The Girlfriends: Spotlight, E10: Phyllis Saves the People from Poisoning

Summary

The Girlfriends: Spotlight – E10: “Phyllis Saves the People from Poisoning”

Podcast: The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer – Season 3
Host: Anna Sinfield
Guest: Phyllis Omido
Release Date: October 20, 2025

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Overview

In this compelling episode, Anna Sinfield dives into the story of Phyllis Omido, a Kenyan woman who transformed from an administrative employee at a metal refinery into an internationally recognized environmental activist. After her own son and many local children fell ill, Phyllis exposed deadly lead poisoning in the slums of Owino Uhuru, Mombasa, taking on a powerful international corporation and her government. Her journey is a testament to courage, persistence, and the power of community, illustrating how one mother’s fight can spark change—and save lives.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Beginning: A Mother’s Worst Fear

• Setting the Scene: Phyllis is a single mother and newly hired admin/HR head at Metal Refinery, a lead smelting plant in the slum of Owino Uhuru, near Mombasa, Kenya (05:57).
• Early Concerns: Despite attractive pay and benefits, Phyllis feels something is off: pungent smells, stinging eyes, sulfur in the air (06:54).
• Environmental Assessment: She commissions an expert, who deems the refinery’s impact on health and environment dangerously negative—especially in its chosen location (07:19).

"The negative impacts of the company far outweighed the positive in terms of environmental and health impact to the community."
—Phyllis Omido (07:19)

The Community’s Suffering

• First Signs: Residents complain of toxic air and metallic-tasting water. Children cough at night; river is contaminated (07:50).
• Visible Damage: Lead dust is everywhere—even on playgrounds. Children like Kelvin suffer burns from chemical waste (08:35).
• Scientific Proof: Kelvin’s blood test confirms lead poisoning at 35 micrograms/deciliter—7x over the “danger” threshold. Subsequent tests show alarming rises (09:28).
• Company Inaction: When Phyllis presents this evidence, her bosses dismiss her concerns and instruct her to keep quiet (10:15).

"I assumed that if I presented these reports to the managers that they would be receptive...But they immediately told me to stop what I was doing."
—Phyllis Omido (10:15)

Personal Impact: Phyllis’s Son Falls Ill

• Family in Crisis: Three months into her job, Phyllis’s own son suffers mysterious fevers, dehydration, and hospitalization (02:21, 10:56).
• A Friend’s Clue: A visiting friend suggests testing for lead poisoning, which comes back positive at dangerous levels (02:58–03:18).
• No Medical Answers: Doctors in Kenya are untrained and unequipped to treat lead poisoning (03:35).
• Self-Education: Phyllis researches treatments herself, learning that nutrition (milk, bananas) can help lower blood lead (11:10).

"If a doctor tells you that, you know, it kills everything in you, it shatters everything in you. But it also motivated me to start doing my own research."
—Phyllis Omido (03:46)

Widening the Investigation

• Testing Other Children: Ten more children are tested; all are positive for lead poisoning (11:49).
• Women’s Health Crisis: Infertility, miscarriages, and maternal deaths become common. One woman dies a week after childbirth; another loses her womb (13:03–13:57).

"She carried her baby to term and she gave birth. Exactly one week after giving birth, she died because her lead levels were too high."
—Phyllis Omido (13:34)

From Employee to Activist

• Rejection and Bribery: The company offers Phyllis money not to share her findings—she accepts for her son's treatment but doesn’t sign a non-disclosure (12:05).
• Founding an NGO: Phyllis quits and establishes the Center for Justice, Governance, and Environmental Action to fight for environmental justice (12:05).
• Widespread Poisoning: Testing reveals 90% of 100+ local children have dangerous lead levels (12:38).

Grief, Outrage, and Determination

• Personal Connection: Phyllis tells the story of Sami, a local boy who dies painfully from lead exposure (18:40–21:17).
• Obstruction: The hospital blocks access to Sami’s medical files, compounding grief and frustration (21:17).

