Saidi Asman Sakali

Saidi Asman Sakali was born in 1938 in the Banja area of Vihiga County. She was raised in a family of six daughters, growing up among her sisters in a busy household.

She did not have the opportunity to attend formal school during her childhood. Instead, she focused her early years on religious studies at the Madrasa, which was the primary form of education available to her at the time.

After completing her time at home and at the Madrasa, she moved into her adult life and eventually entered into marriage. She was married to the late Asman Sakali, who earned a living working for the Kenya Railways before his retirement and subsequent passing.

Together, they raised six children, though the family has faced the loss of two children who have since passed away. During her younger years, Saidi worked hard to support her husband and family by cooking and selling mandazi to neighbors.

Life became much harder after her husband died, leaving her to depend on small-scale trade that eventually became too difficult as she aged. Her surviving four children have retired from their own work and struggle with their own small tasks in town, leaving Saidi to rely on her grandson, Jaafar Abdullahi, for all her daily needs.

The family reached a point where putting food on the table was a daily struggle due to Saidi’s advanced age and lack of income. They survived through the kindness of others until a relative living in Amalemba informed them about a support program for the elderly.

Jaafar took the responsibility of taking his grandmother to the registration center on April 1, 2023, where she was enrolled in the program. She now receives a monthly food basket containing essential supplies such as rice, cooking oil, sugar, and nutritious porridge flour.

"Before we were included in this program, the worry of how to feed my grandmother was a constant burden on our shoulders. Today, the provision of these monthly supplies has brought a great sense of relief and nutritional stability to our home."

Saidi remains in urgent need of help because she is over 80 years old and cannot perform any labor to sustain herself. Without this continued support, she and her grandson would have no reliable way to access the food and medical attention required for her survival.