Zakuani & Nyantabara

Hitching rides on long-distance trucks, and walking for many miles during the day, our client Zakuani* and his wife Nyantabara*, fled from Congo and arrived to Nairobi, Kenya in December 2014. Zakuani and his family fled Congo due to war waged by MaiMai militia after he witnessed the merciless killing of his own mother.

Four months after their arrival in Nairobi, Zakuani’s wife, Nyantabara, gave birth to a little girl, Zara*, who suffered from a serious medical condition, which required urgent reconstructive surgery on her colon. The family faced a dilemma of wanting to provide the absolute best care to their newborn baby, but being unable to afford the high costs of such a surgery. After numerous visits to public hospitals, the family was unable to find help. In January, RefugePoint formalized a partnership with the US based NGO Watsi, a crowd-sourced medical funding scheme where clients can connect with donors online in order to get assistance to pay for expensive medical treatments. When RefugePoint heard about Zara’s condition, our medical team flagged the case to Bethany Kids Hospital, Watsi’s implementing partner in Kenya. Zara received the necessary medical intervention and became RefugePoint’s first client to access the program.

With the first surgery completed, Zara is under observation and is scheduled to continue with treatment. “From the bottom of our hearts, we are more than thankful to RefugePoint for their help so far. You’re the only ones who came and saw our girl and were determined to help. We were so happy! We have faith and hope that she will be better because of the love you have shown us as a family. We are sure that when she’s old enough she will come to personally thank you. Thank you so much,” said Zakuani during a RefugePoint check-in visit. In addition to the medical services provided to Zara, RefugePoint conducted business skills training for Zakuani and gave him a small business grant which enabled him to start up a retail business selling African print fabrics called kitenge. Zakuani and his wife Nyantabara are now more peaceful and are able to better support themselves and their family’s needs as a result of their livelihoods activities. The couple works as a team, with Zakuani selling the fabric and his wife tailoring the fabric to create beautiful and fashionable traditional attire.

*Names changed for anonymity