In her hey-day she was known as “Nyaber”, the beautiful lady, the preferred customers of all the fishermen who make Sori beach, near Lake Victoria in Kenya, tick every day.
Sori beach fishermen are notorious for not always wanting the full cost of the fish they sell to the fishmongers in cash.
They take part of it in kind and the more beautiful the fishmonger the better.
Lucia Nyongudi, aka Nyaber, has been a much sought-after fishmonger for decades but her beauty has been obliterated by time and she is hardly noticed these days by the young hip-hopping fishermen now in charge of Sori beach, but she cannot afford a cut in her daily income.
She therefore needs an inducement to the fishermen to handover the best of their catch to her for fewer amounts in good faith.
This where Rose Achieng, Lucia’s 17-year-old standard-six-drop-out niece, comes in. She is dressed sharply in a mini-skirt and a short blouse that hardly covers her umbilical cord. Her hair is neatly plaited making her easy to notice.
“I don’t sell fish but my aunt does, she is aged and that is why I a company her to get fish without serious struggle. We earn a living from the sales of this precious commodity,” she says.
It is well known that fishing is the economic activity of the river lake Nilotes since ancient days. A new trend referred to as ‘jaboya’ where a fishmonger and fisherman indulge in sex is sky rocketing along the beaches in Nyanza.
The sex-for-fish barter trade is the only way for fish traders to comfortably live their dream lives. Stiff competition for a catch that is less than plentiful means offering their own bodies is not enough , so the traders have decided to make available their underaged girls and in most cases their desperate relatives.
Awiko Kokoth is one of the youthful fishermen well known by his folks and business comrades as “Jahom” brags how he has dumped his 54-year-old “girlfriend” and today grooves with more than three girls comfortably.
“Despite the fact that I was orphaned at a tender age and suffered a lot at Nyakach – my ancestral home – I can now live my dream. I can get my daily meals, clothe myself and even make sure that my sweethearts are well dressed and eat well”. Says Awiko as he takes his final puff of ‘ombitho’ marijuana in a broad day light.
“I have been having unprotected sex with different fishermen and their beach leaders for the last eight years since I dropped out of school in 2005. My parents passed away in the same year and my younger brother and I had no one to turn to, the only solution was him to go and look after some village tycoon’s cattle as I entered this field. I knew what men want and I was ready to exchange it with money. Wearing short skirts or tight trousers doesn’t cost much and I was ready for easy and fast cash. I’m still in the field despite losing some of my lady friends and clients,” Says Rita with a broad smile.
She admits doing the deadly business but when asked about her H.I.V status, she replies “what one doesn’t know can’t hurt”.