On a Thursday mid-morning, a Nakuru-based supermarket has a group of shoppers, who seem unusually excited.
There is a person with a list bearing their names who ticks as each one of them enters the supermarket for shopping.
Outside the supermarket, as they come out each with a package of mainly foodstuffs, the shoppers then pick an envelope.
These are beneficiaries of aid being offered by a Nakuru-based multi-denominational organisation which has come to the rescue of workers who have lost their jobs due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
BENEFICIARIES
Reaching Out Communities Kenya (ROCK) Bridge Ministries has for the last two months been buying food for 50 people, most of whom lost their jobs especially in the hospitality industry.
According to its founder Zablon Kuria, who is also the executive director, the organisation will be buying food for the affected people in the list of its beneficiaries for at least six months as long as they continue being affected by the crisis.
Speaking as he organised for the second round of shopping, Mr Kuria said he was concerned about people whose jobs were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“ROCK Bridge Ministries has a department called Workplace Ministries and this is where we have been for years, meeting these employees,” explained Kuria
Workplace Ministries, he adds, takes the gospel to employees and employers in 30 small and medium sized companies within Nakuru. Most of these companies are hotels which have since closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
WALK THE TALK
“It is now time for the ministry to walk its talk by demonstrating practically what has been preached orally,” says Mr Kuria
Seated in his house one day, Mr Kuria says he thought about the employees whose jobs had been affected and kept seeing an image of hungry families.
He contacted two pastors who work under Workplace Ministries, asking them to give a list of workers who had lost their jobs and what they needed most.
In 24 hours, a total of 44 people had submitted their names, almost all of them speaking in unison, yet separately, they needed food.
In what he terms as an act of faith, he wrote to his friends and partners locally and in the USA explaining the fate of these employees who had suddenly lost their jobs.
“The first response came from a Kenyan who lives in the USA who sent USD50 (Sh5,300),” says Kuria, adding that the second donation came from an American friend who sent double that amount. He says he has now raised enough to assist the affected workers for six months.
BENEFICIARIES JOY
Beneficiaries could hardly hide their joy, saying this gesture had saved their families from starving in these times of uncertainty.
“I am so happy to know that I have food for my family for at least one month. I lost my job in March as soon as the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the country,” said Jenifer Videva who worked as a hotel cleaner.
A mother of one, Ms Videva hopes for a day when she too will be in a position to feed a family, just as she is being fed at this time of crisis.
Another beneficiary, Ms Maureen Orina said her job was affected by the fact that tourists are no longer coming to Kenya .
Ms Orina worked for a company which sews bags with tourists as the target market, but she, like many others in the sector, has been affected.
Each of the beneficiaries is allowed to shop for essentials worth Sh2,700 and is also given Sh300 in cash every moth.
“There have been many requests by more people to be listed as beneficiaries in this programme but the budget allows for the current number,” says Mr Kuria.
He has urged well-wishers to be mindful of the needy at a time when many people have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the hospitality industry and in the informal settlements.