"The acid from the chimneys had completely damaged his skin, so that at the point of death, Sami's skin was not able to hold on to his body."
—Phyllis Omido (21:13)

Taking on the System

• Official Apathy: Phyllis writes to environmental and government agencies (NEMA, Parliament, Senate), enclosing children’s blood test results—responses are dismissive or nonexistent (22:03).
• Women Lead the Fight: With most men employed by the smelter, women drive community organizing and activism (22:49).
• Violent Retaliation: During a 2012 protest, police violently suppress the demonstration, destroying homes; Phyllis and others are jailed overnight (23:18–24:44).
• Solidarity: The community spends the night outside the jail in support, cementing Phyllis’s transformation into an “environmental activist” (25:02).

"That was the first time that I actually accepted my role as an environmental activist."
—Phyllis Omido (25:26)

Legislative Victory and Retaliation

• National Attention: Parliamentary visits yield even worse lead readings (up to 420 micrograms/deciliter)—government continues licensing more smelters (25:40).
• Threats & Intimidation: Phyllis narrowly escapes an attack by armed men outside her home; she realizes the risks of activism (27:13–29:31).
• Strategic Pivot: She targets the refinery’s exports, working to ban the exportation of lead and lead alloys, leading to the port confiscating shipments (30:22).

"Instead of stop poisoning people, it became stop exporting our precious resources—and boom."
—Anna Sinfield (30:43)

Closure, Compensation, and Ongoing Struggle

• Refinery Closure: Export ban devastates the company; the plant shuts down in 2014 (30:43).
• Legal Battle: Courts order $12 million in compensation and $7 million for environmental remediation. Government appeals, but in December 2024, the Supreme Court upholds the verdict (31:15).
• Delayed Justice: Compensation is not yet paid; Phyllis presses on (32:08–34:18).

"Maybe then I can consider resting, but I'm not sure, because there are many other challenges."
—Phyllis Omido (34:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the impact of seeing Kelvin’s suffering:
  "When you walked on the playground, you could see particles of lead... You would feel these particles landing onto your skin. You would see them in the air."
  —Phyllis Omido (08:35)

• On the official response:
  "They were ready to defend themselves against any accusations... and that they were not privy to what I was accusing them of."
  —Phyllis Omido (22:03)

• On solidarity and hope:
  "The courthouse was packed with members of the community... when the judge said, ‘Phyllis Omido, the environmental activist.’ And that was the first time I actually accepted my role."
  —Phyllis Omido (25:02, 25:26)

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Important Timestamps for Key Segments

• Phyllis’s son hospitalized, lead poisoning discovered: 02:21–03:18
• Early signs from the community, air and water contamination: 07:50–08:27
• Kelvin’s poisoning and the shocking test results: 08:47–09:34
• Company’s denial and bribe: 10:15–12:05
• Stories of miscarriages and maternal deaths: 13:03–13:57
• Loss of Sami and hospital obstruction: 18:40–21:25
• Police attack and activist awakening: 23:18–25:26
• Parliamentary tests, export ban, and factory closure: 25:40–30:43
• Legal victory and reflections on “winning”: 31:15–33:11
• Phyllis’s ongoing fight: 34:18

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Episode Tone

The episode is urgent, empathetic, and inspiring. Anna Sinfield offers compassionate narration, while Phyllis’s voice alternates between weary grief and fierce determination. The theme is clear: the blurry line between victim and hero, and the toll—and triumph—of refusing to give up.

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Closing Reflections

Phyllis’s story is emblematic of the countless women who fight, against all odds, for their communities and their children. Her journey from tragedy to activism, from personal crisis to a national movement, is both heartbreaking and galvanizing—a reminder that activism can start with a mother’s love, and wind up changing the world.

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For Listeners

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or environmental injustice, support is available at NO MORE.

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For more remarkable stories of women fighting for justice, listen to The Girlfriends: Spotlight—where women win.

Transcript

[Phyllis Omido]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Kal Penn]

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[Phyllis Omido]

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[Anna Sinfield]

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[Phyllis Omido]

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[Phyllis Omido]

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[Anna Sinfield]

Hey, girlfriends. This episode includes some discussions of violence and infant death. But you'll also hear from the woman who risked everything to save an entire village, who all started to fall ill. She's amazing.

[Phyllis Omido]

So about three or four months into my job, my son started having fevers. Of course, here in Kenya, when a child has fevers, you test for malaria, typhoid, you know, tropical diseases.

