ONESA ALICE AYUMA

Onesa Alice Ayuma was born in 1957 in Siaya Gem.

She was born into a family of five children, though she has faced the silent weight of outliving three of her siblings. Growing up, she watched her mother struggle to sustain the home by selling githeri and porridge in Nairobi to keep the family afloat.

Alice attended school until standard four, but her education was cut short when her father was no longer able to support her. After leaving school, she dedicated her time to helping her mother with her small business, learning early the grit required to survive.

She later got married in Ugenya and eventually moved to Kakamega, where her father-in-law had acquired land. Alice gave birth to six children, but one passed away, leaving her with five children to raise amidst mounting hardships.

Her husband, who once provided for them through manual labor, lost his way to alcoholism before passing away, leaving Alice to navigate the world alone as a widow. Raising her children became an uphill battle of manual labor wherever she could find them, such as in Amalemba.

Life grew even more difficult as her children faced their own struggles; her daughters are in unstable marriages, and one of her sons is currently in prison following a legal issue involving a minor.

The emotional and financial strain of having a child behind bars while living in a one-room mud house with four other family members has left her physically and mentally exhausted.

Alice found a lifeline through the Mama Ibado program on June 4, 2018, after a neighbor connected her to the organization. She underwent the registration process and was soon included in the monthly distribution where she receives maize flour, porridge flour, and other essential food items.

"In the years before I was found, my life was a constant race against hunger that I was losing, but now there is a sense of calm in my house because the basic need for food is met," she explains.

The program has provided a buffer against the extreme poverty that once forced her to wander in search of work just to secure a single meal.

Alice expresses her profound gratitude to the donors, comparing the support to a miracle that few in the world are willing to provide. She remains in need of assistance because she lives in a fragile mud house without electricity and must fetch water from the Isikhu River, making her daily survival dependent on the continued kindness of the program.