KENYA: Slum Dwellers: Covid-19 Pandemic Has Worsened Our Situation
Michael Mungai receiving food from Christ the King Parish Social worker Rose Juma
Rose Achiego
Since March 2020 when the first case of Coronavirus was announced in the country, life for many slum dwellers has become tougher as they can no longer get some of the under-table jobs that they used to do.
A team from the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) – Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) and Archdiocese of Nairobi Caritas Office has established that people in Kibera are greatly affected by Covid-19 pandemic.
Through the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD), the Church provided support to 75 households in three parishes that serve the extensive informal settlement of Kibera – St. Michael Otiende, Christ the King and Guadalupe.
The neediest families comprising members who are either physically challenged or terminally ill, received a basket each containing cooking oil, flour, sugar, green grams and soap per month for three consecutive months.
Expressing gratitude to the Church for its support, Christ the King parishioner Michael Mungai who is visually challenged said his hope for survival was renewed when he realized he could still get food despite churches remaining closed and people no longer bringing gifts as they used to before the pandemic.
“When the Coronavirus pandemic started around March 2020, people no longer came to church and this meant the support we used to get from the congregation was no more,” he said. “There is a time when I would stay in the house with my wife and two children without food. I thank God for the support that we have gotten, and may God bless you.”
As for Sheila Musimbi, a single mother of three from St Michael Otiende Parish, the casual laundry jobs she used to do have dried up as the people she worked for no longer contact her for fear of contracting Coronavirus.
“I, however, have not lost hope in life,” says Sheila. “I always knew God would pull me through. While struggling to sell deep fried potatoes, a business that currently has accumulated a debt of USD 70, the Sister-In-Charge of social work in our parish called and said there was food that I was to be given. I was so delighted.”
The food program for the neediest has, however, come to an end although the need for food is still great as COVID-19 continues to devastate the world. Because of some of the containment measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 by Kenya’s Ministry of Health, many people have lost their jobs as businesses and schools remain closed and it is still unclear when they will be allowed to resume operations.
