More than 3,000 families from Kiharu constituency have received food donations from an American NGO – Can Do Kids – to help them cope with the effects of Covid-19.
The families were identified through chiefs and local volunteers, and the food taken to their homes.
Karanja Wamatangi, the organisation’s coordinator in the country, said the aim is to assist about 5,000 families who have been worst hit by the pandemic.
He said some families were on the verge of sleeping on empty stomachs when the organisation knocked on their doors.
“Most of the people we have assisted were already doing poorly before the coronavirus and their situation has been aggravated by the pandemic,” Wamatangi told the Star.
For eight days, volunteers have distributed food to the needy and supplied them with face masks.
Wamatangi said the drive will continue until all 5,000 families are covered.
The organisation has also constructed houses for beneficiaries who were living in deplorable situations.
“We have already completed one in Koimbi and another one is ongoing in Karechiungu area. The third one in Gaitega is just starting,” he said.
The NGO is completing a communal water tank in Karechiungu to supply about 9,000 families.
The project is being implemented in partnership with Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco) and will be complete in the next two weeks.
“The 250,000-litre tank is only awaiting plastering before it starts serving locals,” he said.
Muwasco managing director Daniel Ng’ang’a confirmed that his firm approached the NGO for a partnership that would help provide Karechiungu and Kiangage residents with water.
The NGO, he said, funded the project while the water firm provided technical support.
The area does not have reliable water provision and relies on Kahuti Water and Sewerage Company (Kawasco), which is only able to supply residents with the commodity once a week.
“We are thankful for the support from the firm and ask other well-wishers to come up with similar sustainable projects,” Ng’ang’a said.
The NGO has constructed 36 tanks with the same capacity in different primary schools and plans to construct 164 more to improve hygiene in the learning institutions.
Many pupils, Wamatangi said, lose numerous learning hours as they fetch water from rivers to clean their classrooms, while others are forced to carry water in jerrycans from home.
Edited by A.N
