NYONGESA BERNADETTA MUHANDIA

Nyongesa Bernadetta Muhandia was born in 1949 in the village of Matende. She grew up in a busy household alongside her siblings. As one of the older children in the home, she had to take on family responsibilities early.

She did not attend school or receive any basic formal education. Her time was spent helping her mother with domestic chores and looking after the family home.

Because she did not go to school, she spent her young adult years performing casual labor in her neighborhood to help her family survive. She spent her days weeding in other people's fields to bring food home.

She eventually reached the age of marriage, wedded her husband, and relocated to the Bunyala area. Her husband relied entirely on low-paying casual labor to support the family. Together they had four children, but three of them passed away from illness, leaving them with only one son.

Her husband eventually died, and her life became much harder as her in-laws began mistreating her and demanding she leave their land. Fearing for her safety after they threatened to harm her, she fled and returned to her parents' mud house in Matende. Her remaining daughter grew up without an education or stable employment, and today she has no assets or income to support herself or her mother.

Back at her parents' home, Nyongesa tried to earn a living by selling charcoal, but the business failed because there were no buyers. She also tried weeding fields for others, but her health began to fail, leaving her with severe ulcers, high blood pressure, and an eye problem that made her partially blind. With no income and four dependent family members to care for, the family frequently went without meals and slept on empty stomachs.

A breakthrough came when a friend informed her that there was an office nearby distributing food to senior citizens. She went to the office to explain her desperate situation, and officials later visited her to assess her living conditions. They officially enrolled her into the seniors' program on April 1, 2023.

She now receives monthly rations consisting of maize flour, porridge flour, sugar, cooking oil, rice, milk, and salt. This reliable food supply has lifted a massive burden from her shoulders and stabilized her household.

"In the past, getting food was a daily struggle, and we regularly slept hungry when I was too weak to work in the fields. Today, the program has restored my dignity because I have enough food to eat, and I no longer have to go around begging from neighbors."

Nyongesa still needs continuous assistance because her advanced age and blindness prevent her from performing manual labor. Ongoing donor funding is vital to ensure that this vulnerable grandmother continues to receive her weekly medical care and never faces starvation again.