Nuria and NotiNuria Diba is a 54 year old woman from Godoma, Moyale, Marsabit County. She was registered into Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) in 2013. Before joining HSNP, life was very tough especially being a widow, with seven children and irking a living from hawking firewood. The thought of sending her children to school was a pipe dream that she nursed in secret as she is very passionate of education though she never got a chance to go to school. From the little she could earn from hawking firewood and occasion support from close relatives, she could only struggle to educate her three youngest children of whom are all boy. Her only daughter who is now 27years and married did not get a chance to go to school a fact that she deeply regrets. Life was bleak during periods of prolonged drought when access to food was a big hurdle as food prices would sky rocket. The only support she had previously received but on irregular basis was food aid.
However, things began improving for the better when Nuria was among the first beneficiaries who received payment in arrears of Kshs. 47,200. The current HSNP transfer value is Kshs. 5,100 every two months.
“When I received the Kshs. 47,200 I felt like I had shaken the hand of God. Never in my life had I dreamt of handling such a huge amount at ago,’ shared Nuria beamingly.
She used part of the money to pay off some debts she’d accumulated of which some dated over 5 years old. She cleared school fees arrears for her 2 youngest sons and 3 grandchildren, bought uniform and other school essentials. In addition, some of the money went into stocking food to boost her household in coping with the declared drought of January- April 2015 of which Moyale sub-County is the hardest hit with VCI of 2.26, the lowest it has ever been in a span of 10 years. In addition, some of the money went to renovating the roofing of her huts which had deteriorated over the years and were leaking from the huge gapping holes during the rainy seasons. But the best of all was buying of a female donkey that she named “Noti” a Swahili word meaning note (paper cash).
Nuria standing outside her renovated huts“I bought Noti using the HSNP arrear money. Noti is not just a donkey but a daughter to me. She accompanies me to most places I go and helps me carry goes such as firewood, water and other loads”, shared Nuria with a warm smile.
The future for Nuria and Noti looks bright. Noti also boosts her income as she rents her out to community members that needs to carry heavy loads- but with a condition that they treat her well. Nuria looks forward to when Noti will give her “grandchildren” and enlarge her stock of donkeys that she can sell and hire out.
“I am very happy with HSNP as it has helped me improve the welfare of my family. I urge the government to help more people who are also poor so that we can all improve our lives”, urged Nuria.
