Tobias Sylvester
A 94-year-old man, Hiltan Kalugho, who travelled abroad for 42 years in search of greener pasture, has returned empty-handed and reunited with his family in Majengo village, Mwatate, Taita-Taveta County, Kenya.
Hiltan Kalugho Returns To Kenya After 42 Years
It was gathered that Kalugho left home for Tanzania in 1980 to look for greener pastures which he said was meant to support his wife and seven children.
However, things were not as smooth as he had expected, the man said he tried working as a gemstone miner shortly before he gave livestock herding a hand.
Narrating why he stayed back in Tanzania, Kalungo said he could not return to his family without money because he don’t want to be seen as a failure.
Speaking to the Sunday Nation, he said: “I left home in search of greener pastures because I wanted a good future for my children. Unfortunately, I was unable to come back home because I did not get the money I expected to get to feed my family. We did not get any breakthrough. What we used to get was only enough to sustain us.”
Unfortunately, Kalungo who never remarried as he longed to see his family, returned at the age of 94 and found his wife and two sons died, and only a few people could recognize him.
“I feel so bad that some of my family members are not here to witness this reunion. I had longed to see my wife and all my children,” he remarked.
Kalugho’s son, Mnjala Mwaluma, said efforts to trace his father were unsuccessful until recently when he received a call from a pastor in Tanzania who said he had been found in the neighboring country.
Mwaluma said, “Recently I received a call from a pastor telling me my father had been traced in Tanzania. He came with him to Mombasa where we went to meet him.”
He further narrated how life became hard after their father left with their mother unable to pay for their school fees.
“Growing up life was very difficult for us because our mother was not able to pay our school fees. We missed the fatherly love that other children enjoyed,” he said.
The pastor that found Kalungo was in Tanzania to open a church and met the man whose story had been shared on social media.
KanyiDaily had also published a video showing a Nigerian man living abroad, who was rendered homeless after he was thrown out by his white girlfriend for not cooking.
