Pain, loss, and resilience: Inside the lives of Kenyan orphans

The tragedy of an orphan losing a parent

Joseph Kiragu was preparing for his national secondary school exams when his world turned upside down. Just a month before the tests, he lost his mother—the only surviving parent he had.

"It felt like a cruel joke from the universe," Joseph told The Star. “I had just started to heal from losing my father to throat cancer a year earlier. My mother had become my rock."

He had left her in seemingly good health before returning to school. But shortly after, he was called to the principal’s office, where he was met with the devastating news.

"I looked at my elder brother’s face and knew something was terribly wrong," he said. His mother had taken her own life.

Returning to school after the funeral, Joseph described himself as a “zombie.”

Words of comfort meant little, but the determination to succeed in his exams kept him grounded.

"If anything, I was going to make my family proud from this tragedy," he said.

When a Road Trip Becomes a Nightmare

Christine Kendeli will never forget the road trip she begged for—a trip that ended in the tragic death of both her parents.

Growing up, Kendeli watched her parents argue constantly. Silent treatment and cold stares filled their home.

So, when they informed her during her first year at university that they were getting divorced, she came up with what she thought was a brilliant idea: a family road trip.

"In my mind, this would be the turning point, just like in the movies," she recalled.

Initially, her plan seemed to work. Her parents even sang along to an old playlist, smiling for the first time in ages.

But joy quickly turned to horror. As her father looked toward her mother instead of the road, he missed an oncoming trailer.

Christine survived with a broken leg. Her parents died on the spot.

"I blamed myself. I was the one who insisted on the trip," she said tearfully.

Betrayal Behind Closed Doors

Rachel Mwende’s story exposes another dark reality: exploitation by trusted family members.

After her father's death left her orphaned in primary school, her family’s promises of support quickly vanished.

Her uncle took over their Nairobi home, while she was sent to live with her grandmother in Kitui.

By the time she reached adulthood, all the resources left to her were gone. No one had saved anything for her education.

"I was angry and confused. If they had just left me some money for university, maybe I could forgive them," she said.

The stress of figuring out how to pay for her future pushed her into compromising situations she now regrets. “It’s something I’m still trying to heal from in therapy,” she added.

From Guilt to Abuse: A Childhood Stolen

Paul Masinde became an orphan at five. By age eight, he had absorbed the blame that his relatives subtly placed on him for his parents' death in a car crash—one he survived.

Life with his aunt and uncle became unbearable. Physical abuse followed small mistakes. “I once broke a jerrycan, and she burned my back with hot coals,” Paul recounted.

The abuse escalated to sexual violence at the hands of his uncle, which finally pushed him to run away. “I couldn’t stay there. It was hell,” he said.

‘Better the Streets Than Home’

Emma Gatwiri, who runs the House of Mercy Children’s Home, has seen countless orphans show up at her door in desperation.

"These kids tell me, 'Better I die in the streets than go back home.’ That’s how bad it is," she said.

She often has to turn some of them away when her home reaches full capacity—a decision that haunts her.

A Call for Community Support

Therapist Moses Wekesa from Counseling Haven Kenya says the trauma of losing a parent is only made worse when the community fails to step up.

“These children are already dealing with the worst loss imaginable. To treat them as an inconvenience is cruel," he said.

He believes community support—no matter how small—can be life-changing.

“It might seem like a drop in the ocean, but it’s the only way many of these children can rise from their pain.