My name is Joseph Otieno. I live in Nairobi, and this is my story of struggle, shame, and later, hope.

I came to Nairobi in 2014 with big dreams. I believed the city had opportunities for anyone ready to work hard. I got a job as a shop attendant in Eastleigh. The pay was small, but I was proud because I could pay rent and send something small to my mother upcountry.

In 2016 I married my wife, Lydia. Life felt like it was moving forward. But after one year, things started going wrong. The shop closed suddenly. I stayed without a job for months. Rent piled up. We were locked out of our single room. We moved to stay with a friend in Kayole.

I tried everything — boda boda riding, selling phone covers, even hawking socks in town. Each job started with hope and ended quickly. Either business was too slow or I got chased away by county officers. Many nights we slept hungry. My wife would pretend she had eaten so I could take the last plate.

By 2018, stress had entered our marriage. We argued over small things. Debts grew. Friends stopped picking my calls. I felt like the city had rejected me.

In 2019 we got a child, a baby girl. Instead of joy, I felt fear. I kept asking myself, “How will I raise this child when I cannot even feed myself well?” That year was the hardest. I moved between short casual jobs — mjengo today, car wash tomorrow, nothing next week.

“I was in a point where lack of food was the order of the day, infact I even approached my friend of mine demanding that he give us beans and maize to sleep with my wife for a night.”

In 2021, after another failed kiosk business, I almost gave up trying new things. Everywhere I turned, doors closed. I remember sitting outside a closed stall one evening and crying quietly so nobody would see me.

A former neighbor found me there. He told me, “Joseph, sometimes you need guidance, not just struggle. Talk to Dr Bokko. He helped me organize my life when everything was scattered.”

https://drbokko.com/?p=36968