MAHERO MARY OKWISA

Mahero Mary Okwisa was born on January 1, 1951, in the rural village of Kisa, Kakamega County. She grew up in a very large household where her parents raised nine children in total. Mary was the fifth child among her siblings.

During her childhood, she was unable to attend school because her father was unemployed at the time. She did not even step into a nursery school class.

Since she could not go to school, Mary spent her teenage years staying at home. She spent her days performing household chores and helping her parents with subsistence farming. She would also take on small domestic jobs in neighboring homes to help her family survive.

Later on, Mary got married; she gave birth to several children over the years, but they all passed away in infancy. Today, she is left with no surviving children to support her.

The family moved to Mwamba Lugari, where her husband worked casual labor jobs to pay for rent and food for nearly 30 years. When her husband became terminally ill, she pushed for them to relocate back to Murrum in the Shipalo area. Because they had no money, a village elder named Sadala volunteered to construct a small, one-room, semi-permanent mud house for them.

Two months after moving into the mud house, her husband passed away from his illness, leaving Mary entirely alone with no electricity or water. Since his death, she has experienced severe body pains, chest complications, and a debilitating condition in her hands. Her hands are now so weak that performing simple tasks like washing dishes causes immense pain, forcing her to lie down for hours.

Her breakthrough began when her husband was originally enrolled in the Mama Ibado Charity food program through the help of their village elder, Sadala. After her husband passed away, Sadala requested the charity transfer the slot to Mary, who was enrolled in the seniors' program on August 4, 2020. She began receiving monthly rations of maize flour, rice, sugar, milk, cooking oil, salt, and tea leaves.

The nutritional assistance completely changed her daily survival and helped manage her declining health.

"Before I joined the program, I was completely alone with failing health, and finding food in this empty house was an impossible struggle. Today, Mama Ibado has restored my dignity because I no longer have to starve, and the monthly rations keep me alive."

Mary still needs continuous help because her advanced age and hand deformities make it impossible for her to work or earn an income. Continued funding is vital to ensure this elderly widow can access her weekly medication and never faces the threat of starvation again.