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By:
HARRISON MAINA | |||||||||
| Posted:
Mar,01-2017 16:28:22
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A memorial service in honor of the late Stephen 'Mitu' Githehu, a former US Army veteran of Kenyan origin who took his life in unclear circumstances last week in Atlanta is scheduled to take place this Sunday at the Hilton Marietta Hotel & Conference Center in Marietta, Georgia. According to family sources in conjunction with a funeral organizing committee, the memorial will kick off from 3-6pm. Kenyans friends and well wishers were urged to attend the event to celebrate the short life of the 25 year old young man who had dedicated a big section of his life towards protecting the community as member of the US Army. The late Kenyan passed on last week on Friday in what family sources described as a suicide event thought to be related to a PTSD and psychological trauma he sustained while serving in the Army. According to a study released in the summer of last year, (2016) by the department of Veteran affairs, about 20 veterans commit suicide everyday across the USA. The study indicated that in 2014, the most recent year that data was available, "more than 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for 18 percent of all suicides in America", wrote the Military Times, a renowned US military news website., adding that the risk of suicide for veterans is 21 percent higher when compared to civilian adults. "From 2001 to 2014, as the civilian suicide rate rose about 23.3 percent, the rate of suicide among veterans jumped more than 32 percent," researchers concluded in the eye opening study. The study also indicated that most of the veterans taking their lives were found not to be utilizing suicide prevention programs that have been put in place by the VA, with female veterans ending up more at risk than their male counterparts. However, according to the late Kenyan's sister, Jane Mukami, also of Georgia, the family struggled to get help for their brother, often encountering stifling bureaucracy at both the veteran's affairs and the police department when it became apparent their brother had suicidal ideations. Recap here Kenyans throughout the US have been shocked by the late Githehu's death, coming at a time when concerns in the close knit community have been recently rising of other deaths suspected to be suicide related but families kept the cause under the wraps, making it difficult for a conversation to happen that would mitigate the rising rate of suicides. Many Kenyans who called the Ajabu Africa News and on social media, praised the late Githehu's sister for coming out in the open about her brother's suicide as the act helps the entire community start engaging in the difficult conversation especially in the backdrop of family breakdowns and divorces that have psychologically devastated hundreds of Kenyan immigrant children. A funeral organizing committee informed Kenyans that funeral arrangements will be communicated as soon as they become complete. Meanwhile, the committee urged Kenyans, friends and well wishers in USA to help in raising funeral funds for the late Kenyan by attending the memorial or making deposits through means provided below hoping to raise an estimated $25,000 needed: 1. Cashapp $JaneMukami 2. Bank Of America any branch provide the account name "Stephen Githehu Funeral Fund" (They will not require bank acct #) 3. Using debit or credit card:https://www.gofundme.com/mitufuneralfund 4. Mpesa details are on this site:https://secure.changa.co.ke/myweb/share/10481 | |||||||||
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Source:
AJABU AFRICAN NEWS
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