Tilobap Eunice Cheptoti

Life began far away in the highlands of Ol Jabet, Rumuruti, Laikipia County, where she was born on July 4, 1961. Growing up in a large household, resources were shared among many siblings.

When she reached school age, she attended Oljabet Primary School. She managed to push through her books until class seven before the school fees ran out completely, forcing her to drop out.

Leaving school meant returning to a rural routine of herding cattle and goats across the Laikipia plains. She eventually moved westward to Kakamega County.

There she met a partner, and together they welcomed two children, a son and a daughter, into the world. After constant disagreements, she chose to leave the home, returning to Amalemba on her own to figure out how to feed her young ones through odd jobs.

Survival in Kakamega led her to take up domestic work for an Indian family starting in 2001. For two decades, she spent her days scrubbing floors and washing clothes until her employer relocated in 2021 and her spine gave out from decades of continuous bending and heavy lifting.

Help arrived through connections forged years earlier at the Amalemba mosque, where she regularly worshipped alongside officials from the Mama Ibado Charity. The charity team stepped in to enroll her in the seniors program on December 4, 2023, providing monthly provisions including maize flour, sugar, cooking oil, tea leaves, porridge flour, and rice.

Reflecting on the transformation in her household, she shares how the burden has lifted from her shoulders. "Mama Ibado sustains me when I have nowhere else to turn, completely removing the constant worry of an empty stomach."

Today, she still faces profound challenges as she battles spinal damage and paralyzed legs that confine her mostly to the homestead, relying on her children to manage daily chores. She urgently needs continued support from donors to cover her medical treatments and ensure she and her children can maintain basic shelter and stability.