•Luckily, their pleading was heard by Suqoon, an organisation that has been focusing on helping the elderly across the country.
• Suqoon has announced plans to renovate the home which was opened in 1974 and houses 39 elderly women.
Image: SCREENGRAB
As people enter into old age, many wish to be surrounded by family members and loved ones.
However, some don't get that privilege as they either have no families or are neglected by their loved ones.
For 85-year-old Salome Muthoni, she thought she had a family but her brother's toxic nature forced her to leave.
"My brother and his wife brought a lot of problems and I opted to leave and go to St Marys Village home in 2010," she said during an interview with Citizen TV.
Located in Sagana, Kirinyaga county, St Mary Village Home provides shelter for elderly women.
Muthoni has been at the home for 13 years and she keeps herself occupied by weaving sisal bags and mats.
Her leg was amputated in 1944 and she depends on friends and caretakers at the home to move around.
In the home, Muthoni highlighted that interaction with other women made her feel at home as their past encounters were almost similar.
However, one major challenge was the need for support from well-wishers to provide them with basic commodities.
"Tunaomba wasamaria wema waje watusaidie na vitu vyakutumia," Muhoni said.
This loosely translates to: "We are pleading for wellwishers to come and assist us."
Luckily, their pleading was heard by Suqoon, an organisation that has been focusing on helping the elderly across the country.
Led by its Director Shakira Khawaja Suqoon donated clothes, socks, sweaters and household items to help the elderly ahead of the predicted El Nino rains.
Khawaja announced plans to renovate the home which was opened in 1974 and houses 39 elderly women.
"What we want to do is to renovate the home. Looking at it, it requires a facelift and we will be building toilets, fixing utility areas and the kitchens," she said.
"The elderly in society require our help and that is why we are here as Suqoon."
Lucy Kilimo, a social development coordinator at the home said that most of the women have medical challenges and also need medical assistance.
She revealed that a few of the women didn't have national identification cards, hence they had not been receiving the monthly Inua Jamii stipends from the government.
"What we are focusing on now is to ensure that these women get their IDs so that they can get financial assistance from the government," Kilimo said.
The government is set to enrol 1.3 million deserving Kenyans to the Inua Jamii programme.
Also under the initiative, trained community health workers will be moving across villages to monitor the health status of the elderly and advise them, especially on eating habits.