IDRISI AZIZA OYIELA

Idrisi Aziza Oyiela was born in 1955 in the village of Buchocho, Kakamega County. She was raised in a large family of fourteen children. Among her many siblings, only nine managed to survive into adulthood, leaving her to understand the weight of loss from an early age.

She never had the opportunity to attend school as a young girl. Instead of a formal education, she spent her childhood assisting her mother with heavy farm work. Her early years were defined by the labor of the fields and the responsibility of helping to raise her many younger siblings.

After her youth, she married and moved to the Joyland area of Lutonyi to start her own home. She eventually raised ten children, all of whom survived. However, due to the family's limited resources, her children only managed to reach an eighth-grade education before they were forced to seek casual work to help the household survive.

Life became exceptionally difficult for Idrisi, especially during the years leading up to her husband's passing at the age of 90. Even before his death, she was the sole provider because her husband was too elderly and frail to work. She struggled alone for many years, carrying the entire burden of putting food on the table for her large family.

She survived by selling small quantities of sweet potatoes at the local Kakamega market, though she often returned home with very little profit. During this period of her life, she and her family frequently slept hungry. The uncertainty of her small-scale trade meant that many nights were spent in quiet deprivation when the market was slow.

Her physical health suffered greatly as she developed painful arthritis and hypertension over the years. She also lives with permanent physical disabilities in her hand and leg following a violent encounter with criminals who struck her in the head. This injury left her with lasting mobility issues, making every step a painful struggle.

Her son, a local religious teacher, introduced her to the Mama Ibado program after witnessing her daily struggle to walk to the market in her fragile condition. Mama Ibado's field officers visited her home to confirm her vulnerability and officially registered her into the program on June 5, 2025.

"Before joining this program, the weight of providing for my family while in constant physical pain was a burden that often left us with nothing to eat. Now, the stress of where to get food has vanished, and I can use my remaining energy to manage my health and live with a sense of peace."

Today, Idrisi receives a monthly support package consisting of rice, sugar, milk, cooking oil, and flour. These supplies have provided her with a nutritional foundation that she could never afford through her market work alone. She also benefits from the health program, visiting the clinic every Thursday for check-ups to manage her hypertension and chronic pain.

She remains in urgent need of support because her physical disabilities and age make it impossible for her to sustain herself through any form of manual labor. Without this continued intervention, she would be unable to afford the food necessary for her survival or the medical attention required to manage her lifelong injuries.