Whatsapp group to build Sh100,000 house for widow

A 70-year-old widow whose old house is crumbling got a surprise on Huduma Day when people got together and started building her a new house.

Kyambi Kimanzi, popularly known as Kituveki, was shocked when masons arrived to build a new foundation near her ramshackle mud dwelling in Katakana village, Kyuso subcounty in Kitui.

In the spirit of volunteerism and service, young professionals from the village had formed a WhatsApp group called Susu Kituveki Nyumba (Grandma Kituveki's House).

“I may not know about Huduma Day but all I can say is that God had touched big-hearted people to answer my prayers. I have seen the power of angels coming to help me out,” Kyambi told the Star on Sunday.

She said without the kind gesture, she faced a bleak future, knowing her house could not withstand the imminent short rains.

“This eyesore I call my house - it's my kitchen, my living room, my store and my bedroom - is weatherbeaten and has huge cracks in the walls. I knew it would come tumbling down in a heavy rain," the grandmother said.

She lives with her two grandchildren.

“We choreographed our plans to coincide with the national Huduma Day celebrations on Saturday," Kathi Muthui, who initiated the project, said on Sunday morning.

Now the elderly lady will have a two-room brick house.

Muthui, a professional who works in Nairobi, said the walls would be up in about a week and soon grandma "will have a decent abode and shelter over her head.

“I was personally touched by the plight of the widow who lives in a dilapidated house that is a disaster waiting to happen. It was a shoddily built three-room semi-permanent structure with huge cracks and fissures," he said.

Muthui, who spoke at Kyambi’s home on Sunday, said the project would cost about Sh100,000.

A pit latrine already has been dug.

“Before we moved in to help, the family did not have sanitary facilities. That become our priority,” he said.

Human angels answered her prayers.

(Edited by J. Muchangi)