[Anna Sinfield]

Phyllis's son is getting sicker by the day. But the doctors can't figure out what's wrong with him. Phyllis is terrified.

[Phyllis Omido]

Eventually he had to be hospitalized because he had lost a lot of water, was becoming dehydrated. His eyes were watery. He had become very weak.

[Anna Sinfield]

Then one day, a friend visits Phyllis at the hospital and asks an unexpected question.

[Phyllis Omido]

Phyllis, have you tested for lead poisoning? I asked him why. He said, but we see you with your son at the office almost every day. You have your son in the office with you. Don't you think he could be exposed to lead poisoning?

[Anna Sinfield]

Lead poisoning wasn't even on the doctor's radar. So they sent her son's blood work to South Africa for testing.

[Phyllis Omido]

When the blood work came back, he tested positive for lead poisoning.

[Anna Sinfield]

The numbers are shocking. 35 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. The World Health Organization says anything above 3.5 for children is dangerous.

[Phyllis Omido]

But what was most terrifying is the fact that these pediatricians told me that the hospitals were not equipped to test or to manage lead poisoning.

[Anna Sinfield]

For Phyllis, this is beyond alarming.

[Phyllis Omido]

They were not trained, so they didn't know what to do. So if a doctor tells you that, you know, it kills everything in you, it shatters everything in you. But it also motivated me to start doing my own research on what is lead poisoning and how I could address it.

[Anna Sinfield]

This has not come out of the blue. You see, Phyllis works at a metal smelting plant in her local town. For months, she's been trying to tell her bosses that she believes their factory may be poisoning.

[Phyllis Omido]

The I interacted with the community, and they told me that they had noticed that the air had become very toxic. They could not breathe. The water that seeped from the industry into the river had changed the taste of the water. It tasted metallic.

[Anna Sinfield]

But the company won't listen. She says, and now her own child has been poisoned.

[Phyllis Omido]

Then I realized I was the only one who could save my son.

[Anna Sinfield]

Phyllis is about to begin a fight that will make her the enemy of an entire industry, one that will go to great lengths to keep their dirty little secret under the radar. The question is, how much is Phyllis willing to risk to save the community?

[Phyllis Omido]

Foreign.

[Anna Sinfield]

I'm Anna Sinfield, and from the teams At Novel and iHeart podcasts, this is the Girlfriend Spotlight, where we tell stories of women winning. Today, Phyllis saves the people from poisoning. It's 2009. Phyllis Amido is a single mother looking for a fresh start in Mombasa, Kenya.

[Phyllis Omido]

I was a young girl at that time, very young, recently moved from upcountry and I got the job as admin and human resource, and therefore I was in charge of, you know, licensing and all that in the organization the company.

[Anna Sinfield]

Hiring Phyllis is called metal refinery. Since 2007, it's run a smelting factory recycling lead acid batteries in the village of Owino Uhuru, just outside Mombasa. Owino Uhuru is a small place with a few thousand residents. It's often described as a slum.

[Phyllis Omido]

Of course, I was offered a very good pay. I was given a car, and for me, those were really big incentives. And of course, it was an opportunity to give my son a better life. And my siblings were also depending on.

[Anna Sinfield]

Me from day one. Something doesn't feel right about this job.

[Phyllis Omido]

Even sitting in the office, you realize that there was a really pungent smell. I was lucky because my office had an ac, so I would go in and close the door, but still there would be that, you know, your eyes are stinging. There is a smell of sulphur.

[Anna Sinfield]

One of Phyllis's first tasks is to complete something called an environmental impact assessment. So she brings in an expert to assess how the refinery is operating.

[Phyllis Omido]

The expert advised me that the negative impacts of the company far outweighed the positive in terms of environmental and health impact to the community, the workers. He told me that the location of this melter was wrong, that it needed to be moved. And that is when I first actually absorbed and understood the magnitude of what this meant for us.

[Anna Sinfield]

And am I right in thinking that you spoke to some of the other women who lived locally and they'd also noticed some problems?

[Phyllis Omido]

Yes. So part of my work also was public relations. I interacted with the community, and they told me that they had noticed that the air had become very toxic. They could not breathe. The children were coughing at night. The water that seeped from the air industry into the river had changed the taste of the water in the river, that it tasted, you know, bitter, it tasted metallic. And so they had their own suspicion already that something was going wrong. But we did not have any scientific proof that something was actually wrong at that point.

