Geoffrey Lumbasi took off when we arrived in his village, Luanda K in East Kabras Ward, Malava Sub County, Kakamega County, for an interview. It took a ward administrator nearly two hours to convince him that we meant no harm. By then, he had run over two kilometres away.

Once he returned and calmed down, Lumbasi explained why he fled. “I was once admitted to the hospital, and the doctors mentioned amputating my hand. I feared you might be from the hospital,” he said.