Nyanza widows empowerment program to support more women in 2024

Caroline Akinyi, 33, is overwhelmed by the good news.

Narrating her story as a widow, Caroline is unable to hold back her tears.

Hers, however, is tears of joy- thanks to a Widows empowerment program that is spreading its support to hundreds of widows across Nyanza counties.

Like many poor rural folks, Caroline's dream has always been to own a decent home, even as she continues with the daily life struggles of supporting her young family of six children.

For three years now, since she lost her husband, Caroline and her orphaned children have been staying in a dilapidated and deplorable mud-walled shanty at her village in Kadiju.

"The shanty is tiny and leaks whenever it rains. Often, we are forced to abandon our home and seek refuge at my neighbour's house," Caroline told the Star on Saturday at her village in Kisumu East Constituency.

From her small garden, she can barely harvest enough to feed and take her children to school.

Hers, like is the case with most widows and poor families is a painful story of the constant struggle of a young widow who must keep fighting to fend for her children alone.

Caroline's first-born daughter is a form four student at St.Alloys Mayenya secondary school which is a nearby day school.

"She keeps telling me that she wants to be a doctor so that she can help us. However, for the last three years, she has been playing hide and seek with her principal to remain in school whenever she is sent home to look for school fees," she narrates.

"I think her principal is just being sympathetic to her and that's why despite the huge fee balance, he still allows her back to class," she says forlornly.

Two weeks ago, the widow was amongst hundreds who attended a meeting organised by the Nyanza Widows Empowerment Program at Buoye. She got the opportunity to share her plight.

"I'm a member of Kangumu widows group and we had been invited to attend a meeting that was meant to address issues affecting the welfare of widows in the area," she told the Star on Saturday at her home.

The officials of the empowerment program, under the patronage of internal security and national administration Principal Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo were moved by her story.

The program's coordinator Victor Ayugi who works at the office of the PS immediately shared her plight with Dr Raymond Omollo.

"The PS directed that under the program, we immediately begin constructing a house for the widow. We urgently mobilized resources to implement the PS's directive," he said.

On Saturday, over 50 members of the Kangumu Widows self-help group, led by the chairperson Rose Anyango Mbaja gathered at Caroline's home to witness the handover of a new house, constructed by the Nyanza Widows Empowerment Program to her.

The brief ceremony was also graced by the local administrators led by the area chief and his assistant.

"This initiative is bringing back smiles to the faces of most beneficiaries, the majority of whom had lost hope of ever living a decent life," Victoria Odundo who is the assistant chief of the Mayenya sub-location noted.

The Nyanza Empowerment Program has already identified four widows' groups with a total of 127 widows at Kolwa East ward alone who have been enrolled on the program according to the area chief Alex Odhiambo.

These groups include Kangumu Widows Group (50 members), Okuta Widows Group (27 members), Kamuga Widows Group(30 members)and Koriaro Widows Group(30 members).

They are amongst the over 3000 such groups that are already benefitting from the widows empowerment initiative.

Judith Atieno Otieno, 45, is amongst the beneficiaries of the widows empowerment program initiated last year with the support of the PS.

" We thank the PS for the support we are getting from the Nyanza Widows Empowerment Program where he serves as the patron. It is impacting positively in our daily lives," she said.

Judith lost her husband 4 years ago. Besides tending to her small farm at Kadiju village in Kisumu East Constituency, she also takes up casual jobs at construction sites.

"I also sell second-hand clothes to supplement my meagre earnings from the casual jobs to feed and clothe my children," she told the Star on Saturday.

Lucy Atieli who is one of the officials of the initiative said the program kicked off the life-changing activities last year.

"We have built several houses for widows across the Nyanza region since we began in 2023," she said.

Another official Peterlis Ogendo disclosed that for the past two weeks, the program has based its focus on Kolwa East, meeting members of various widows' groups and identifying their challenges.

"When we met Caroline, we realised that her situation was worse amongst the widows we visited from this village," Ogendo recalled.

"Her children now have a roof under their heads and are free from the rains. They are now able to revise and do their homework in a habitable environment," he added.

Apart from the housing project that has benefitted several widows from the four Luo Nyanza counties, the program is also paying school fees to the less privileged students across the region.

The Program Coordinator Victor Ayugi on Saturday revealed that the groups identified are also given seed money to grow their income-generating activities as a sustainable approach.

He noted that the program will be targeting more widows and orphans across Nyanza this year.

" I was orphaned at the age of six months and I know first-hand, what it means to grow up as an orphan," he said.

"We do these activities on behalf of our patron, the PS Dr Raymond Omollo," he noted.

He appealed to the residents to embrace the program which he noted was the PS's idea to bring back to his community.

" Let's work closely with the government of the day. We can't oppose a government that we expect to serve us. The PS can support these initiatives because he got an opportunity to serve in government under President William Ruto who appointed him.

" The PS is showing gratitude through this kind of endeavours and as you all know, he is a civil servant and not a politician. His focus is to serve members of the public," he said.

Ayugi noted that the program has deployed a team of officers in the villages to work in close consultation with community leaders such as chiefs, opinion leaders, and church leaders to identify widows and other needy people.

To ensure the widows have clean drinking water, the coordinator disclosed that the program is buying water tanks for rainwater harvesting and building latrines to improve sanitation.

"I want you to remember that we also have poor relatives and needy friends but we are trying to be selfless and use this initiative to ensure only the less fortunate in our society are considered," he added.

To ensure the widows have sustainable income-generating activities, the program also provides them with plastic chairs and tents that they hire out to earn as a group.

According to the coordinator, the widows are also encouraged to join Saccos to grow their savings.

" We sensitize our people on the need to engage in agribusiness, inculcate saving culture, organise themselves into community groups for joint investments because we know there's strength in unity," he observed.

Most of the widows are already in small-scale businesses.

Members of the four widows' groups that are now part of the empowerment program are traders who get goods from Kibuye Market in Kisumu which they sell back in their villages and at Chiga market.

Others are engaged in subsistence farming. Some grow vegetables, tomatoes, kale onions etc.

From the proceeds, they do table banking and use the funds generated to support a Revolving Fund which they in turn loan to members at a small percentage as interest.

So far according to the Nyanza Widows Empowerment Program, over 10,000 children have been supported by the initiative while over 3,000 widows also have benefitted from the housing project.

"The beneficiaries are from Siaya, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Migori counties," he added.