Pamela Mmbone, 38, is HIV positive and the mother of five children. Sadly she admits to being positive in front of her two boys in Kawangware slum. Her husband, having lived in denial of the disease, died in 2013 after he had infected her. “I had to let my sons know my condition because I fall sick so often,” she says. She struggles to feed her children whose ages range between 9 and 19.
Pamela prepares and makes samosas for sale but few people buy them during this pandemic period. Others are wary of her because of the HIV and avoid buying from her. She uses firewood to cook which her two sons, Brian Imbai 9 and Ibrahim Morgan 10 help to collect.
She is on ARVs but prays the Coronavirus, which is a threat to people with underlying diseases, could end soon. She is scared that if she contracts the disease she might not survive and her children would become orphans.
When she got 1,000 shillings (9.34 US) from Jamii Bora Trust to buy food she could not believe it. She is now an active member of Jamii Bora’s disaster program and she feels that if the Trust’s members stay together and remember everyone however poor and desperate, there is still hope in the slum. “God has heard our prayers” she says with a new smile.
Thank you to Microfinancing Partners in Africa for emergency funds to help people survive while living in the slums of Nairobi .