Kenya: Cash transfers and child sponsorship tackle hunger and drought 

Pauline, Simon, and their children received a cash transfer from World Vision of 6,000 Kenya shillings ($50).

They are one of 330 households that received a cash transfer that benefits nearly 2,000 people in Kalapata, located in Turkana, Kenya.

Before they received this cash transfer, life was hard.

"Sometimes we would sleep without food," Pauline tells us.

"We would go to the bush for wild fruits. We had no animals. Only through this cash transfer did we have money."

The family used this cash to buy sugar, clothes, and soap. Before Kenya’s severe drought came, they had 15 goats. Since then, all 15 died.

"Thank you for this cash transfer. This enabled us to stay with so little. It's the only way we could have stayed,” Pauline says.

Without the cash transfer, some of us could have died.

Their children - Enok, 10, Akiru, 8, Loibach, 5, John, 3, Daniel and Ngasike, both 2, and Simon, 1, are still so hungry that they fall asleep as Simon and Pauline tell their stories.

Pauline's family has received the second of the four instalments of the cash transfers.

She asks a question typical of the generous people of Turkana: "Can you help more people?"

Leah Akai, a pastor at a Catholic Church, invited Simon and Pauline into Celebrating Families training.

Celebrating Families seeks to ensure that families, especially the most vulnerable ones, enjoy positive and loving relationships and are able to have hope and vision for the future.

The programme equips parents and caregivers, church and faith leaders, faith-based organisations, local agencies and communities with the knowledge and skills to create a safe and nurturing environment for children’s spiritual nurture in their family.

“Before they were not going to church. They were quarrelling and fighting with each other,” Leah tells us. “Since she started going to church, she has become a good mother.” 

Pauline says, “We decided to go to church knowing that God is the only one who can change our lives. We had problems with quarrelling. Sometimes drunkenness.” She was the first to join the church. Simon came later.

“Before I used to steal goats,” he says. “But because of the drought, there was nothing left to steal. I thought, maybe the only way is to pray.” 

“After prayers, we share ideas,” Pauline says. “Now we give advice on how we can work together.”

“When we received our money, someone said, ‘Now multiply it by doing a business.’”

They took our Empowered Worldview programme, learned how to safe and started their shop.

Empowered Worldview is a behaviour-change model that seeks to address dependency mindsets and promote individual empowerment among people living in poverty.

Simon and Pauline’s children were also a part of Chosen, a sponsorship programme where children are empowered to choose their sponsors.

Twins Daniel and Ngasike chose their sponsors, and they couldn’t be happier.

“I like the way he is dressed,” says Daniel. “He is dressed nicely.” Steve and Robin Potts, from the US, are now his sponsors.

Of his sponsor Amee Liptak, also from the US, Ngasike adds, “I chose her because she is loving.”

If you’d like to be Chosen like Steve, Robin and Amee, click here.

By Kari Costanza and John Warren