Kenyan Mom of Eight Receives Donations After ‘Cooking’ Stones for Her Starving Kids

(Illustration - Sopotnicki/Shutterstock)

Amid the spreading CCP virus pandemic, a Kenyan community has rallied to the aid of a widow found cooking stones for her eight starving children in an effort to convince them that she was preparing dinner.

Peninah Bahati Kitsao, who lives in the village of Mishomoroni in Mombasa County, Kenya, resorted to boiling stones in the hope that her children would fall into a peaceful sleep in anticipation of their next meal, reported Tuko, a Kenyan digital news platform.

Peninah, 45, lost her husband in 2019 after he was attacked by a gang of robbers, the report said. The widow, who lives with her eight children—aged between 28 years and 5 months—in a two-bedroom house without water or electricity, previously earned money washing laundry until the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, prompted social distancing restrictions.

Peninah’s neighbor Prisca Momanyi, a psychotherapist, decided to intervene after hearing the widow’s children crying. She alerted the media in late April 2020 after being shocked by her neighbor’s desperate attempt to assuage her children’s hunger.

“I was so heartbroken after seeing a widow and a fellow woman going through such difficulties,” Prisca told Tuko. “I had to find a way of assisting her, and after speaking to authorities, I resorted to social media which has played a very big role.”

Peninah later opened up to NTV Kenya that her hungry children had not been deceived by her cooking ruse for long. “They started telling me that they knew I was lying to them,” she said, “but I could do nothing because I had nothing.”

The poverty-stricken mother said that life had become “unbearable.”

After the news of Peninah’s plight spread, numerous food donations were gifted from local well-wishers. Prisca even purchased a cell phone and opened a bank account for her neighbor, who cannot read or write, through which the widow is now able to receive monetary donations.

Peninah described the public’s generosity as a miracle. “I didn’t believe that Kenyans can be so loving after I received phone calls from all over the country asking how they may be of help,” Peninah said.

The jubilant mom, still learning how to use her first cell phone, amused onlookers by lifting the phone to her ear without pressing the “receive” button first.

The widow’s 13-year-old son, Charo Kaingu, told Tuko that he was “so excited” to be able to afford food again. He hoped that one day he would be able to pay it forward by helping someone else in dire need.

“In the future, I would like to become a mechanic and earn from it to take care of my mother and siblings,” he said. “Hopefully a good Samaritan will come my way and take me to school.”

The county government of Mombasa has a food relief scheme in place during the global CCP virus pandemic; however, Peninah had yet to receive aid when her neighbor discovered her boiling stones to sate her children. According to Daily Nation, relief workers arrived by April 30 to deliver much-needed supplies to Peninah and other members of the village.

Redcross Chairman Mahmoor Noor explained that the relief program is “targeting the vulnerable” and aims to deliver essential supplies to 12,000 Mombasa County households by the middle of May 2020.

Tuko posted an update on Facebook on April 30, announcing that Peninah “can now smile after receiving overwhelming support from Kenyans.”

“Peninah, aged 45, says she can now confidently afford a three-day meal, something that has been a dream to her since the death of her husband in June 2019,” the post read. Peninah told the Kenyan news outlet that she was “excited beyond imagination.”

Thanks to the care and intervention of her community and a plethora of generous donors, the poverty-stricken mother now has the means to take care of her family.