Children's Awareness Month

SHAKAHOLA , LET'S  BE ALERT

IN MEMORY OF THE SHAKAHOLA BABIES

 As we create Awareness of Children’s issues this month of June, my heart goes out to the children who lost their lives in Shakahola.

 Shakahola area in Malindi Kenya has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. Over 100 people died for starving themselves to death due to what has been termed as religious cultism, the majority of the bodies being exhumed being children, who died because those whom they trusted chose to let them die. Why were these innocent children not protected from murder because that is what it is? For children to leave their homes and stay with someone other than their parents, there should be permission from the parents written or unwritten. How was it possible that children were leaving school, some traveling from as far as western Kenya, to come to a place they have never been, for what they were not sure of, regardless of whether they were safe or not, they still came. What were they following, the doctrine or the leader? 

What is a Cult?

 A cult is a small group of people led by a charismatic leader who has a lot of influence on the group. In the group, they are bound by common beliefs, practices, and rituals that other people in society will find abnormal. Among the reasons that pull people towards such leaders is that the followers have unanswered questions in their life that they believe the leader provides provides answers too. People want to have a sense of belonging and acceptance. The most vulnerable are those teens going through the stage of identity versus confusion. That explains why many of the older children in upper primary to high school were attracted to this sect. 

 Characteristics of a Cultist leader include 

 They are dominant. They make their followers feel inferior. The reason why most of the leaders are men and many followers are women

 They are very good at expressing their feeling in a way that appeals to the followers to follow them. The followers largely have low esteem, they have a yearning for acceptance and belonging. 

They are obsessed with admiration and being given attention. They, therefore, require absolute obedience and harm those who go against them. 

They claim to have supper powers, are very boastful, arrogant, have no empathy, and have psychopathological tendencies. 

These are important signs to look for when someone claims they are religious leader. Mothers left with their children to Shakahola, and only those who were keen enough to see the danger managed to escape to tell the story. The rest died willing or forcefully, probably regretting as they lay on their death bed. Let's share information to educate the society to be on the lookout for this dangerous type of leadership.