Muhamed Mwanadena Nanzala was born on August 25, 1955, in Isukha Muranda near the then Kakamega airstrip. There were eight children in her family.She did not go to school at all. Her father was very weak and completely lacked the money to pay for her education.Because she could not attend school, she stayed at home helping her parents. She later became a small-scale business trader to try and make ends meet.She eventually got married and moved to Kisa, Khwisero Sub-County. She gave birth to six children with her husband, though her firstborn child passed away.Her husband later bought a piece of land in Lutonyi on the outskirts of Kakamega town, where they relocated. He stayed there with the family until his death, leaving her to handle the heavy burden of the household alone.Following her husband's death, life became incredibly difficult as she struggled to feed the remaining children on her own. The family regularly faced severe food shortages and slept on empty stomachs inside their small mud house.To survive, she tried running a small business selling items in the market, but she was involved in a road accident that left her with permanent body aches. The injuries completely stopped her from going to the market, forcing her to stay home, selling vegetables by the roadside just to get a little money.Her four surviving children never managed to get stable employment due to their poor background. One of her sons works as a public transport tout, another is an occasional loader for long-distance trucks but remains mostly idle, and the others just spend their days along the road without any reliable source of income.Her breakthrough came when a community representative named Sahl Aleso visited her area looking for vulnerable families. Sahl asked Muhamed to guide them to other needy households, a journey that led them to the local chief's office, where she was finally registered under the Mama Ibado charity program.Through this program, she now receives regular monthly food supplies to sustain her household. She is provided with maize flour for ugali, porridge flour, cooking oil, sugar, tea leaves, and salt."Before I joined this program, we were always stressed about our next meal and frequently slept on empty stomachs due to poverty. Now, I have peace of mind because I no longer sleep hungry, and I can comfortably cook for my children every single day," Muhamed says.Despite the life-saving food assistance, Muhamed still lives in a fragile mud structure that leaks when it rains. She remains in constant physical pain from her past accident and desperately needs donor support to access medical care and maintain her basic daily dignity.
