Kenya’s ‘monkey boy’ eight years on

The school bell rings a few minutes after 10am and the atmosphere quickly changes from calm to blaring noise.

Children rush to queue for their mid morning snack.

Excitement written all over their faces, they push and shove to be the first in the queue.

Amid all the confusion, a little boy leans on the wall with an empty mug in his hand. He is lost in his own world and not bothered with the rest.

An elderly woman shouts, “Meshack, have you taken porridge?” The boy nods his head.

She drags him to where porridge is being served. After getting his share, the boy heads back to his lonely corner.

The woman is later introduced as Diminah Khasialo, the founder of Tunza Children Centre in Ngong and Meshack is one of the children under her care.

Curious, I inquire whether the boy is of sound mind.

What follows is a story of a boy who has been through hell and back.

Meshack Challo spent part of his childhood with monkeys. He was rescued from the Fourteen Falls in Kilimambogo when Khasialo was on a seminar. That was in 2005. 

As she strolled in the forest she spotted something that looked like a baby.

“At first l ignored thinking it was a baby monkey.  But on closer look, I was shocked to see it was a baby though it was very hairy,” she recalls.

Several monkeys dashed to where the baby was, forcing her to move back.

Khasialo was moved and she was determined to rescue the baby. 

Together with one of her colleagues, she bought bananas to distract the monkeys.

“As the monkeys fought for the bananas and bread we managed to pick the baby,” she says.

She estimates the baby was one-year-old.

She decided to take the baby to the area chief but was shocked when he told her: “That is your gift. Take him with you.”

Apparently, the chief had received news of a baby living with monkeys but had not paid much attention.

Half-heartedly Khasialo took him to Kenyatta National Hospital for medical check-up and to find out whether he was normal.

“He underwent several test and the doctors confirmed he was fine though a bit weak. He was put under medication,” she says.

Meshack found a home at the children’s home and is slowly adopting to ‘normal life’.

“He was a bit weird. He hated clothes and preferred to be naked. Whenever food was served, he first poured down before eating. The first time he saw a mattress, he tore it into pieces with his mouth. He also had difficulties talking,” says Khasialo.

“Most of the children are scared of him. We have health experts who train him to behave like other normal children. The first few days, he would bite anyone who came close to him but the doctors have assured us he will be fine,” she said. 

Meshack, 8, is now in class three at Kibiko primary in Ngong.