Two meetings were held in Nairobi and Kajiado Counties targeting the vulnerable and their empowerment on Thursday.
The first was a medical camp targeting widows, but also the general public at Nakeel grounds in Kajiado North Constituency. The second was a prayer meeting and food distribution exercise for widows at the House of Grace Church, Nairobi West.
The medical camp targeted 2,000 Kenyans who benefitted from medical services that included screening and checkups for cervical cancer, hypertension, diabetes, eye, and dental problems among others.
Widows empowered
The prayer meeting also had 600 widows in attendance from Embakasi, Kibra, and Kajido.
First Lady Kajiado County Edna Lenku was present during the two meetings and commended the initiatives of reaching the vulnerable. When reaching the widows in Kajiado, Pastor Dorcas has worked closely with FL Lenku, and the County Government of Kajiado, and they have engaged in goat keeping, bee keeping, and tree nursery establishment. The Loitoktok widows have also registered a Sacco.
She commended the widows for transitioning from a life of pitying themselves, to a life of entrepreneurship. The widows at House of Grace are engaged in tree nursery establishment, detergent making, snacks business, fruits and vegetables business, mat making, crocheting, and beadwork.
A guest from the US, who is also a widow, Dr Valerie Daniels-Carter, encouraged the widows to remain faithful in all they do, saying God can lift a widow from one place to another.
Other programs targeting widows are in Migori, Kilifi, Njoro, Bomet, and Embu Counties.
PWDs benefit too
Pius Waweru, a multiple beneficiary of the programs reaching the vulnerable under Pastor Dorcas, was wheeled to the Nakeel Grounds in Kajiado North Constituency at 10.00am.
He had come to benefit from the medical camp geared towards bringing health services closer to the people. Mr Waweru was using a wheelchair he received at ACK Hardy in Karen from Hope Mobility during an event targeting those with disabilities also organized by the spouse of the Deputy President.
Pastor Dorcas works closely with Hope Mobility Kenya to ensure that those with disabilities get the right fit for wheelchairs and according to their need, and not a one-size-fits-all arrangement.
She has distributed hundreds of assistive devices that include white canes and wheelchairs, and also dry foodstuffs to schools for those with disabilities.
Dorcas Rigathi Foundation
To push on with her philanthropic work targeting the vulnerable, Pastor Dorcas has a foundation – the Dorcas Rigathi Foundation (DRF). She began working with the vulnerable in the society, specifically widows in her 20s, as she studied at Kenyatta University. As a daughter of a widow, she found great joy in giving back to hundreds of widows having seen her mother, Virginia Ikinu, raise her children singlehandedly.
“My mother was a widow for 45 years,” she told more than 600 widows who were at the House of Grace Church.
Leaders acknowledge the work
MP Kajiado North Constituency, Onesmus Ngogoyo acknowledged the need to bring such health services closer to the people.
Kajiado Senator Seki Lenku noted that the programs touching the vulnerable had left an impact in the lives of the boy child, and widows.
The CEC Health, Alex Kilowua, called for the need of such medical camps in the rural parts of Kajiado County, which he said were quite expansive.
Dr Valerie Daniels-Carter appreciated being part of those bringing health and wellness in the area, saying this was the calling given to her by God, transforming lives.
Also present at the Kajiado medical camp were MCAs Maina Mutiga, Mbiriri Mwaura, Titus Matheka, and Eli Gor, National and County Government officers.
