Kenya Drought: Cecilia's and Risper's Story

Cecilia Kinya weeds her failed half-acre crop of beans in Muthara. CBM/Hayduk

A lack of rain across parts of East Africa has led to crop failures, drought and widespread food shortages. This is the worst it has been in more than 40 years. People with disabilities are among those who are most at danger as a result of the severe food and water shortages that are affecting families. Many families must choose between food, drinking water, and medicine. They are suffering the terrible consequences of a climate crisis that they had nothing to do with.

In this blog series, we share the stories of people with disabilities and their families from drought-affected Meru and Tharaka North counties in Kenya.

Risper, age 10, is blind and deaf. She lives with her mother Cecilia and her 5 siblings. Cecilia joined a local Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (OPD) in order to meet her daughter's needs. Although the group's support has begun to help Risper, Cecilia still worries about her future because the area is currently experiencing a severe drought.

“Risper is entirely dependent on me”, explains Cecilia. Until she recently joined a local Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (OPD), Cecilia had never had any information about how to meet her daughter’s needs. “It is not easy to raise a child who cannot see or talk... I am not sure how to manage this situation”.

The local OPD has been an important source of support – both practical and emotional - and information for Cecilia: “I've benefitted a lot from the group”.

Risper Gakii, 10, who has cerebral palsy and is deaf blind, with siblings Rachel, Elosy and Titus at her home in Muthara, Kenya CBM/Hayduk

Risper is much smaller than other children her age and is unable to move about on her own due to years of malnutrition. To address her malnutrition, she is currently receiving fortified porridge through the OPD. She has also been referred for physiotherapy and assistive aids like a standing frame. She was weak and feeble, but Cecilia has already noticed a change: "Now she will be stronger and probably walk."

Cecilia worries that the drought currently threatens this progress. On the slope near to Cecilia's home, a half-acre of beans that were planted using OPD seeds are now wilted and dying.

“Even if it rains now there is not much we can salvage - the crops are gone. It's only fodder for livestock.”

The OPD also gives members the chance to pool savings and take small loans. Cecilia has used the loans to buy wholesale vegetables to re-sell at the local market. “The little money we get from the small loans...its survival”, she explains. But as the drought continues, she is still desperately worried for the future: “I am only foreseeing trouble. We are likely to go hungry.”