MOHAMED MWANAHAWA MAKOKHA

Mohamed Mwanahawa Makokha was born on July 29, 1956, in Marrum, the home of her ancestors. She was born into a very large family, being one of thirteen children brought into the world by her mother.

Her father worked as a traditional small-scale miner, digging for minerals to earn a meager living for his many children. While he managed to educate the older siblings, the family's resources were exhausted by the time Mwanahawa was in school.

She started her education at a Muslim school before moving to Township Primary, where she studied alongside friends like the former Ambassador Amina Mohamed. She was forced to stop her education in class four because her father could no longer afford the fees, leaving her to wait at home until she reached adulthood.

At eighteen, she married Sheikh Mohamed, an Imam from Kisa, and moved to Lutonyi where they established their home. They were blessed with eight children, and for a time, her husband served as a respected teacher and leader at the local mosque in Kakamega.

The stability of her home was shattered in 1993 when her husband passed away, leaving her a widow with the heavy task of raising seven surviving children alone. Without his support, she resorted to making and selling mandazi, samosas, and vegetables by the roadside to keep her children from starving.

Despite her tireless efforts, the poverty was too deep to allow her children a full education, with most dropping out by class seven or eight due to lack of fees. Today, her adult children remain without stable employment, living within the family compound with no way to support their aging mother or their own dependents.

Mwanahawa's life changed when she traveled to town for a public event and reconnected with her childhood friend, Amina Mohamed, who remembered Mwanahawa’s late husband as her former teacher. Amina recognized the visible struggle Mwanahawa was enduring and immediately connected her to the Mama Ibado Charity to ensure she would never go hungry again.

After an assessment of her desperate living conditions and the number of dependents relying on her, she was enrolled in the seniors' program on June 4, 2018. She now receives monthly rations, including four bags of flour, sugar, vegetable oil, rice, and nutrient-rich porridge flour.

"I was carrying the weight of my husband’s memory and seven hungry children on my shoulders with only a few samosas to sell, but today my kitchen is full and my heart is at peace."

This consistent support has moved her from the desperation of the roadside stalls to a place of security within her community. She no longer has to wonder how a widow with no pension will provide for the five dependents currently under her care.

Mwanahawa still needs help because she is an elderly widow living in Lutonyi with no stable source of income and multiple grandchildren relying on her. With her children unable to find work, the food and health support from the charity are the only things protecting this large family from falling back into the depths of poverty.