel without a cause.
She has contested in sometimes grueling elections where she has been called names, beaten or her property destroyed. During the 2007 Kenya general elections, she was physically assaulted after a heated argument at her party’s function. In a separate incidence, she refused to step down as the chairperson of the NGO council despite numerous calls for her to resign. She barricaded herself in the council’s offices and ‘rightfully’ refused to resign.
Her first marriage, which she describes as rocky, ended in bitter divorce and completely changed her perception on marriage. “I was still very young. I received no financial assistance from him [ex-husband] and had to toil day and night to take care of my family.” According to Manduli, the proposed marriage bill that seeks to have rich women compensate poor husbands, after divorce or separation, is a big sham. “I will not let my daughters marry without prenuptial agreements,” she says adding that lazy men will take advantage of hardworking women. “Men cannot be trusted to take care of the children after a woman passed on due to their polygamous nature.” She got three daughters from her first marriage.
Armed with lessons well learnt from her first marriage, she later got married to Misheck Norman Manduli a descendant of the Lunda dynasty, one of Zambia’s royal families. Her second marriage seemed demanding, but she loved every moment. Can you picture Ms. Manduli being submissive, like a good wife is expected? To take this further, down on her knees, serving a steamy meal she cooked to a man? Well, this was her new life. “You don’t give anything to the older generation, especially the men while standing. I had to get down on my knees and it is considered rude to show your back to them,” she says. “You retract while facing them on your knees until you are out of their presence.” She got one son from her second marriage which, unfortunately, ended on a sad note. Her husband passed on in 2003 and Manduli has remained single ever since.
She tries to fill the void left her late husband through reading books – particularly biographies and autobiographies. To her, this is the best way to keep up to date, speak and write well. “That is how I get my brilliance,” she says. After a days’ long work, soft music pacifies her. “I like my music mellow and seductive, it must not dominate like is it case with the boom boom generation.” You can catch her swaying her hips to rhumba and salsa – in six inch stiletto heels. She uses dance as a way to tone her muscles.
She describes buying shoes with matching handbags and jewelry as her guilty pleasure. You would be right to liken her to Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, for the rows of shoes she owns. Every morning, she struggles to find a shoe that pleases her. She makes her own jewelry from dried fruits, ponds, bones beads. But it’s her signature headgear that completes her look; without, it is as good as to a bride without makeup on her wedding day.
Click the link below to watch her interview with citizen tv
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