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Ciku Kimeria is a Kenyan author "Of goats and poisoned oranges" - (https://www.amazon.com/goats-poisoned-oranges-Ciku-Kimeria-ebook/dp/B00HBBWPI6), development consultant, adventurer and travel blogger (www.thekenyanexplorer.com). She writes both fiction and non-fiction focusing on African stories that need telling. She has worked on diverse pieces for various international and local publications including Quartz, Ozy, The East African etc. She has travelled to 45 countries – 16 of them in Africa. 153 countries to go and 63 territories!
"Of goats and poisoned oranges" has been extremely well received in Kenya and beyond. It tells the story of a Kenyan middle aged power couple and their complicated marriage. The novel explores issues of greed, revenge, betrayal and murder. It runs from the 1960s to 2013. It has been described as “Wicked, funny, poignant, wacky, human, a big ball of fun and danger”, “A unique and captivating book”, “Fun and intriguing”, “Impossible to put down once you start reading.”
She recently moved to Dakar, Senegal from Kenya to work on her second novel. She also works at as the Africa Communication Manager at a leading global strategy consulting firm.
She holds a B.S. in Management Science from MIT with minors in Urban Planning and International development studies.
The Business Of Fixing Infertility In Africa's Most Populous Country, Nigeria
The high fertility rate in Nigeria might mask the fact that for many people trying to have children, conceiving is not always easy. As a society that highly values children, discussions about fertility are quite rare, and issues usually have to be dealt with in secret.
Even though Nigeria has one of the highest birth rates in the world with 37.3 births for every 1,000 people or an average of six children per woman meaning more than 7 million new Nigerians are born every year, an estimated 25% of couples still suffer from the infertility.
In a society where a woman's ability to have children is very important, there is usually a lot of pressure from the extended family for couples to conceive, with the larger proportion of the burden falling on women.
Infertility is not an openly discussed topic in modern Nigerian cultures. It is rare to find couples willing to acknowledge their struggle to conceive.
Fertility treatments are on the rise in the country, with even more couples seeking IVF at a cost of roughly $3,000 for high-quality treatments. While this cost is fair in comparison to the cost of IVF treatments in other countries, it is still prohibitively high for the average citizen.
For those who cannot afford the treatments, but still face the same societal pressure, some resort to illegal adoptions in the black market as the process of formal adoption is extremely difficult in the country.
On paper, the procedure seems pretty easy. “However, in reality, the process to adopt a child is very difficult. Most applicants wait for years without success.”
This has led to the growth of an adoption black market where couples buy babies from single mothers to raise them as theirs. The highest price is paid for baby boys and twins.
