I guess most of us have been reading
and hearing about husband battering in Nyeri province. Well I need to correct a few
issues here before is progress.
a) Not
all Nyeri women batter their husbands-They are great and awesome women in
Nyeri. There are great marriages in Nyeri too. When you say all women are, or
all men are…those are called Gender stereotypes!
b) It
does not matter who beats who- it is a criminal offence! Women should not think
that they have the right and can get away with husband beating regardless of
their furry!
I did not say much last week
because it was a BUSY week to say the least. I was busy planning and training the Provincial Administration
from Central province on the Gender and Equality gains in our Kenyan constitution
2010 Needless to say, I knew for sure being in Nyeri (where they all gathered) would
definitely mean that some issues like husband battering would up.
Sad I must say! Very sad…as the
women heads retaliate with strong voices that they will continue to beat their husbands and encourage their women fellows to beat them!
One story was narrated that made me feel very sad.
One of the husbands who has recently been beaten had literally come home just to find
his wife who works as a casual laborer feeding her(their) children. They were feeding
on some piece of Ugali (corn meal) with no stew whatsoever because she could not
afford and the only few coins she had made for the day she had used to
purchase some flour and 250ml of milk for her other little baby.
Her husband had come home very drunk (from drinking illicit brew) demanding
for food. When he was given the Ugali with no accompaniment of course, he began
to insult the wife and abusing her for making incomplete meals. With little common
sense if any in his head, the man took away the remaining Ugali and ate it all
up with the 250ml of milk in the feeding bottle.
The reason the wife beat him up
was not that he ate the Ugali but that he took the 250ml of milk which the wife
had reserved for the night for their 7months old baby.
Well that said. My dear readers,
the family unit is under attack. Mothers are crying out for their families and
they have resulted to taking charge of their families to the extent of killing their
husbands. And if you think they are apologetic
of what they are doing – let me assure you they are not! At lest that is the feeling I got from the meeting.
I do not have comments right now
on this topic. It is the one that I am praying about, I have a heart for
families and I all I can say for now is that, may the Lord restore sanity to
our families. May He restore the right order, in the mean time, I will be reaching
out to families, and I will make my voice known everywhere I go! And I pray
that it will not be my voice but the VOICE of God reaching out to this
generation.
What you describe is a broken, shattered family most assuredly not in God's plan. We know that the best plan is for the husband to be the head of the household, to be protective of his wife and children. The described husband was not. Ephesians chapter 5 has much to say about this. Educating men as to their responsibilities takes time and excellent teachers. I, too, will pray for your outreach to families. Pray that God will speak to the men that they come to understand they need to follow His plan: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:25 KJV) Then and only then can husbands expect their: Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22 KJV) May God bless your calling!
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