By Marion Kwambai

Godfrey Eimun, 42, lives in Turkana County Northern Kenya with his wife and eight children. He works at the Chief’s office and also chairs the community water and farming committees. His community has about 4,360 people whose main form of livelihood is farming through canal irrigation from River Turkwel.

Eimun said he first heard about COVID-19 in December last year when it was first reported in Wuhan. He heard about it on radio and has been following the news until he heard that the virus is now in Kenya.

“We are just recovering from a prolonged drought, in most households the food situation is still not stable and this pandemic has brought a lot of fear amongst us and uncertainty in our livelihoods. It is threatening our survival especially that of our children,” said Eimun.

Chronic marginalisation has left Turkana with a dearth of basic services. The pandemic can be further aggravated by pre-existing issues in the county such as limited access to health and nutrition service, poor childcare practices, high illiteracy and poverty.

“Our children have no means of alternative learning since the Government directed all schools to be closed and children stay at home either playing and helping out with house chores. We are also worried about their food security since markets have been closed and we are not able to sell our animals to get money for food,” he said.

He fears that once they have completed the food stock they currently have then they will not know what to do.

Save the Children together with the County Government of Turkana has been conducting community outreaches and house to house visits to create awareness on COVID-19.

“We are distributing hand sanitizers, disinfectants, and soap and handwashing stations in the county. We have rehabilitated boreholes for communities to access safe water and have also supported health facilities receive water in Kibish and Turkana sub counties. We are supporting cash transfers to households with malnourished children in Turkana North to cushion families from the impact the pandemic has had on markets and food supplies,” said Bernard Ekidor, Save the Children Emergency Response Coordinator.

Eimun said that he now has to cope with the new way of life that has changed since the pandemic started.

“All social gatherings such as weddings have been cancelled, barazas, markets and animal auctions have been closed,” he said

So far there have been no cases reported in Turkana County. The Ministry of health has set up an isolation centre at the Lodwar County Referral Hospital to combat the pandemic.

So far, the country has reported 374 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the country.