ONTD_Political's PotD: October 16, 2010.
In Focus: [Nairobi's] Elderly
(All photos: ROBERTO SCHMIDT | AFP/Getty Images)
A group of senior citizens come together in song and prayer as they begin a meeting they normally hold every week to discuss the earnings of a community charcoal and animal feed store they manage as a group, neighborhood issues and other social matters that pertain to their elderly people support group in the upgraded slum of Ngendo in the outskirts of Nairobi. The group numbers some 50 members who share responsibilities among the group, like tending to their shop, visiting sick elders, running group errands and organizing community activities. A member of the group said that the group's activities are very important to them because is "binds" them. For the most part, the elderly of the group lack the support of a traditional family structure and are on their own when it comes to making a living and paying for their medical bills.
Two members of a community support group for senior citizens count the group's contribution to a "merry-go-round" donation sum during the group's weekly meeting in the upgraded slum of Ngendo in the outskirts of Nairobi.
Seventy-eight-year-old Lilian Njoki (3rd R) meets two neighborhood friends (R) before an elderly support group meeting in the upgraded slum of Ngendo.
Members of a community support group for senior citizens bend over a pile of charcoal as they fill small containers with coal that will be sold in the community animal feed store they manage.
Seventy-eight-year-old Lilian Njoki (L) carries a load of grass on her head past a neighbor's house near her rented wooden hut she calls home. Lilian who was voted as the chairperson of an elderly support group by her peers and who seems to have an endless source of energy says she has a "god given gift of being happy in spite of her problems and struggles".
Seventy eight-year old Lilian Njoki (R) feeds grass to the three sheep she owns near her rented wooden hut (not seen) she calls home in the upgraded slum of Ngendo.
Sister Evelyn (C), a Christian charity social worker speaks to a small group of elderly people inside the group's charcoal and feed store. The group numbers some 50 members who share responsibilities among the group, like tending to their shop, visiting sick elders, running group errands and organizing community activities.
Eighty-year-old Josephine Napkonde (L) tries to mend her road side hut as four of the five children she is raising mill around her in the Dagoretti upgraded slum of Ngendo. Napkonde found herself raising several children from her family on her own after her husband died and her daughter passed away after contracting AIDS. Napkonde sells charcoal, shirts and trousers on her roadside stall to earn some money so she can afford paying for food, clothing, medical bills and other needs that arise from upbringing five children under the age of ten.
Virginia Wanjiru (L), 79, props herself up on her cane as she watches her friend Lilian (R) leave her home after a short visit on September 29, 2010. Virginia, who belongs to a support group of some 47 elderly people finds it hard to participate in the group's activities since she slipped and fell in her home injuring her already weakened leg bones. Virginia lives in a wooden hut with no proper flooring. When it rains the slippery clay floor makes it tricky for her to move around. Lilian (R) and other members of the elderly group make a point in visiting her often.
Virginia Wanjiru, 79, leans her head on her hand as she sits inside the wooden hut she calls home.
Sister Evelyn (C), a Christian charity social worker walks among a senior citizens support group she manages as they head to a trade fair.
Francis Kaguma (L), a member of a senior citizens support group speaks about crops with other members of his group as they watch produce cultivation being displayed during a group's outing at a trade fair near the upgraded slum of Ngendo which they call home in the outskirts of Nairobi.
A member of a senior citizens support group takes a close look at a set of false teeth at a booth promoting dental services for a local hospital as she and other members of the group visited a trade fair near the upgraded slum of Ngendo.
Members of a senior citizens support group listen carefully to the explanation given to them on how to filter bottles of water using the suns ultra-violet rays as they visit a trade fair.
Sister Evelyn (R), a Christian charity social worker speaks to an elderly man working a plot of land (background) and interested in joining a senior citizens support group managed by the sister.
Hanah Ruguru, 80, shows one of the chickens she owns while standing inside her wooden hut that she calls home. Hanah belongs to an elderly persons support group in her neighborhood and was given one chicken by a Christian charity. Hanah now owns several chickens and sews baskets and repacks tea leaves that she sells in her neighbourhood as she struggles to make a living by herself.
Seventy eight-year old Lilian Njoki laughs heartily as she sits in a rented wooden hut she calls home in the upgraded slum of Ngendo in the outskirts of Nairobi. Lilian who was voted as the chairperson of an elderly support group by her piers and who seems to have an endless source of energy says she has a "god given gift of being happy in spite of her problems and struggles". She adds that " People hate to live near people who are moody and with low spirit. When you are happy you have more friends". Lilian who now lives alone and lives off 3 sheep and some ducks she takes care off, recently lost her daughter to an infection and now faces the struggle of paying off a hospital bill that ballooned to a sum of 40,000 Kenyan shillings (500 usd).
Source: "Nairobi Elderly" | In Focus | Denver Post