This archive report was first published on 21 April 2020.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect thousands of Kenyans, a community initiative in Kibera has come up with a unique way to help the poor.
Launched last month, Adopt a Family is an initiative by several well-off individuals to support families in need in the informal settlement.
One of the beneficiaries of the initiative is Vivian Okumu, a 25-year-old hairdresser who has been struggling to make ends meet since the pandemic struck.
Ms Okumu, who is the breadwinner of a family of six, including her sickly mother who suffers from diabetes and asthma, says she barely has enough to eat.
“Most of us here barely have anything to eat. There are days we go without food, hoping that the next day will be better,” she says.
Thanks to Adopt a Family, Ms Okumu and her family are now receiving support from a stranger who has adopted them.
The initiative, which was launched by Moses Omondi, a 38-year-old community mobiliser, has so far supported 90 families in Kibera.
Mr Omondi, who was born and raised in Kibera, says he was motivated to start the initiative after receiving numerous calls and texts from people who wanted help during the pandemic.
“After the call by the government for people to stay at home, promote social distancing and reduce physical contact, I started to receive numerous calls and texts from people that wanted help,” he says.
Under the Adopt a Family initiative, families in need are identified and vetted, and then linked with helpers who provide them with at least Sh1,500 every week for their upkeep.
Mr Alex Waiganjo, an IT professional, is one of the people who have adopted a family in Kibera through the initiative.
He says he was motivated to help after seeing a tweet requesting people to come out and help the needy families.
“I consider myself lucky that, being in the IT field, I can work conveniently from home, so the pandemic has not hit me as hard as most of my friends. Furthermore, although I have dependants, the responsibilities are not as much because I don’t have a family of my own,” he says.
