Helping Hands (Pwani), a charitable organization based in Mombasa has embarked on a programme to help the most vulnerable communities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Helping Hands (Pwani) runs its operations through social media under the theme ‘together we can’.
According to the founders Habib Hakem and Kareem Mohamed, the organization was touched by the plight of the less fortunate members of the society since the outbreak of the pandemic.
They said the organization mainly works with the less fortunate in the society targeting Children’s Homes and needy households by assisting them with food aid, construction aid, health and education aid.
“Following the Covid-19 pandemic we started to provide food support to orphanage centers in the coastal region before expanding to other parts of the country,” said Hakem during an interview with Kenya News Agency in Mombasa on Monday.
Although the two hail from the coastal city of Mombasa, Hakem lives in Germany while Mohamed lives in the United Kingdom and they formed the charity organization during the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020.
The two decided to come together to cushion the impact of the pandemic on the less fortunate members of the society by trying to raise funds from well-wishers through social media platforms.
Hakem who is the patron of the charity initiative said they have organized a special fundraising through a food bazaar at the Makadara Grounds in Mombasa.
He said many companies and other well-wishers have positively responded to their special fundraising activities.
Mr. Mohamed says the organization’s mission is ‘To Change Lives and Uplift the People and Children of our Society.’
He says they envision developing this agenda by being accountable, transparent and loyal to its cause.
At the same time, the director of a local sanitary pad project Tariqa Ismail said they have partnered with the Helping Hands Organization under the banner ‘Red Dot Initiative’ which has since become its official sanitary pad campaign and menstrual hygiene management platform.
She said the campaign is aiming to raise money for ‘The Femme Self Care Hampers’ which are period kits meant for vulnerable adolescent girls in Mombasa County and its environs.
Ms. Tariqa says her team distributes femme self-care hampers to girls from poor families that sustain them for a period of two months.
She added that every girl deserves to have access to menstruation products saying lack of such hygiene requirements was a major problem among disadvantaged girls.
by Mohamed Hassan
