Special
Plans by the Nakuru County government to roll out a stipend for the severely disabled and street families, is at an advanced stage, even as some diverse families decried discrimination.
The County Executive for Gender and Social Services, Josephine Achieng, has said that the special stipend to be extended to those with severe disability will complement that of the national government, but only extended to the neediest cases within the county.
Achieng said the special fund will target those who largely depended on care givers for survival. “We have a programme that has been at the committee stage targeting street families, to have them treated, rehabilitated, trained and reintegrated back to the community including resettling them in their respective families.
“The programme will also seek to empower them with skills for economic activities that can help them fend for themselves,” she added. The CEC also said that the programme that will profile the families, will seek to flag out more needy cases and help them settle appropriate, while reuniting truants to their respective parents and guardians.
“Those who were sent to the streets as a result of poverty, we will be catered for, while those who as a result of truancy, ran away from home will be reunited.” She regretted the dumping of street families in Nakuru County, noting that there was an influx of the desolate, making it hard for the city to realize 24-hour economy, just like Eldoret and other towns.
Achieng spoke when she joined families in Nakuru in marking the day of the family, in which various families, including the street families, called for inclusivity. Joy Kamau, an advocate at Better Lives Organization in Nakuru, condemned the mis-definition of the family unit that has brought about discrimination and violence in families.
“We speak and stand against groups, who are making it hard for our brothers and sisters to be part of the family despite them not being the traditionally defined nuclear family of a biological father, mother and their biological children,” she added.
The advocate, while defining true African families as being diverse and ranging from monogamous, polygamous, blended also called for inclusivity for those who held different opinions of the same.
“We are celebrating the true family values of love, compassion and support for all family members no matter what their beliefs, lifestyles, choices and economic status,” said Kamau, while lashing at religious leaders and politicians they regarded as hypocrites who were silent when families suffered violence”.
Reproductive Health Champion Organization (HCO) Coordinator, Martin Lunalo, added that the various families were unique, citing the need to respect the many versions represented in the society.
“There exists various forms of families including blended, adopted, family by choice, with the need to have family friendly policies in place for inclusivity,” added Lunalo.
This day was commemorated under the theme, ‘Families and Climate Change’, in a bid to raise awareness on how families can be affected by climate change, with the need for families to play an active role in mitigating the change.