An impoverished family from Nyamang’ara village in Gatundu North is now pleading for help to build a decent house as the one they have been living in is on the verge of caving in.
Mary Nyambura, a middle-aged woman who has been living in a leaky shanty two-bedroomed mud house with her four children says that despite the dilapidated situation of the house, they have nowhere else to call home.
The piece of derelict structure has all forms of mud-renovation works with some parts covered with pieces of old sacks and torn iron sheets.
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Its wooden pillars have lost their grip and cannot hold anymore while others are completely detached from their support function, a situation that qualifies the shack for possible collapse.
PHOTO/Mathew Ndung'u
To enter the house, a visitor does not require to use the main broken door as the building has numerous entrances formed as a result of the sustained running-down of the poor structure.
This puts the entire family at risk of the house being raided by criminals.
While inside the disarranged house, drops of the ongoing downpour are vivid as the worn-out iron-sheets made roof has no capacity to stop the rains.
“We have no furniture either. What you see inside this house is old equipment given to us by a well-wisher who wanted to dispose of them. Our clothing comes from well-wishers who are sometimes rare,” explained Nyambura who has been grappling with asthma alongside one of her children," she said.
To make the matter worse, Nyambura and her children are forced to relieve themselves on the neighbour's premises after their toilet collapsed.
The latrine that had been covered using sacks is still a danger to the children who often play around it as it has never been reconstructed.
PHOTO/Mathew Ndung'u
Speaking at her premises, Nyambura said she sought the help of well-wishers to avert an impending danger of the house’s possible collapse.
As the rains continue to pour, the seemingly dejected woman further regretted that many times they are forced to squeeze on one corridor to shelter themselves from rains that continue to fall inside the shanty when they are asleep.
One of her children, a KCPE candidate in the forthcoming national exams, has been living at home for months over unpaid school fees.
Currently, the girl is required to raise Ksh 500 to facilitate her meals during the exams period, money that Nyambura said she cannot raise in her pitiable situation.
“She will be sitting her exams despite being away from school for months after she was sent home to collect school fees. My main concern is that she is still required to raise Ksh 500 to cater for meals during the exams period but I cannot be able to raise all that amount,” Nyambura regretted.
Nyambura’s neighbours led by Ann Wambui and Cecilia Kabura told journalists that while they have been trying to help the family with meals, they cannot be able to support them build a decent house.
Wambui and Kabura noted that the family is in urgent need of help to avert possible dangers that could be caused by the heavy downpour that is happening in the village.
“Well-wishers are welcome to help Nyambura and her children. They live very indecent lives but with the ongoing rains, the worse might happen if their shelter is not addressed,” Wambui noted.
