Free Jona!

Jona Ngugi: "There was a time when everything I held dear slipped away. And when you have lost everything once, you carry a fire inside you that refuses to go out. I was 23 when my wife died. I'm almost 36 now. No one prepares you for the moment you're handed the paper that proves someone you love is gone forever. That kind of pain never leaves your heart, it follows you, like your shadow, and becomes a part of you.

Here, inside this place, the system is falling apart. Schedules are a mess. Meals come when they come, if they come at all. People aren’t being cared for. We are cut off from those we love. What’s happening here is more than disorganization, it’s destruction. It tears families apart and leaves people with nothing.

Though the bad times will never stop, it’s the simple things we live for. When I close my eyes and remember my sons’ smiles and the way they play football, that is where I get my strength. It’s when I have all of them in my arms, those are the times I live for. 

One person listening can make all the difference. Just one. That is why I am still fighting. My sons will know that I never gave up. And that, in itself, is hope."