Covid-19 dims light and hope for disabled Korogocho children

It is 12 noon, a time when children at Light and Hope Daycare centre in Korogocho would be playing and singing joyfully knowing that lunch would be served in a few minutes.

However, that was four months ago. Things have since changed for the worse for these children living with disabilities after the coronavirus was declared an epidemic and the Nairobi Metropolitan Area locked down.

The children have been forced to stay at home, unsure of where their next meal will come from.

"Children at this centre - all living with disabilities - are from humble backgrounds. Some cannot even afford a meal a day and I am worried about their survival," Maryanne Ndila, a mentor at the facility says.

According to Ndila, some children try to sneak into the centre every other day, hoping to get something to eat.

She fears that the closure of Light and Hope Daycare centre might dim the lights in the lives of some of the children.

"I now hear that some of the children are being defiled and sexually assaulted. They cannot defend themselves," Ndila says tearfully. She is herself a beneficiary of the daycare, having joined it in 2009.

The predators take advantage of the minors when their poor parents/guardians are away looking for sustenance.

Before Covid-19, parents brought children to the centre everyday at 8am, knowing they would be taken care of until 4pm when they would pick them up.

The situation changed for the worse after President Uhuru Kenyatta's closure of learning institutions in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Now donors and well-wishers, who streamed in regularly with food, bedding and mobility equipment, cannot access the centre.

"This is a centre in the heart of informal settlements in Korogocho. Donations dried up immediately Covid-19 hit the country. We are now in limbo," Joyce Kiarie, the daycare's director, said.

Kiarie, a university psychology graduate, occasionally stared at the beautiful wall hangings and therapy equipment wondering when the new normal will end during the interview.

"Singing and playing too noisily may sound like a nuisance but that is what kept the centre alive. Never in my life did I anticipate that such a time would come," she says.

Kiarie saw the need to help children living with mental and physical disabilities in Korogocho soon after her university education. The disabled children were discriminated against.

Twelve years later, Covid-19 associated regulations have left her in distress. She is now a "shepherd without a flock".

Kiarie had to find a way to tell the children what Covid-19 is and why they had to stay at home. Notwithstanding financial constraints without donor assistance, they cannot effectively maintain social distancing.

"With the nature of our space, we cannot afford to maintain social distance. Sanitisers are also expensive and at the moment, donors are facing financial constraints," she says, also tearfully like Ndila.

On the reopening of learning institutions, the psychologist says they will not do so soon after the announcement.

"Despite my big dream, we lack funding to run the institution. We will need enough masks, sanitisers and more volunteers to help contain the children.".

And even if they got all that, they may have to re-admit the children in shifts to keep social distance.

"We would not like to expose the children who already have low immunity to the virus. These children need to be totally shelved from Covid-19," Kiarie said.

Light and Hope Daycare centre was established in 2008. It cared for 127 children aged between two and three years before Covid-19.

It is sustained by donations from well-wishers and services from volunteers.

Before the lockdown, between five and 10 volunteers arrived at 8am to teach the young ones bead-work, colouring, reading and writing.

Therapy to improve the children's physique and mental status was provided by two or three volunteers.

Five parents were volunteer care givers.

- mwaniki fm