Two Less Children Without A Family

By Mutheu Njoroge - Women Empowerment & Child Welfare Activist | Social Media Manager and Copywriter at WezaCare Solutions

Gerald Wandaki is a loving father and a supportive husband. It is a bold statement but you can clearly tell from how he treats his daughters and relates with his wife. His outgoing and jolly spirit compliments his industrious and entrepreneurial sense.?

He walks down the narrow footpath with both his daughters, side by side, as they go to gather the feeds for his cow. The eldest carries his ‘panga’ while the youngest holds his hand to guide him down the path.?

Wandaki is visually impaired. But this does not impede him from accomplishing his daily chores and neither does it hold him back from intentionally being involved with everything that affects his little girls.?

Besides caring for his cow, he is a small-scale poultry farmer, who also tills and works on his small land to help fend for his family. He tirelessly does this every day. When his little girls are in school, he grabs his white cane and does it all by himself. Impressively, he single-handedly built his cow’s shed, down to the last nail.

The Wandaki family is one of the many families that has been enrolled in the United Kenya Rising Family Care Model Program. Since enrollment in 2021, United Kenya Rising (UKR) has supported and empowered them towards self-sustenance using the five stars in their Family Care model. These five stars include Agriculture, Education, Livelihood, Health, and Basic needs.?

Every child deserves a loving, safe, and sustainable family setup and no child should be separated from their family. In most cases, children are separated from their families due to reasons such as poverty and negligence.

However, through Family Strengthening programs such as UKRs, children can stay at home and grow up in a loving, caring, and sustainable family setup.?

This is just a snippet of a beautiful story about an ordinary man who intentionally goes above and beyond to love and raise his little girls and care for his family— despite the physical and economic challenges.?

It might not seem as extraordinary, but growing up around all this attentive family love does make a difference in these children’s lives and development. On this #ManCrushMonday, we salute and celebrate men like Gerald Wandaki who purposefully take up their roles. He ensured that two less children grow up without a family.?

#ManCrushMonday #FamilyStrengthening #ChildrenInFamilies #ChildWelfare #PamojaTunaWeza

Story Credit: United Kenya Rising