[Anna Sinfield]

Even walking around the town of Uino Uhuru, right next to the factory, Phyllis could immediately see things are not right.

[Phyllis Omido]

When you walked on the playground, you could see particles of lead on the playground. When you walked into the community, you would feel these particles landing onto your skin. You would see them in the air.

[Anna Sinfield]

And then she meets Kelvin.

[Phyllis Omido]

Kelvin was a lovely little boy. He was very naughty. He loved to play football. He's an orphan living with his grandmother, and his grandmother really doted over Kelphin a lot. Unfortunately, one time when Kelvin was playing football on the playground, he was trying to catch the Ball and he stepped into the affluent living metal refinery and it completely burned his foot.

[Anna Sinfield]

Toxic waste from the smelting plant was seeping into the soil in the children's playground. While Kelvin's being treated at the local clinic, Phyllis decides to get his blood tested for lead poisoning.

[Phyllis Omido]

It was, I think around 35 at the time that we tested. 35 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood.

[Anna Sinfield]

And what should be your lead levels in your blood?

[Phyllis Omido]

Anything above 5 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood is indicative of lead poisoning. So he had 35 as a child. So that was alarming. But the sad thing was that we tested him after three months and it went up to 37. And then we test again, it went up, up to 40 something. So his blood lead levels kept going higher and higher when metal refinery was open.

[Anna Sinfield]

Armed with this evidence, the breathing problems, the metallic tasting water, the burns, Phyllis schedules an urgent meeting with her managers.

[Phyllis Omido]

I was very alarmed at what I had found and I had assumed that if I presented these reports to the managers that they would be receptive and immediately look to protect life, not just the environment, but the life of the community. But they immediately told me to stop what I was doing, that this would be given to one of the expatriate managers who would deal with it, and that I should just concentrate on human resource.

[Anna Sinfield]

Did you get the impression that they already knew that this was happening?

[Phyllis Omido]

Yes, I got the impression that they already knew.

[Anna Sinfield]

And then comes the moment that changes everything.

[Phyllis Omido]

So about three or four months into my job, my son started having fevers. They hospitalized him, they put him on a trip.

[Anna Sinfield]

He's diagnosed with lead poisoning, and Phyllis decides to take matters into her own hands.

[Phyllis Omido]

I would read day and night about incidents of lead poisoning, how they are managed. I got as much information as I could. How do I best help these children? And that is exactly what I started to do.

[Anna Sinfield]

At the hospital, the doctors aren't addressing the root cause, they're just treating her son's symptoms. So after a few weeks, he's discharged and it's Phyllis who reads up on how to reduce his blood lead levels. Things like drinking lots of milk, eating bananas, because foods with lots of calcium help to displace the lead. Phyllis meets with her bosses again to tell them that her son is being poisoned.

[Phyllis Omido]

And not only that, I had then tested 10 children from the community and all 10 had tested positive for lead poisoning. I think I had hoped that they would feel, you know, ashamed and do something about it, you know, Phyllis says.

[Anna Sinfield]

The company offered her money in return for an agreement that she wouldn't disclose anything she had discovered. She told me she took the money, she needed it for her son's treatment. But she didn't sign their silence agreement. Instead, she quits her job and starts her own organization, the center for Justice, Governance and Environmental Action, a nonprofit fighting for environmental justice. She starts to look deeper into what's happening to people in a We know a whoroo.

[Phyllis Omido]

The most affected, of course, were children because they play in the soil. We tested over 100 children. 90% of them tested positive for lead poisoning. But also the women paid the most severe consequences in getting to know the.

[Anna Sinfield]

Community, Phyllis meets a local woman, a 24 year old newlywed who is desperate to have children.

[Phyllis Omido]

But every time she got pregnant, she would miscarry and miscarry. She got five miscarriages.

[Anna Sinfield]

Phyllis says she warned the woman to stop trying to get pregnant.

[Phyllis Omido]

You have to stop because you have high lead levels in your body. I think 272 micrograms of lead in her blood. And I told her it's not going to happen. You have to stop. And she kept insisting that she had faith that she could carry this child.

