Cash transfers help families affected by COVID-19
55-year-old Tereyian Nkanoni lives in Enderkesi village in Kajiado County, Kenya. As a mother of 6, she mainly relies on rain to be able to farm and get food for her family. She earns some extra income to buy extra food by selling milk from her to cows. “Before corona, we would go to town, do some work and earn something small to be used at home,” Tereyian says. “Now we no longer get that extra income since we just stay at home. I have also used up all the savings I had.”
“Girls are married off so that the family can get money or cattle to survive. But I haven’t even thought of marrying off my daughters,” Tereyian tells. “I still live with them in my house, even though we are facing so many hardships.”
“When schools closed, I was disappointed because I had my own goals to achieve this year,” says 17-year-old Nashipae Nkanoni, one of Tereyian’s daughters. “Here at home, once I am done with my chores, all I do is sit.” Nashipae is in her second-to-last year in secondary school and the oldest in her family. “I fear harmful cultural practices such as FGM and early marriages because I do not see any benefits to me,” she adds on. Especially during hardships, Nashipae has witnessed these practices happen in other families in the village.
When emergencies occur, such as drought or the COVID-19 pandemic, most families in Kajiado County tend to marry off their under aged daughters to get dowry to be used as extra income to buy food and other commodities. To mitigate this, UNICEF partnered with the Kajiado County Government to educate the community on the harm of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early child marriage. During the COVID-19 pandemic and through the National Safety Net program, families received cash transfers to cushion them.
Trans.Lieu was engaged to produce this feature human-interest story of the ongoing COVID-19 response activities supported by UNICEF. Our crew interacted with Tereyian and her daughter Nashipae in Kajiado to know and understand how they cope with this pandemic.
Client: UNICEF Kenya
Services: Video production and photography
Year: 2021