When they moved out of their homes in early 2020 to give room for the rising waters of Lake Victoria that swept through their homes, they thought the situation would just be temporary.
They had always known Kakola Ombaka in Nyando as their home and had made lifelong investments in the form of homes in the area.
In the past, they were used to the perennial floods from River Nyando that would displace them only for a few days before they would go back to their homes. With the swollen lake however, there lives is completely changed.
More than a year later, several families are still languishing in agony as they continue to stay in temporary shelters miles away from their homes.
Celine Juma, a mother of three is still yet to settle in the camp and still has hopes of returning to her home which is now completely submerged in water.
For more than six months, she spent living inside a school that hosted scores of families displaced by the swollen lake.
She now stays at a temporary structure next to the gates at the home of a well-wisher who now hosts several mothers who were displaced by the lake.
“My only hope is to be able to return to my home but with the waters still high, it is still unclear when I will be able to go back,” says Juma.
With her life disrupted, the mother now has to find a new way to fend for her children.
She is not alone, at the homestead, several other women are living in temporary shelters while others have also camped at nearby homes after they were displaced by floods.
According to Ruth Atieno, from Kanyipula village, Kakola location, she says that it is now one year down the line and they have not been able to go back to their homes as they are still camping in camps.
Although its more than a year since they were pushed out of their homes , the memories and the pain of losing her home is still fresh.
She claims that she lost property worth Sh300,000 and is yet to recover. Her only hope is that waters will reside and enable her to go back to her home.
"We are afraid to go back to our homes because every time we try to settle back, backflow of the lake comes back. We are also afraid of the snakes that have migrated in our homestead, “she said.
For the families, there had been several warning signs in the last couple of years. Increasing levels of flooding including a devastating flood in 2019 had set the stage for the backflow.
They survived previous floods and were able to return to their homes and rebuild. But now, they are still waiting with hope even as it appears fate is not on their side.
Mercy Awuor, a mother of six at Kamahawa village, Kakola-Ombaka sub-location admits that she is still optimistic that she would be able to return to her home.
"Surviving during these hard economic times has been very difficult and I can't even remember the number of times we have slept for days without eating any food with my children,"she said.
Mary Nyamondo who chairs disaster department at Kakola-Ombaka says that 7 villages were mostly affected.
The villages she said we're Kasiwindi South,Kaloo South, Kaloo North, Kasambura, Tura, Kanyipula South and North among others.
She appealed to the government to come in to assist families who are struggling to find food and school fees for their children.
According to her, some children have been forced to drop out of school due to lack of school fees.
"If the government can come in to rescue our people and even pay for our children school fees then it would be great,"she said.
According to the area chief Jacob Ong'udi, more that 280 households have not gone back to their homes while other 800 household having integrated within the community.
He said that his people have greatly suffered and appealed for well-wishers to keep helping them.
"My people have greatly suffered with no source of income as they can no longer continue with farming to help them sustain their families, “he said.
Authorities including the county government and Red Cross have stepped up their efforts to assist the victims of the floods who are yet to settle.
In a recent interview, Ruth Odinga who is in charge of emergency response in the county said that they were able to resettle some of the affected families.
