Helping Widows Eke a Living: From Grief to Growth in Bondo

By Kepher Otieno - Reporter

Kenya, December 29 2025 - In Bondo, Siaya County, Nyanza, widowhood once wore the face of silence in the villages. It sat quietly in homesteads, lingered in empty granaries and followed women on long walks to uncertain tomorrow. It was heavy, isolating and unforgiving. But today, widowhood in Bondo and rest of Nyanza is changing its posture or face, thanks to PS interior ministry Dr Raymond Omollo widow empowerment initiative.

The widows Empowerment is standing upright, learning new social and capital skills, counting savings and speaking with confidence. This transformation did not happen by chance. To some widows it's Gods who heard their voice of sorrow and sobs.

Today, through widows’ empowerment initiatives that have taken root across the Bondo constituency and across Nyanza, loss is slowly being reshaped into livelihood, and grief into purpose.

The widows programmes focus on skills development, economic empowerment and social support—giving widows the tools to rebuild their lives with dignity and self-reliance. According to Victor Ayugi, the national widows empowerment programme coordinator, thousands of widows across the country have benefited from the widows initiative.

“This programme has restored lives that were completely desperate,” Ayugi explains. Many widows now have houses and some have started businesses. “We have walked into homes where hope had died, and today those same homes are centres of activity, income and renewed purpose.” Ayugi narrates.

Widowhood remembers Janet Achieng’ well. It met her eight years ago, the night her husband died, as her bills piled up and four children waited for answers she did not have. This includes lack of a proper shelter. For years, it whispered doubt into her ear. Then empowerment arrived—quietly at first—through training, seed capital and group support.

Today, Achieng runs a thriving fish business. Widowhood now watches as she pays school fees, plans expansions and advises other women. “I am no longer surviving,” Achieng said. “I am building.” Ayugi says such stories are not isolated. “From the coast to the lake region, widows are starting small businesses, forming savings groups and reclaiming their dignity,” he noted.

Ayugi says:“The kindness of this programme is in its consistency—it does not appear once and disappear.” Widowhood also once sat heavily on Milly Awino who lost not only her husband but her sense of belonging. It isolated her from neighbours and buried her confidence. But within a widows’ table-banking group, widowhood loosened its grip.

“We save together, we lend each other, we laugh,” Awino says. “I found sisters. I found strength.” The programmes do more than generate income. They teach financial literacy, encourage collective savings and provide psychosocial support. They acknowledge that healing must walk alongside empowerment.

Interior Principal Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo has been a central force behind this shift. To him, empowerment is not charity; it is restoration. “When we empower widows, we are correcting a historical imbalance,” Dr Omollo said. “We are giving them back their voice, their productivity and their rightful place in society.”

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The impact of the initiative stretches far beyond Bondo. It's happening all over Nyanza region and other parts of the country.Dr Omollo believes this balance is essential. “Economic support without emotional healing is incomplete,” he explained. “True empowerment restores hope.”

He spoke as he rallied Nyanza leaders led by Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga Odinga- during a widows empowerment program that raised over Sh10 million towards their development course. Widowhood learned this lesson again in Rose Akello, who once avoided eye contact and public spaces.

Training in vegetable garden and market access changed that. Now, widowhood watches as Akello stands behind her display vegetables, confidently selling her natural proceed in local markets and greeting customers, beaming with joy than before.

“I used to hide,” She recalls. “Now I am seen—and respected.” Many call mama mboga. Others mama 'Rech' because I also ventured into selling samaki alot. Things have changed. For Ayugi, continuity is the heart of the initiative. “This is not a one-off project,” he said. “The PS is committed to seeing widows grow over time. Kindness, when sustained, becomes development.”

Across Bondo and other parts of the country, widowhood is being redefined. It is no longer synonymous with dependency or despair. It is becoming a chapter of resilience. Community leaders note the change in small but powerful ways—children staying in school, households becoming stable, widows speaking up in local forums.

The ripple effects extend beyond individual families into the fabric of the community. “This is how development becomes real,” Dr Omollo said. “When the most vulnerable rise, everyone rises with them.” As evening falls in Bondo and Nyanza region, widowhood no longer retreats into shadows. It walks home with purpose, carrying ledger books, harvests and renewed belief.

In this place—and increasingly across the country—widowhood has learned to hope again, thanks to great and sustained efforts by authorities in the government and leaders working closely with PS Omollo to serve humanity. The impact is echoing across Nyanza region and other parts of the country so far reached as the program targets thousands more ahead of 2027.

Ayugi says they are working closely with the provincial administrators and leaders and the community opinion shapers or leaders to identify the deserving cases. They then carry out physical visors to their homes before they take action. Through the program, more than 20,000 have benefited from the Widows Empowerment Program, which is patronized by PS Omollo and coordinated by Ayugi.

The initiative has reached 377 widow groups across 42 counties in Kenya.The program provides a range of support, including: Housing where more than 26 widows have received newly constructed, permanent homes.

Financial support: The program has deployed over KSh 200 million to assist in various activities including livelihood support where Widows receive resources like food items, water tanks, furniture, and fruit tree seedlings to boost their economic activities and food security.
In Education: Over 600 orphans from widow-led households have received educational support, and 250 youths are sponsored for a German language course at Tom Mboya University, opening doors to global employment opportunities.
Psychosocial support: The program also offers counseling and legal guidance to help widows rebuild their lives with dignity.