Face to face with Hardships

Coming back to Kenya feels like moving from one world to another, very different, one. As if I wasn't already aware of this, it was brought home to me further yesterday in a conversation that I had with my househelp. Esther works for me 2 mornings a week, and following the departure of two of my colleagues for a year’s furlough, I’m now her sole employer. Her wage is not exactly a king’s ransom. Whilst a single lady, so with no family of her own to support, as the firstborn in the family, she is expected to provide for her parents.
And this is where her story becomes very sad. According to Esther, her family once had a tea plantation covering many acres. Now however, this has been substantially reduced, her father having lost the land, largely, presumably, on account of his drinking habit. As a result of imbibing some noxious brew, he has been in hospital for the last few months, in what sounds like a coma. Hospitalisation isn’t free, and the longer he’s there, the greater the bills are.
Esther is the firstborn of nine – six boys and three girls, so you’d think there’d be plenty of family support for her parents. However, her brothers have unfortunately followed in her father’s footsteps and are drunks, while her two sisters, who she’s not seen for 15 years, are prostitutes on the streets of Nairobi. So, who does the family look to for financial provision? Esther. Thankfully, her church has been very supportive, and had a harambee (whip-round), coming up with about £650 for the hospital bills. A niece and nephew are also in the mix, children of one of her sisters. They’ve been left with their grandparents. Who is expected to pay their school fees?.... And so it goes on.
It struck me how heavy the burden of responsibility sits on Esther’s shoulders. She who has her own health issues, and is in need of more work so that she can provide for herself, let alone everyone else. And yet, I know that she’s not alone, and that her story is replicated many times throughout this country and continent. I know that there are genuine hardships in the UK, but I don't think that anyone would argue that it is on a different scale here.