Words from friends on COVID-19: Kenya

From Stu and Annie Ross, East Africa Mission Consultants for Outreach

The Coronavirus pandemic is gripping Kenya as it is also crippling the United States. There are some big differences comparing the two countries. 

In Kenya, communications are not as good as here. Only 50% of Kenyans have internet. So many people in Kenya are not getting all the information needed. Also, statistics on the pandemic are not very reliable. 

Food distribution is a severe problem and people are starving because of the virus. In Kibera, several days ago there were a stampede as an NGO was distributing food. “It’s food we are coming for, we are not dying from the virus but hunger.” After that riot, the government said there will be no more food distribution unless it goes through the government. Large food markets have been closed so farmers do not have a good way of getting food to the final consumer.

As of this date, there have been 234 identified Coronavirus cases and 11 deaths. There hasn’t been a lot of testing. But Kenya has just received 20,000 test kits from the WHO. They will start testing all front-line healthcare workers who have been exposed to the virus. Testing will start ramping up. The encouraging thing in Kenya is that the numbers are only moving up slowly, a handful each day. I am not sure if that is because testing has not really been done or if for some reason it isn’t spreading a lot. One would think that with population dense areas like Kibera it would spread quickly. 

Kenya is under no movement from dusk to dawn, a curfew. Also, on April 6, there was a complete lockdown of Nairobi. There will be no movement in or out of Nairobi for three weeks. Half of the identified infected are in Nairobi. 

The virus has made it very difficult for the common person to get food. Food security is a big problem. The Outreach Foundation is trying to help with food distribution. We have already identified families in need and April 17 we will be giving food staples for two weeks to these families. We are also trying to get food for our two Girls Rescue Centers at Mama Esther’s and Olosho-boro.  

I came back to the US on March 14. I left Annie and the kids in Kenya. They are safe and doing well. Annie is identifying where the needs are and buying food and getting to those in need. 

If you would like to help us with food staples, we would be very grateful.