As famine continues to bite several families across the country, a school in Juja Sub County has been hard hit with more than 200 pupils dropping out of school due to starvation.
George Mimi, the head teacher, Nyacaba Primary school that has over 1,900 pupils said most of their learners come from poor backgrounds that can hardly afford meals.
He said most of the learners live under the care of their grandparents as their parents died, or have neglected their roles as a result of alcoholism, making it difficult for them to afford meals.
He said the situation has made the learners miss classes and that revelations by the pupils on the situations back at their homes have been disheartening.
“The situation in this school needs attention. Most of the learners live with their grandparents who can hardly afford to take care of them. From their revelations, they rarely afford to take two meals. Their concentration levels and performance is low and needs intervention,” said Mimi.
The area, host to several quarries, is known for high uptake of illicit brews.
Mimi rooted for the introduction of a sustainable feeding programme at the remotely located school to retain the learners in the classrooms.
The dire situation has prompted area leaders led by nominated MP Trizah Wanjiru to initiate a feeding programme in the school located at a semi-arid quarry mining area.
Wanjiru, who was accompanied by Kiambu Woman Representative Anne Wamuratha distributed relief food to the hungry residents saying they intend to come up with a feeding programme in the school.
The legislator who was born and raised in the village vowed to mobilize resources to ensure that learners are well-fed to continue with their studies uninterrupted.
On her part, Wamuratha called on the government and well-wishers to continue distributing relief food to Kiambu County saying most of its population is starving.
“Those saying Kiambu County is rich and well-endowed in terms of resources don’t get it. We are suffering like other counties and our people are equally affected and need relief food,” said Wamuratha.
She said while the government has tried to distribute relief food, permanent solutions on food security are needed to make the country sustainable even when the rains fail or delay.
She rooted for irrigation agriculture through drilling of water pans, dams and boreholes across the country to facilitate enough food production.
By Muoki Charles