[Anna Sinfield]

And eventually things do go differently for her.

[Phyllis Omido]

She carried her baby to term and she gave birth. Exactly one week after giving birth, she died because her lead levels were too high. Her blood could not pump her intestine. She died. She left her child. I went to test him at birth. He was born positive for lead poisoning.

[Anna Sinfield]

Then Phyllis meets another woman.

[Phyllis Omido]

She got pregnant. The child died in her womb. By the time we got her to hospital, her womb was completely destroyed. Because the child could not survive, her womb was removed. So she's unable to give birth ever again because of the high lead levels in her blood.

[Anna Sinfield]

The true horrors of what's really happening around the factory are coming to light. After the break, Phyllis takes her fight to a national level and raises all hell.

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You know what?

[Phyllis Omido]

I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

[Commercial Announcer]

You got a little Colin Firth.

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[Anna Sinfield]

Piece by piece was really surprising because.

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[Anna Sinfield]

Phyllis is horrified by what she has discovered around metal refinery smelting factory in Oweno Uhuru. Local people are struggling to breathe. Children burned as they play. Babies lost before birth. Brand new mothers dying. The levels of lead in their blood simply too high to survive. She hears heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story.

[Phyllis Omido]

These women deserved better than what they got from both the state and you know, the corporation that set up shop.

[Anna Sinfield]

One story in particular haunts Phyllis.

[Phyllis Omido]

I'll tell you about the first time.

[Anna Sinfield]

That I met Sami, a local 5 year old boy she got to know.

[Phyllis Omido]

I asked Sami in our Kenyan dialect, Swahili. I asked him, sami, how are your loved ones? Which is a normal greeting. And Sami said, I don't love anyone. I love you only. And of course, I fell in love with with Sami at that point. He had my total heart. And from that time I nicknamed him I love you only in Swahili. And I called Sami Niwewe too. It's only you.

[Anna Sinfield]

Sami's been breathing in lead particles every day of his young life. The dust and smoke, what the locals call acid rain from the factory's chimneys, has burnt his skin so badly that it's literally peeling off. He's in and out of hospital constantly.

[Phyllis Omido]

And when Sami was hospitalized this time, I knew that it was a bit serious. And after I finished my work, I had planned to see Sami, but I was not able to see Sammy. So I went home and his mother called me at night and asked, are you going to be able to come and see Sammy? And I said, no, let me talk to Sami. And I was on phone and he asked, are you coming for me? I said, yes. Are you bringing the car to pick me? And I said, yes, all you need to do for me is get better and I'll bring the car to pick you from hospital. And I asked him, are you going to get better? I said, yes, I'm going to get better. So I said, okay, fine, you get better. Tomorrow is another day. I'll pass by and see you.

[Anna Sinfield]

At 2am, Phyllis gets a call from Sammy's mum.

[Phyllis Omido]

I picked the call and I asked her, catherine, are you okay? Is Sammy okay? And she told me, Sammy has left us. And I did not understand how Sammy has left us. I said, what do you mean Sami has left us? She said, sami is gone. Sami is gone. He's not breathing. I told him, don't move him, don't move his body, because I don't believe that Sami has died. Don't do anything until I get there. So I drove and went to hospital and Sammy was there on the bed, but Sammy was gone. Sami was dead. The acid from the chimneys had completely damaged his skin, so that at the point of death, Sami's skin was not able to hold on to his body. If you touched him, the skin would come off. So he died a very painful death. There's nothing that anyone would have done to bring him back at that point.

[Anna Sinfield]

In the midst of her grief, Phyllis tries to get Sammy's medical files as evidence, but the hospital flat out refuses.

[Phyllis Omido]

Maybe one day we'll manage to get through. Maybe a Court order or something to get Sammy's file out.

[Anna Sinfield]

I hope you do. Sammy sounds like a really wonderful little boy.

[Phyllis Omido]

He was really cute. I'll send you a picture afterwards.

[Anna Sinfield]

Everything Phyllis sees in a we know Hooru, every tragedy she witnesses makes her more angry. And the lack of concern from the company behind all the suffering just makes her more determined to act. She starts writing letters first to Kenya's National Environmental Management Authority, Nima.

