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They say blood is thicker than water, and it is true. Veer Sendeyo stepped in to raise her globetrotting sister’s twins from the time they were born as if they were her own

When Veer Sendeyo looks seven years back, her heart melts with joy and gratitude for being an important part of raising her sister Julie Nadzua’s children.

She fondly remembers how she was ushered into parenting when she was just 20 years old. “My sister, Julie had a delicate pregnancy with twins and had been put on bed rest throughout, so I had to move into her house to help take care of her,” she says.

At the time, about six years ago, Sendeyo was doing her internship at an engineering and accounting firm as a procurement officer. She had to sacrifice a lot of her free time to attend to her sister.

Nine months passed fast and her sister was eventually blessed with her bundles of joy, a boy and  girl. 

Still delicate from the birth and a new mother, her sister was still not able to take care of her newborn babies, Veer took a second step to do that job.

“I helped in every way I could; from changing diapers to ensuring that the little babies were well fed and comfortable, they felt like my children too,” she recalls. 

Close bond

When the babies had grown and could stand on their feet, Veer moved back home leaving her sister, who was now in good health. 

At the time of her leaving, Veer reminisces how she had formed an even closer bond with her sister, stronger than the one they had before. “You know, my sister and I had not been close because she moved out of home when I was still in high school. So living with her strengthened our relationship,” she says.

As soon as her sister’s maternity leave was over, she started her own company, Buymore Adventures, a tours and travel agency in 2015 that entailed travelling to China with her husband, sometimes up to one month and Veer had to step back in and help raise her niece and nephew. 

“I moved back to her sister’s house in Kasarani and gracefully took over caring for the children who had just turned  six months old,” she narrates. 

So dedicated was she  as the children’s caregiver that she opted to seek self employment other than look for a job. “I  wanted to be more involved in the children’s lives, and being self employed meant I would achieve that,” she says. She had an eye for fashion designing since she was a child making it an easy start for her. 

Veer says raising the twins was, however not a walk in the park. There were hard times as there were fun times. One of which she recently posted on a Facebook group.

“…they were barely a year old and were learning how to talk.The little girl then asked me ‘tolee tutu asesa’. I called the brother and asked him what the sister was saying,he giggled then said,’anashemaaa utolee tutuasesa!’ I had no idea what these two were talking about and the more clueless I was,the more agitated she became,” she wrote. 

She went on “This was an emergency so I called my sister from overseas and she was even more clueless than I was! The boy then started ransacking a drawer and found some building blocks! The little girl ran over to him and started jumping excitedly while chanting! ‘Tutuasesa! tutuasesa’ I guess that translates to ‘vitu vya kucheza’…, the post read.The hardest part of it all, Veer says was when she had to explain to the children who their mother is and who she was to them. When her sister came back months later the children had learnt how to talk.

Mother’s help 

When Veer got married in 2017 and had a child of her own, she moved to Ngong Road where she settled with her family. “I felt really bad leaving them, but it was time for me to build my own family and the best thing is that they were now old enough so they weren’t a handfull,” she says.

Her sister’s business had also become stable hence making her schedules more flexible, reducing her journeys to two times a year. Even so, she still gets to be with the children, especially on weekends whenever her sister is away. Their mother (the children’s grandmother) also steps in to help. “Sometimes, during the holidays they stay with my mother in Meru, our rural home. I am forever grateful to my mother who gladly takes up the responsibility of caring for the children,” she says. 

Veer says that now that the children are turning five, she cannot help but smile at how smart and confident they have become. 

“They grew up knowing they have two mothers, but now that they are all grown, they call me aunty although other times the girl says that her mother should take the boys (my son included) so that she lives with me,” she chuckles.

This year though, Julie, her sister has not travelled because of the Corona Virus, which has plagued China and some parts of the world. And with that she is taking the opportunity to stay with her children full time and bond with them. She plans to start travelling again in July. 

“I am glad that I have a sister who gladly takes care of my children without complaining. I trust her to take care of my children when I am away and I am always happy and comfortable to know that she loves them as her own,” says an obviously grateful Julie.