My name is Njenep, an 89-year-old male who was born and raised in northern Kenya within a nomadic family. Our way of life involves moving from one place to another in search of water and pasture for both humans and livestock.
I spent my childhood herding our family's livestock and, as a result, I wasn't able to acquire any formal education that would have helped me to gain diversified employable skills. Later on, I was initiated into young adulthood where my role was to protect our community and herd livestock. Eventually, I got married and spent most of my time raising my family.
My community and family depend entirely on livestock as our primary source of livelihood. However, due to climate change-induced droughts, our economic situation has significantly worsened. We recently experienced a severe drought that swept away all our livestock, leading to tough economic times. As a result, I now rely on very scarce manual jobs within the community to put food on the table.
I am, therefore, kindly appealing for support from well-wishers through capacity building on climate-smart agriculture, livestock restocking, and insurance premiums for the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). This support will enable my family and me to access improved food security and nutrition, much-needed healthcare, and hence improve the quality of my life.