A 94-year-old man has reunited with his family 42 years after he left his home in Mwatate, Taita Taveta County.
Hiltan Kalugho left his home in 1980
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Hiltan Kalungo says he left home for Tanzania in 1980 to look for greener pastures which he says was meant to support his wife and seven children.
Speaking to the Sunday Nation, Kalungo said things were not as smooth as he had expected, he tried working as a gemstone miner shortly before he gave livestock herding a hand.
“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,” he stated.
Unfortunately, Kalungo who in his days away never remarried, found his wife and two sons died and only few of the people he found 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.
According to his son, Mnjala Mwaluma, 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.
“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,” said Mwaluma.
Mwaluma 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.