Martha Muthengi returned to her family in Kitui 50 years after fleeing and relocating to Bomet County where she remarried and had been living with her new family.
Through Royal Media Services' Musyi FM program that brings together families that had lost touch, Martha was able to locate the children she had left behind.
During the reunion, the woman apologised to the children, who had since grown up, stating that she had to run away because of domestic violence.
“I was running for my life. If I stayed I would have died because my husband used to beat me all the time. He would send me out at 3:00 am to fetch water and would beat my children as well,” Martha explained in tears.
Martha left her home in the early '70s and was followed by her youngest son who stated that she could no longer bear the beating from his father.
Martha was happy to finally meet her son, daughter and daughter-in-law asking for their forgiveness for what she stated was an unintentional abandonment.
“I am asking for forgiveness from my children because I know that they had to endure a lot of pain from the mistreatment and beating from their father,” she explained.
The children, who were in tears and smiles, expressed their joy at reumiting with their mother adding that it was a joy to see their family grow.
Martha was accompanied to her Kitui home by some of the nine children she sired when she relocated to Bomet.
Some of her children had families of their own including her daughter-in-law who stated that she had to step in to take care of duties that Martha had left behind.
“I had two roles in the family, I had to do my work and still become the mother. Now that she has returned, I am happy to let her take over,” Mary Musyoki, Martha’s daughter-in-law stated.
“I have fulfilled my dream of seeing my children while they are still alive and uniting my two families into one,” stated Martha.
