SHABAN FATUMA JUMA

Shaban Fatuma Juma was born in 1945 in Kakamega County as one of five children, comprising three girls and two boys. Her childhood revolved around her family home, where her parents sustained the household solely through small-scale farming without formal employment.

She began her education with interest and managed to progress up to Class 4 in the old educational system. However, her schooling came to an abrupt halt when her father passed away, leaving the household without money to pay her school fees and forcing her to leave the classroom prematurely.

Following her departure from school, Fatuma remained at home doing manual labor to assist her family. She spent long days doing laundry for neighbors and tilling other people's farms for small earnings, regretting her inability to finish her education as it closed off any path to skilled employment.

She later married. Together they had eight children, though one child passed away, leaving seven surviving children whom they struggled to support through casual farm labor.

Life grew increasingly difficult as her husband possessed no formal employment and only performed small village odd jobs. Though her children attended school, financial limits prevented them from finishing or enrolling in college, leaving them without stable employment and forcing one daughter into domestic work in Nairobi to send back minimal food money.

Her health deteriorated significantly when what initially seemed like malaria led to a week-long hospital admission in Malaba, where doctors diagnosed her with severe hypertension. Her suffering increased over time as she developed chronic ulcers and arthritis, facing demands of up to 2,000 shillings for clinic medications that her family could not afford.

Relief reached her after attending prayers at Makaka Mosque, where community coordinators gathered seniors aged 70 and above to record their details. Program representatives subsequently visited her unplastered house, assessed her living conditions, took her photographs, and officially enrolled her into the seniors program on April 1, 2023.

"I used to worry constantly when my children had no work and food was scarce, but now I am assured of receiving my provisions every month," Fatuma says.

Today, Fatuma receives monthly food supplies, including four bags of maize flour, porridge flour, sugar, six packets of milk, tea leaves, rice, and salt, which has removed the constant struggle of securing daily meals.

However, managing chronic hypertension, severe arthritis, and ulcers without a steady income leaves her household in need of ongoing donor support to afford essential medical care and daily survival.