Friend –

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Nairobi suburb where she lives with her four children, Beatrice Achungo Mbendo says "life was good...Even if we couldn't afford a good diet, we had three meals a day."

The pandemic drastically changed things. Mbendo lost almost the entire $35 weekly income she earned cleaning and washing the clothes of her clients in the wealthier areas of town. She's now struggling to feed her children.

Mbendo was relying on money from friends, but in late October she received $71 in cash from Oxfam and a group of partner organizations. Cash helps her pay rent, buy food and soap, and cover medical expenses. In late October she delivered a healthy baby girl. She named her Tracy.

Friend – it's your support as a member of the Oxfam community that makes providing cash assistance to parents like Mbendo possible. Thanks to you, we're able to work with partners around the world to help families impacted by the COVID-19 economic crisis so they don't go hungry.

Read more about how we're supporting women in Kenya here.

Mbendo says her life changed the minute the government announced the first confirmed coronavirus case in the country. "All my employers called and cancelled on me."

Domestic workers like Mbendo have been particularly vulnerable in the COVID-19 pandemic as their ability to survive depends on a daily wage. She and thousands of female domestic workers in Kenya have been left without a source of income because their former clients are either too afraid of being infected with COVID-19 or can no longer afford domestic workers.

Mbendo also represents single mothers who struggle to provide for their families during this outbreak while also shouldering an increased load of unpaid care and domestic work at home – particularly if family members become ill.

Friend, thanks to the support of the Oxfam community, Oxfam and our partner organizations have provided nearly $1 million in aid to 11,328 vulnerable households in Nairobi to help them afford basic necessities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with so many households struggling, the group is looking to triple the number of families we can reach.

Want to contribute to the kind of work that tackles the root causes of poverty and injustice – and changes lives around the world? Our work is only possible because of the support of people like you. Make a donation today.