The Dawning Reality of COVID-19 Pandemic

Tears, sad faces, and malnourished bodies welcome us to Jeniffer Lukoye's house in Nairobi's Dandora slum. She is a woman in distress, following the current situation that has grown drastically from an epidemic to a pandemic, rendering her jobless, hopeless, and frustrated.

Lack of enough food for the family sounds like a luxury, compared to spending the night and day on an empty stomach, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the country and the world at large on their knees.

The closure of learning institutions by the government placed a hot nail on her fresh wound. She now has nine mouths to feed, despite living from hand to mouth, before the pandemic. Two of her children were also rendered jobless, and her husband works as a casual laborer to make ends meet reports to work on countable occasions, due to strict measures on social distancing that was installed by the government.

"I am a woman in distress. This pandemic has made me loose hope and trust in everything, including God. I am hopeless. I moved from living from hand to mouth to spending most of my days on an empty stomach. My grandchildren are malnourished since they don't eat a balanced diet," said Jenifer.

Not knowing any other best way to express their feelings, the children are always in tears demanding food, currently a rare commodity in the homestead. On a lucky day, they can afford two meals a day, and it does not count whether they adhere to nutritional value or not; of importance is to ease the discomfort caused by hunger.

 She can no longer seek help from relatives since movement is restricted, and each day presents its challenges. Running out of options, Jennifer made a call to the Nairobi Family Hope Centre, seeking help for her current need, which was food.

Bearing in mind the current hard economic times, Buckner Kenya's Nairobi Family Hope Centre, responded immediately to her situation and offered her food for the family. Jennifer received three packets of manna packs, three parcels of maize flour, and two packages of green grams as a short-term solution to the prevailing circumstance. Members of her family could not hold but bear the tears of joy that rolled down their cheeks, upon the foodstuff's receipt. Her grandchildren were overwhelmed by the fact that they will have something to eat, not just for the day, but weeks to come.

"I am very greatful to Buckner Kenya for providing me with food. I am glad that my family has something to eat, after spending days on an empty stomach. Most of us had lost hope in life, but your help has revealed to us that their is light at the end of the tunnel and our future is bright," said Jeniffer.

Buckner Nairobi Family Hope Centre is optimistic that Jeniffer's family will acquire good health as they try to make lemonades from lemons.