Cavin Wangira Ouma opens up on the trauma of working as a morgue attendant

Cavin Wangira Ouma has opened up on his horrifying experience working as a morgue attendant in Nairobi, saying the stint left him mentally scarred as he still wakes up to nightmares and even lacks sleep most times.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s ‘Shajara na Lulu’ show on Friday morning, Wangira narrated how his decision to leave his hometown in Siaya County in search of a better life in Nairobi led him to work in a mortuary for over two years.

He said that the opportunity came by after he attended a burial and assisted in digging the grave, where a few local residents noticed his strength and convinced him to go to Nairobi, insisting that he would not lack a job.

Wangira said that when he left, he carried no luggage and did not bid his family goodbye, arguing that he was completely drunk.

He attributed his decision to financial difficulties at home that caused him to halt his studies and turn to drugs and stealing from people.

“The process of going in and out of school due to financial difficulties led me to drop out. When I was 12 years old, we started doing ordinary jobs and started drinking alcohol, stealing, and attending disco matanga,” he said.

Wangira stated that upon reaching Nairobi, he became homeless, surviving from hand to mouth like the other street children.

He added that he tried approaching people, enquiring about how he would get back home, but he was dismissed. Throughout his life on the streets, Wangira said that he attempted to find a way to return home, but all his efforts bore no fruits.

“I tried finding ways to go home by asking around, but people dismissed me. I spent the night in the streets for a week until I got used to eating what the street children would eat,” Wangira said.

Weeks later, he stated, a man approached him and offered him a job as a morgue attendant, which he accepted.

“We arrived at the mortuary at around 1am. The man handed me an axe, a Maasai sword, and a panga. Dead bodies were piled up at the back of the room,” he stated.

Wangira revealed that on his first day on the job, he was instructed to strike a man with an axe, who was apparently still alive but badly wounded.

“He said that I needed to do ‘finishing.’ The body of a man, who they later said was a thief came in, he was not yet dead but on the verge of dying. His body was dumped on the floor, I was instructed to strike him with a panga on his back,” he stated.

Wangira said that he earned Ksh.450 per day, adding that the job affected his mental health. He would later meet a colleague, who reintroduced him to drugs, arguing that it acted as a viable coping mechanism method, considering what they had to do for a living.

“True to the colleague’s word, the work became easier, and I began chopping off bodies like it was a norm. The drugs would make me feel fearless and exceedingly strong,” Wangira stated.

He revealed that he decided to leave the mortuary job after a deceased woman appeared before him in a hallucination and began questioning him on why he killed her.

"At around 3am when I was completely drunk, a woman emerged from the pile of dead bodies dressed in white and demanded answers on why I had taken her life. I tried striking her with an axe, but I could not do it. After I sobered up, I made up my mind to quit the job, and never return,” he revealed.

Since leaving the mortuary, Wangira has been hopping from various jobs like working in the juakali sector and digging up graves. However, he noted that the jobs came with their hurdles.

He said that he is now a “saved Christian” who attends church and that he has confided in a pastor regarding his past life working as a morgue attendant. He maintained that he still experiences nightmares.

Wangira is now appealing to well-wishers to get him a job or assist him with a means to return to his family in Siaya County, adding that he has not seen his kin since that fateful day when he decided to leave home for the city.