KONZOLO NORAH LIONA

Konzolo Norah Liona sits quietly in her compound, gently cradling her young great-granddaughter, while her granddaughter Caroline Atieno prepares black tea over a small fire for breakfast.

Norah is partially blind and lives in a small two-room mud house with no electricity in the Shipalo area of Matopeni, fully relying on Caroline to cook and care for her.

She was born in 1930 into a family of ten children, where life was difficult from the very beginning. Over the years, all of her nine siblings passed away, leaving Norah as the sole surviving member of her birth family.

Due to the lack of opportunities and the hardship in her childhood village, Norah never went to school or stepped into a classroom. Instead, she spent her youth staying at home, performing heavy manual labor and doing casual jobs to help her parents survive.

Later in life, she got married to a man named Khalumba, and together they were blessed with ten children. To feed this large family, Norah and her husband worked endlessly as casual laborers, spending long days weeding and digging in other people's farms for tiny wages.

Her husband eventually managed to buy a tiny piece of land in the Matopeni area, which became their home. Life took a painful turn when four of her ten children passed away, and her husband also died, leaving her to face life alone.

The six surviving children grew up without any stability, never getting a proper education or formal employment. Today, they survive entirely on irregular, low-paying day labor jobs, which makes it impossible for them to support their elderly, blind mother.

Before getting any assistance, the family faced a severe hunger crisis, frequently going for days without a single meal. Norah and her family often slept on empty stomachs, with no energy left to search for work or food.

The turning point came when a village elder visited the home and witnessed the extreme level of poverty and suffering. Moved by her situation, he took her details and presented her case to the Mama Ibado Charity, which quickly enrolled her into the seniors' program on June 4, 2018.

Through the program, Norah now receives a regular supply of maize flour, cooking oil, sugar, milk, tea leaves, and salt. Caroline shares that this regular food supply has lifted an immense burden off their shoulders, allowing them to focus their limited energy on basic living costs rather than wondering where the next meal will come from.

"In the past, we suffered constantly and often went to bed hungry because we had absolutely no way to get food. Today, Mama Ibado has restored our dignity because we always have flour and milk in the house, and the stress of starvation is completely gone."

Despite this breakthrough, Norah still needs continuous help because her advanced age and blindness leave her completely dependent on others. Continued support ensures that she lives her remaining days in comfort, free from the threat of hunger and medical neglect.