[Phyllis Omido]

I enclosed the results of the children that were sick and told them that that something was critically wrong. They needed to take a second look. And the reaction, the first letter they wrote to me was that they were ready to defend themselves against any accusations that I brought against them and that they were not privy to what I was accusing them of. And I wrote back and said, I'm not accusing you. I'm telling you that children are falling sick and I've given you proof.

[Anna Sinfield]

She writes to government officials, agencies, basically anyone who might listen to every single letter includes those devastating blood test results. But the response, crickets. It's time to get the community involved.

[Phyllis Omido]

At first, I worked with the women mostly because they are the ones who were awake and alive to what was going on. Unfortunately, most of the men were employed inside the smelter. So when I started this, mostly it's the women that went with me, it's the women that sat on the committees. It is the women that, you know, worked with me that journey.

[Anna Sinfield]

In 2012, Phyllis organizes a mass demonstration, but things go very wrong.

[Phyllis Omido]

So I was in the community, you know, mobilizing, asking the women to come out, some of the men also to join us. The kids were playing and everything. And then suddenly there were loud bangs and there was police everywhere. There was tear gas. And they kept asking, where is this woman? Where is this woman? Where is Phyllis? And so I came out and said, I'm here, I'm here.

[Anna Sinfield]

She does not expect what happens next.

[Phyllis Omido]

They dragged me, they were pulling me and, you know, beating me. I lost my shoes. By the time they got me to the road from the community, I had no shoes. They made me sit down there and then they made me watch the most horrific scene in my life because they started going door to door, breaking the houses.

[Anna Sinfield]

People in Owinohuru usually earn maybe 2, $3 a day, barely enough for food and sustenance. And the police go in and completely destroy all their belongings. It's clearly designed to break Phyllis's spirit and send a message to anyone thinking of supporting her.

[Phyllis Omido]

And they made me sit there for almost six hours as they did this, and of course, people ran away, they fled because they had never seen anything like this. And so I was arrested. Together with 16 other community members, Phyllis.

[Anna Sinfield]

Spends the night in a police cell. When the morning comes, she discovers something heartwarming. The entire community has spent the night sleeping outside the police station waiting for her. When the police take her to the courthouse the next morning, everyone follows.

[Phyllis Omido]

And the courthouse was packed with members of the community. And when they read my name, when the judge said, phyllis Omido, the environmental activist. And I accepted that, yes, my name is Phyllis Omido. I'm an environmental activist. And that was the first time that I actually accepted my role as an environmental activist.

[Anna Sinfield]

That's the moment Phyllis is no longer just a worried mum or a whistleblowing employee. She's officially a thorn in the government's side. She starts community petitions and pushes those all the way to the Kenyan Parliament.

[Phyllis Omido]

Of course, the parliamentarians came from Nairobi. They came to the community. They did their own tests, and they got very horrific results. Worse than what I got. They got up to 420 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood.

[Anna Sinfield]

Remember, the Safe level is 3.5 for children. This is 420.

[Phyllis Omido]

So we wrote a petition to Parliament, and then we wrote a petition to Senate. They both came, did their own investigation, removed their own reports, but nobody was bothering within government how to get justice. These smelters were still operating. In fact, at that time, they had even licensed more smelters in Mombasa. We had three smelters in Mombasa at that time.

[Anna Sinfield]

All this noise is definitely getting attention. Unfortunately, not the kind Phyllis was hoping for, because being labeled an activist has painted a big target on her back. After the break, Phyllis has her closest call. One evening, Phyllis is walking home from church with her young son.

[Phyllis Omido]

It was getting a bit dark, and when I got home, as I was opening the gate, there were two men that were standing there. So I just said, hi, and I proceeded to open the gate. I assumed maybe they were watchmen from the neighbors or they were just passerbys, but they moved close to me, and they had guns. And I put my hands up, like to surrender, because this is what we see in the movies. And I'd never experienced something like this. So I put my hands up. He hit me and said, put your hands down. So I put my hands down, and they started, you know, roughing me up. One of them said, we are told you are standing up to men in this society. And I said, no, I'm not Standing up to any man. I'm from church right now, there's nothing I've done.

[Anna Sinfield]

At first, Phyllis thinks maybe they just want to rob her.

