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Lost Daughter Kageha Jeruto Marshall contacted us after she heard Claire Gorham describing herself as a 'coconut'. She's spent her whole life explaining why she is black with a white family. But after meeting her birth father in Kenya, Kageha's confidence is blossoming...  Kageha, Marguerite and mum Theresa |
Kageha was born in West Kenya. When she was a few months old, her mother died, and her father who was very young, jobless and homeless struggled to look after her. In his tribe it is not the done thing for a man to look after children, but his family were not able to support him, so he eventually handed over his baby daughter to the Quaker Mission Hospital.
Kageha was in a bad state and one doctor in particular cared for her, and eventually fostered and adopted Kageha. The family stayed in Kenya and then Uganda until moving 'home' to a small village in the Brecon Beacons when Kageha was aged 11.
Though it was summer Kageha was struck by how cold it was. Local children were kind and friendly, but at boarding school in 1972 she was 'the most different person' in the school.
 Kageha in Uganda |
It was only at her second boarding school that she met other black children who had been fostered and adopted by white families. Kageha remembers a huge sense of relief that she wasn't unique, even though her parents were by now back in Africa - this time in Uganda.
 Sister, Marguerite, Kageha and Jeremy with their mother, Theresa |
Kageha is now married to James (who is also a Quaker) and has two daughters. They've been out to Kenya with the family twice and Kageha has met her birth father. The first time she met him she discovered that he had married again and has another 12 children. Showing emotion is not the way in her father's tribe, but he threw his arms around her. Her Granny also appeared and was thrilled to see her sons 'lost daughter' again.
Now Kageha and her family write regularly to her father in Kenya, and he writes back. She's learning more about the culture in which she was born, and she's found a new confidence through knowing more about her identity.
 family reunion with father Matayo and his wife Damaisy |
MORE INFORMATION
A Map of Kenya from the Lonely Planet
Norcap National Organization for Counselling Adoptees and Parents
After Adoption has free helplines
If your family crosses cultures 
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