FEED A CHILD PROGRAM IN GATWEKERA (KIBRA)
By Sam Dindi
The constitution of Kenya, 2010, states that every person has the right to be free from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable quality. Hunger and lack of access to food in urban informal settlements remains a challenge among the residents ten years after the promulgation of the 2010 constitution.
COVID-19 Virus has appeared to be easily transmitted in urban areas quickly because of a number of reasons like frequent contact between people in estates or the city centre. To counter the spread of the virus the Ministry of Health instituted a number of measures like the stay at home orders and movement in and out of urban areas like Nairobi and Mombasa have been restricted.
The restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 have had a negative economic impact on the urban poor who depend on daily wages to survive. Transport fare in matatus (Public transport) has doubled and most entities have scaled down operations and hence employ very few people or have closed down completely. These reasons have made people get stuck in their homes especially in places like Kibera.
Gatwekera Sub location makes one of the 11 sub-locations in Kibera sub county. Many of the residents are in Gatwekera are facing a dire economic situation since March when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Lack of jobs and a slump in economic activities has affected the house hold income of many families resulting to many either sleeping hungry or has a single meal day.
Maranatha Youth Group in Gatwekera were motivated to start “FEED A CHILD PROGRAM’’ after coming across children who would come to beg for left overs from strangers at a local food selling kiosk. This sad sight prompted the youth to fundraise the little money they had and bought rice, beans, cooking oil and fire wood and started off the initiative with 10Kgs of Rice and 8 Kgs of beans and it fed nearly 300 children on the first day.
The relief among the parents could be visibly seen in their faces and the children could be seen playing and are more energetic. The feed a child program is so far feeding 500 children under the age of 14 and it’s attracting more children. COVID-19 will not disappear any time soon and it’s impacts will continue to be felt. ‘Feed a child program’ needs to be sustained with nutrition packed foods to ensure the growth of these young children is not affected.
Maranatha youth group are calling for your support in ensuring no child in Kibera sleeps hungry as a result of COVID-19. You can support with food stuff or monetary to help keep the program running and expand to other sub-locations within Kibera Sub county. The right to be free from hunger as envisioned in the 2010 constitution should not be a mirage and COVID-19 should be a wake up call to all entities to ensure agriculture is prioritized and informal businesses are massively supported to ensure everyone has gainful employment to be able to cater for their needs
To support “FEED A CHILD PROGRAM by Maranatha Youth Group kindly reach out to Sam Dindi (0720698480) or send an email (sam.dindi@mazingira.net /smdindi@gmail.com)