[Phyllis Omido]

One hit me and said, you are very rude. Said, you think you know too much. You think you know too much. That's why you are standing up to people in this society. I realized then that these people are not thieves, eh? They are not just armed robbers or something. These people had been sent by someone.

[Anna Sinfield]

To intimidate her for her activism.

[Phyllis Omido]

So I told them, okay, I'm here. I promise you, I'm not going to run. I'm not going to do anything, allow my son to go inside. I'll stay here, then you do whatever you want with me.

[Anna Sinfield]

The two men start arguing with each other about what to do with her son.

[Phyllis Omido]

I opened the gate, pushed my son in. I locked it, and then I threw the key inside. I think that even aggravated him more. So he hit me, and I fell now on the floor so my head was down, and I could hear my son screaming. And I was very afraid because I thought maybe they would shoot through the gate and shoot my son, you know? And I kept trying to get their attention to me and not to my son. I kept, you know, trying to talk and, you know, telling them, I'm here. Just you do whatever you want. Leave my son alone.

[Anna Sinfield]

And then, like something out of a movie, her neighbor's car pulls up. The headlights hit the scene like a spotlight.

[Phyllis Omido]

And he was. I think he was drunk at that time. And he was asking, mama King, why are you sleeping? Why are you on the floor?

[Anna Sinfield]

You couldn't script it. Phyllis's drunk neighbor stumbles onto the scene and scares the attackers off.

[Phyllis Omido]

They ran and left us there. And so I went inside. I picked my son. I told my neighbor, please, please drive me to my friend's place.

[Anna Sinfield]

That night changes everything for Phyllis. She packs up her life, takes her son, and leaves Mombasa for good. All because she dared to speak up about children being poisoned. And still, she says, metal refinery, the international corporation behind all this suffering, won't listen. The government won't act. It's time for plan B. Phyllis and her team at the center for Justice, Governance and Environmental Action find another way to stop the factory. They pressure the Kenyan government into passing.

[Phyllis Omido]

A vital law, a legislation that banned the export of lead and lead alloys. Because what they were doing was they were smelting and exporting pure lead out of the country. So they were unable to export because then we got the port police to start impounding any containers containing lead leaving the port of Mombasa, they flipped the whole argument.

[Anna Sinfield]

Instead of stop poisoning people, it became stop exporting our precious resources and boom. No more exports, no more business. The police start to impound any containers with metal refinery products at the port. And this makes the company lose a lot of money. So much so that the factory shuts down in 2014. But Phyllis isn't done yet.

[Phyllis Omido]

The court compelled them to pay US$12 million in compensation to the community and US$7 million as finance for cleaning up the remediating the environment in oonohuru. Unfortunately, in 2020, the government appealed against the judgment. So we went to the Court of Appeal and we lost. The Court of Appeal told us to go back and start the case afresh at the environment and Land Court. But we knew that it was largely because of corruption, not because our case was weak. So we appealed to the Supreme Court, and In December of 2024, we won the case at the Supreme Court and they reinstated the award that was given at the environment and Land Court. So as we stand now, the is supposed to pay the Onohuru community.

[Anna Sinfield]

As we're recording this, that money still hasn't reached the families in a we know who. But Phyllis isn't giving up. The work you've done has spanned such a long, you know, span of time, and you've been fighting against a lot, and people have been fighting back against you. Is there any particular moment that stands out as a real time when you thought, I've won? Do you ever feel that?

[Phyllis Omido]

Yes, the first time that metal refinery closed down, you know, we had tried many times. Nema would shut them down for a week, reopen, shut them down for a month, reopen. So when we impounded their containers, when we got the police to impound their containers and they closed down by themselves, that was the first time that we felt, hey, we are winning. Maybe we are winning. And that was a real victory for us.

[Anna Sinfield]

Yeah, I bet. And the court case, when you finally heard that verdict and it was a win, how did you feel then?

[Phyllis Omido]

Of course, we celebrated. I don't think we slept that night. We were in the community the whole night, you know, just dancing and, you know, playing music. Because for us, we didn't believe that we could get this far and that we would win this case. And then we won.

