Dear President Ruto, I hope before you sleep you think about us! Open letter from teens affected by the floods
Floods came and passed. For adolescent girls, the onset of the heavy overflow was the beginning of unseen trouble. The end of the flooding didn’t change anything for the better.
Instead, the damage caused has added additional costs for repair and rebuilding their lives. How to cover those costs is an answer they are seeking from President William Ruto. I spoke to two of them and these are their letters to Ruto.
Ladasha, 17
Dear President Ruto, I hope before you sleep you think about us.
My mother had rented me a single iron-sheet room here in Mathare, a slum in Nairobi County, where I lived with my one-year-old daughter.
Then in April, the floods swept away all my belongings. I was lucky to be rescued by men and hosted by a friend whose house was spared.
As I speak right now (May 20,2024), I’m not wearing a panty or a bra. These clothes I’m wearing are the only ones I have. I haven’t eaten since yesterday night (we spoke at midday), yet I’m breastfeeding.
I’m so hungry. My daughter got a few clothes from my friend. As for me, I feel helpless. What will I do when my menses come? My friend is already tired of hosting me. This is Mathare and life is hard.
Getting a hustle is itself a competition and people pay you as if they are doing you a favour, despite the fact that you have worked hard for the money.
Dear President, you said you would give Sh10,000 to those who were displaced, although you said the money would only be given to the 40,000 households evicted from the riparian lands.
You may say I can’t be given the money because I don’t have an identity card, but what am I going to do? I need the money to rent a house in another place and start a samosa selling business to feed myself and my child.
I want my daughter to have a future. I don’t want her to suffer like I have suffered. My mother doesn’t have a regular income. She does menial jobs to survive. Please help me.
Nusra, 15
How are you my dear President? I live in Makina in Kibra, a slum in Nairobi County. You may not know this but during the rainy season, my menses last longer. Instead of four days, they last six days and are usually heavy.
I have to change pads twice every hour. You can imagine how costly that is to my mother. She usually buys me a pack of eight pads going for Sh80.
In just four hours, I have finished one pack. If you do the sum, it’s a lot of money. I’m distraught because the floods affected my mother’s business. She has been out of business since April. She used to run a fast-food joint near the drainage where the floods were washing away whatever they would find.
What is going to happen to me and my three other siblings? Please, help my mother revive her business. We don’t have a daddy. We only have our mother to depend on. Please help her.