[afro-nets] Kenya: Puzzle of family with five disabled girls

[A. Odutola <chpss_abo2@yahoo.com>]

Kenya: Puzzle of family with five disabled girls
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 From The Standard, Nairobi, Kenya, a challenging neurology and
genetics case study. Read the synopsis below and have a go at
establishing a diagnosis.

--
One day in 1987 at cockcrow, in the dingy and smoky hut of Mary
Anyango and Hezron Oyugi of Rusinga Island, (Kenya) a baby was
born. The baby cried out shrilly on its first gasp of the acrid
air, as Oyugi turned dreamily on his creaky bed with satisfac-
tion, thinking: "The first rock off my sling."

The man had all along hoped to win himself the glory of getting
a son for a firstborn child. However, his dream did not come
true. Anyango had brought forth a daughter.

Later, with the sense of a turnabout, Oyugi would philosophi-
cally state: "A home without daughters is like a spring without
a source." He clearly did not wish to lose the joy of first fa-
therhood. But when she turned two weeks, Millicent Akinyi devel-
oped a prolonged bout of colic and she would scream all night.

The parents believed that everything in this world has a reason
and they were determined to find out what was eating out their
little angel. Why would such a little baby cry endlessly, they
asked themselves? Had some evil neighbour cast a spell on the
infant? Had it not been properly named according to Luo customs?

Traditionalists came offering different advices, and Oyugi hung
around unsettled, perhaps afraid that his spring would dry up
before it had even started flowing.

This would be the case, as the years that followed have been
tragic for the Oyugis. The couple's dreams of getting healthy
and bouncing babies steadily turned into a nightmare.

Misfortune has visited the couple each time it receives a new-
born child. And today Oyugi and his wife have to take care of
five mentally retarded daughters with stunted growth.

For the couple, the birth of new children has only multiplied
their agony. The usual joy that follows the birth of a baby
turned into anxiety, as all but only two of their children
(boys) have been born with physical and mental disabilities.

Get full report from:
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news_is.php?articleid=13100

--
A. Odutola
mailto:chpss_abo2@yahoo.com