A family in Kisumu County is appealing to the government and well-wishers to help them raise Sh.1.8 million needed to repatriate the body of their kin Christina Brandy, who died in Lebanon after a long illness.
The deceased’s sister Caroline Adhiambo Obuya said the family was unable to meet the cost of bringing home the remains of her sister, who, she added, passed away on Tuesday last week in a Beirut hospital while undergoing medication.
Speaking from their rural home at Kamrongo Village in Kisumu East Sub-County, Obuya described her sister as the family’s sole breadwinner, saying her death has left them devastated
“We are completely overwhelmed. We have no means of raising the money required to bring her body back home,” she said.
According to the family, Christina travelled to Lebanon in 2016 in search of better opportunities after years of struggling to support her relatives.
Having lost both parents—their mother in 1993 and father in 2005—she took up the responsibility of supporting her siblings, including educating her 18-year-old daughter.
Before leaving the country, she was a domestic worker in Nairobi.
“One of her friends took her to Lebanon, where they were doing business together. She has been our only bread winner ever since,” said Obuya.
While in Lebanon, her fortunes took a turn for the worse after she fell ill and underwent heart surgery.
Her condition deteriorated over the years, with complications that included swelling of the legs and eventual kidney failure last year.
“She became too weak to work and depended on friends for survival,” Obuya said.
Despite undergoing treatment, Christina did not fully recover and died on Tuesday last week.
Her 18-year-old daughter, Santada Chenogol, said the family is struggling to come to terms with the loss, noting that her mother had been their only source of livelihood.
“My mother was everything to us. She struggled so much to provide, and now we don’t even have the means to bring her back home,” she said.
The family said Christina had been receiving medical support from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which helped settle her hospital bills at Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut.
However, the cost of repatriating her body remains beyond their reach.
In a letter addressed to the State Department for Diaspora Affairs, the family has appealed for urgent government intervention to facilitate the return of her remains for burial in Kenya.
They regretted that due to their financial constraints, they may be forced to consider cremation and shipment of ashes an option they say goes against their wishes.
“We want to give our sister a dignified burial at home, but we are being pushed to the wall,” Obuya said. Efforts to seek assistance from the State Department have so far not yielded a response, the family said.
A cousin to the deceased, Barrack Ochieng, urged both national and county governments, as well as well-wishers, to intervene and support the grieving family.
The situation has been further complicated by ongoing instability in Lebanon, which the family says has made coordination with potential well-wishers and authorities more difficult. Any support to the family can be channeled through Caroline Adhiambo Obuya on 0721949291.
By Chris Mahandara
