My name is Triza Wangui Kadenge, an alumni of Tangaza University from 2019 to 2023. In 2019, I enrolled in a Course in Leadership and Resource Management until 2020. In 2021, I undertook undergraduate studies for a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Management, where I majored in International Relations. I graduated in October 2023 with an upper division. I give God all the glory for the opportunity to study at Tangaza University, where my leadership was nurtured and brought out the best in me.
During my Diploma Course, I carried out research on challenges faced by elderly people in their respective homes in Gikambura village, Kiambu County. The reason I did this research was because of my personal experience with my late parents.
MARY’S HOPE FOR THE ELDERLY (CBO)
The gap I found in my research project pushed me to start a community-based organization called Mary’s Hope for the Elderly, where I am the Founder and Director. The research found that elderly people face chronic illnesses, e.g., dementia, depression, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, etc., which are very costly to manage. They also lack income because of retirement or are unable to do business due to their deteriorating health. Lack of family support was another challenge due to the breakdown of traditional systems of family taking care of the elderly and the effects of urbanization. The elderly are being neglected, abandoned by their families, discriminated against because of their age, etc. Chronic diseases were found to result in forgetfulness, self-neglect, hunger, poor hygiene, malnutrition, and dehydration.
Mary’s Hope for the Elderly’s vision is for the elderly to live a happy, healthy, and active life in society. Our main objectives are to support and empower elderly people socially and economically, formulate projects to benefit them in society, assist the elderly in forming supportive groups for their personal and social development, offer training services for their well-being, and offer counseling services where needed. So far, we have about seven supportive groups meeting weekly in Karai Ward, Kiambu County.
Our future plans would be to have the elderly actively carry out their activities that would generate their income. Have a home for elderly people to act as a rescue center for the abandoned or those living in extreme poverty. A warm home for the elderly whose families are unable to live with them due to their busy schedules.
RESCUE REFORM MISSION GROUP (CBO)
It was Mary’s Hope for the Elderly that connected me to the Rescue Reform Mission Group. The elderly’s’ main challenge is their children, who engage in alcohol and drug abuse. These children (youth and adults, the majority of them being men) totally depend on their parents, who are over 70 years old, despite their desperate situations. Rescue Reform Mission is a group of people who have come together for one purpose: to rescue and reform the people who abuse alcohol and drugs. These are counselors, mentors, pastors, well-wishers, etc.
This problem is bigger than one could imagine. For instance, in the month of May, we had a meeting for them in the Gikambura shopping center on Wednesday, May 15, in a church setup. We hosted about 130 of them, with the majority of them being men (youth). The majority claim that they abuse alcohol or drugs because they don’t have jobs despite going through training and schooling for many years.
Also, there is an increase in suicide cases among youth. This should be a major concern in society because, in the future, society would have a gap where the population of men would greatly lessen than that of women in Kenya.
As a member of the Rescue Reform Mission Group, our mission is to give them hope in the word of God (interdenominational), listen to them, counsel and mentor them, and show them love. We also cook porridge for breakfast and food for lunch and eat together because the meetings take about 4 hours. What we lack at the moment is rehabilitation centre and training facilities for those who would like to reform.
Our future plans are to have a rehabilitation center with training facilities. Our wish would be to train them in plumbing, electricity, hair and beauty, dressmaking, catering, and house assistants. These trades are very demanding and lack expertise in society. Many employers are in need of house assistants, and the majority of young people despise these kinds of jobs. Our aim would also be to create awareness of these jobs that are readily available in the market and have little competition.
Let us partner together and change society for the better.
