ANOTHER COVID-19 HITS HARD ON KENYA

 FEAR AND ANGER RISE WITH DELAYED DREAMS AMIDST SCHOOL POSTPONEMENT DUE TO FLOODS IN KENYA

Another COVID-19 - Like Consequence of FLOOD HITS Kenya in the GROINS!

For weeks now, heavy rains have continued to drag over half of Kenya with the humans therein. More than 163,000 residents in Nairobi have now been evacuated, some voluntarily and some forcefully, as the government announced Sunday(CNN).

Its severity has provoked the Kenyan government to postpone school re-openings until further notice on who is winning this talk of war. School resumption has been pushed from the initial date, 30th April, to an unknown date to be communicated as the rain is contained. Let’s take a look at the feelings on the streets of Kenya, how they have received this news, and what this means to examination classes.

The girl power mentors paid a visit to the slums of Kibera to a few club members to see how they were faring and to hear their views on the delay of school re-opening. We interviewed Meldrine a Form 4 student at Kibera Girls Soccer Academy. Meldrine who is supposed to sit for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams in November this year said that she was afraid that they would be left behind as far as the syllabus is concerned. Additionally, they will have no time to exhaust the topics programmed for the second term. Meldrine said looking sad...

credit: CNN

“What if the rains go on and on? That will mean we might not be able to go back to school soon and I may not become a doctor in the future as I have always wanted to be.”

Despite the fear, she hopes the rains will reduce and all the students in the country will return to school. 

We also spoke to Meldrine’s mother who is a single mother of five. She explained how the late postponement affected her financial plans because she had planned ahead of the term, now this is a big blow to herself and her children.

We spoke to Ivy a grade 5 student at Joseph Kang’ethe Primary School who mentioned that she has used this period to continue building her sportsmanship in soccer at a field near her home. She said that she looks forward to the school re-opening to resume her journey of becoming a lawyer. Her mother mentioned that although Ivy is happy to be using this time to play soccer she is afraid that by the time schools re-open she will have no money for her school fees since she has used her savings to provide meals and to keep the family safe during the floods.

Another parent added…“I just pray that this flood will not be like the COVID-19 pandemic where the kids stayed at home for almost one year. I hope they can go back to school as soon as possible and their dreams will not be delayed or shuttered by the catastrophic floods.” 

Our prayer goes to all the families displaced and affected in one way or the other!

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KENYAN CATASTROPHIC FLOOD LEAVES FAMILIES DESPERATE CLAIMING OVER 150 LIVES AND DISPLACING MORE THAN 40, 000 KENYANS

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A Natural disaster has broken its way into the daily lives of Kenyans. Many parts of Kenya have been experiencing heavy rains since the 18th  of April 2024. 

As one can see in the images, the heavy rain has led to floods leaving many people in distress following the ruins it has caused. The capital city, Nairobi and its surroundings, have been severely affected by this merciless flood. Low-income areas in Nairobi like Kibera, Mathare, Githurai, and Mukuru kwa Njenga have been severely affected due to lack of solid structures, poor drainage systems and infrastructures, and congestions. This leaves people homeless and at risk of contracting diseases like cholera, typhoid and diarrhea.

 

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Additionally, the Nairobi River and Athi River both broke out of their banks sweeping away houses along their paths and damaging nearby neighborhoods leaving about 40,000 people displaced and homeless.

A total number of 17 bridges have been destroyed, making it hard for people to cross from one side to another. In Mai Mahiu, about 60 kilometers from Nairobi about 50 people died after being swept away by the heavy rains as they slept at a dam nearby. Generally, across the whole country, over 180 people have been reported dead. 

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In the North Eastern part of Kenya where the main source of income is the keeping of livestock, the residents have lost their source of livelihood watching their cattle swept away by the oceanic rains.

The families in this part of the country also face displacement. While some of them camp along the Garissa-Nairobi highway, some people have camped at a nearby school, Jaribu Primary School to seek refuge.

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Farmers across the country lament their losses as they watch their crops flowing with the waters. They report that this comes after they have heavily invested their resources in buying seeds and fertilizers. Just when the crops were looking healthy, and they hoped for a better harvest. This is like a nightmare in their eyes.

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Due to the continuous rainfalls, the Cabinet Secretary for Education issued a statement that schools that were to re-open for the second term on 29th April 2024, now re-opens by the 6th of May 2024 hoping that the rains would have reduced. Some schools have been destroyed and brought to ruins. Even after the 6th of May, schools in some parts of the country like Busia County will not be able to open because the classrooms are left in bad conditions.

The government has made the public to understand that they are looking for ways to help the affected families and schools for life to return to normalcy.