The responsible citizens of Malindi, gathered under the auspices of the Progress Welfare Association of Malindi, have put in place the first of the future initiatives to combat the food emergency that is beginning to affect so many families in the town, as the low season and closure of the borders in County Kilifi overlap. Without tourism and with trade reduced to a minimum, there are many who have no more than enough to feed themselves, waiting for the minimum that with the rains can come from the cornfields.
But it's not just food sustenance that increases the daily misery of the local population: there is a lack of money to buy all sorts of comforts, from detergents and soap to medicines.
So PWAM with the help of Malindikenya.net, the Kenya Association of Women in Tourism (KAWT) and many generous external donors, including Italians Roberta Lar, Pasquale Pes, Daniele Tiritò, Rita Leo as well as Dr. Harry Mwimali, Amon Kiarie and Vivien Wallus, has reached an agreement with the supermarket chain Tuskys that will provide vauchers for monthly expenses that will go to the neediest families and associations of local workers who have been orphaned by tourism. Then there are real orphans, such as the case reported to us of five children from 8 to 16 years old who have recently lost their mother and have been fatherless for years. They live in a village outside Malindi and the only person who could take care of them is their grandmother, who is blind.
She is the first family to benefit from the vauchers we have arranged, but the bulk of the first donations went to the organized group of women working on the beach in Silversand. They are not only united in an association, but have always collaborated to keep the coast clean and they are against any form of insistence and harassment against tourists, trying to prevent it and discourage the so-called "beach boys" from practicing it.
Thirty vauchers for grocery shopping, from 1750 shillings each, went to the "mama", some of which immediately started shopping, as illustrated by our video.
Thanks to the agreement with Tuskys and his Malindi branch manager Edwin Nyaqwama who joined us with a personal contribution, we will be able to go ahead with the donations and we are sure that the money we get will be spent for the emergency. In order to donate to a family with a minimum of continuity, we are asking for a contribution of 35 euros or 4000 shillings.

This is not, of course, and fortunately, the only initiative of Malindina organisations for the food emergency. In addition to the collections of the Red Cross, very active is the NGO Karibuni which, thanks to the newfound collaboration with the Diocese of Malindi, yesterday delivered over a ton of flour, almost 600 kg of beans in addition to 150 liters of liquid soap, packs of tampons, eggs, bananas and bags and more. Thanks to Karibuni and his Italian donors, 100 families will now have food and help for almost a month.