[Anna Sinfield]

Phyllis's journey is remarkable. A single mother who started as an admin assistant just beat the government and six state agencies and two companies in court. That's really David and Goliath territory. Today, Phyllis is an internationally recognized environmental activist. The metal refinery that poisoned her community, gone. All thanks to her. And it all started when she first saw Kelvin, that little boy who burned his foot from the lead deposits in the water. Well, Kelvin is now in his final year of high school. Still fighting, still moving forward. Will you ever be able to rest?

[Phyllis Omido]

I've been telling myself that once there were no whole communities compensated and we do a big memorial for Sami. You know, Sami's mother died after that because she also had very high lead levels in her blood. I've been telling myself that once we have compensated the community, that we have ensured that the community is remediated. Maybe then I can consider resting, but I'm not sure because there are many other challenges.

[Anna Sinfield]

Thank you to Phyllis for telling us her incredible story. You know, life isn't easy for her. She still faces security threats from the powerful people she stands up to. So I'm beyond grateful that she made time for this conversation. If you've enjoyed this conversation, you can find loads more incredible women on our feed. Do check them out and please do spread the word and tell your friends about us. We want as many people as possible to be part of the Girlfriends Gang. Next time on the girlfriends spotlight. Ms. Sahara crowns queens.

[Phyllis Omido]

I'm tall, I'm 511 on heels, I'm 6 foot 3, but I really don't care. This is who I am. We all come into this world to contribute in one way or the other and that makes us beautiful.

[Anna Sinfield]

This season we're supporting the charity Womankind Worldwide. They do amazing work to help women's rights organizations and movements to strengthen and grow. If you'd like to find out more or donate to help them secure equal rights for women and girls across the globe, you can go to womankind.org UK the Girlfriend Spotlight is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit Novel Audio. The show is hosted by me, Anna Sinfield. This episode was written and produced by Al Shubani with additional production and story finding by Maddie Hickish. Our researcher is Zeana Youssef. The editor is Hannah Marshall. Max o' Brien and Craig Strachan are our executive producers. Production management from Joe Savage, Cherie Houston and Charlotte Wolf. Sound design, mixing and scoring by Nicholas Alexander and Daniel Kempson. Music supervision by Jake Otyvich, Nicholas Alexander and Anna Sinfield. Original music composed by Louisa Gerstein and Gemma Freeman. The series artwork was designed by Christina Lemkuhl. Willard Foxton is creative Director of development. Special thanks to Katrina Norville, Carrie Lieberman and Will Pearson at iHeart Podcasts, as well as Carly, Frank Frankel and the whole team at wme.

[Kal Penn]

Hey audiobook lovers, I'm Cal Penn. I'm Ed Helms. Ed and I are inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with our new podcast, Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Each week we sit down with your favorite iHeart podcast hosts and some very special guests to discuss the latest and greatest audiobooks from Audible, listen to hearsay on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow earsay and start listening on the free iHeartradio app today. Ah, greetings from my bath festive friends. The holidays are overwhelming, but I'm tackling this season with PayPal and making them most of my money getting 5% cash back when I pay in 4. No fees, no interest. I used it to get this portable spa with jets. Now the bubbles can cling to my sculpted but pruny body. Make the most of your money this holiday with PayPal. Save the offer in the app ends 12:31 see paypal.com promoter points can be redeemed for cash and more paying for subject to terms and approval. PayPal Inc. And MLS 910457 this is Julian Edelman from Games With Names Fantasy football can be exhausting. I mean that literally. You're so anxious over your lineup you can't fall asleep. Best way to deal with it is unisom. There's a reason it's the number one doctor recommended over the counter sleep aid brand. It helps you fall asleep faster, wake up less and feel refreshed in the morning. Plus, unisom sleep tabs are clinically tested and proven, effective and completely non habit forming. So make the ultimate sleeper pick and put it to bed with unisom. Use as directed. Ford was built on the belief that the world doesn't get to decide what you're capable of. You do. So ask yourself. Can you or can't you? Can you load up a Ford F150 and build your dream with sweat and steel? Can you chase thrills and conquer curves in a Mustang?

[Anna Sinfield]

Can you?

[Kal Penn]

You take a Bronco to where the map ends and adventure begins. Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. Ready, set, Forward.

[Phyllis Omido]

This is an iHeart podcast.