Elderly Persons
OFEAS: Protecting and Empowering Kenya’s Forgotten Elders
Our program offers a range of activities, including social, health, educational, financial, and legal activities, designed to address the needs of the elderly in Kenya. We believe that every elderly person deserves a fulfilling life, and we are committed to making this a reality.
Our Commitment to the Elderly
FEAS stands with Kenya’s elderly population – society’s most vulnerable yet most overlooked members. In a nation where traditional family structures are crumbling under economic pressures, we serve as the last line of defense for grandparents abandoned to face poverty, illness, and violence alone.
The Plight of Our Elders
Physical and Medical Neglect
Many elderly in rural communities suffer from untreated chronic conditions – arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension – with no access to basic healthcare. Painful mobility issues go unaddressed, forcing some to crawl for water or medicine. Those living with HIV/AIDS face particular stigma, often denied treatment as “too old to matter.”
Economic Abandonment
Pension systems fail to reach most rural elders, leaving them destitute. Many are forced to continue backbreaking farm work into their 80s. Worse, some families confiscate elders’ land titles, evicting them from ancestral homes to claim property.
Violence and Witchcraft Accusations
At night, armed gangs specifically target elderly households knowing they can’t fight back. Tragically, some communities blame elders for misfortunes – drought, disease, or death – leading to brutal attacks and banishments.
OFEAS’s Comprehensive Elder Care Program
Medical Intervention and Mobile Clinics
Our specialized geriatric units travel village-to-village providing free screenings, pain management, and HIV treatment. We train community health workers in elder care basics and establish medicine deposit points in remote areas.
Economic Empowerment Initiatives
We help elders secure legal land rights and create senior cooperatives for collective farming. Our micro-grant program funds small businesses suited for seniors – beekeeping, basket weaving, or poultry keeping – restoring both income and dignity.
Safety and Social Protection
OFEAS builds elder-safe housing with grab bars and emergency alarms. We organize village watch groups to protect isolated seniors and mediate family disputes over property rights. Our awareness campaigns combat harmful stereotypes about aging.
Intergenerational Healing Programs
We pair orphans with surrogate grandparents, creating new family bonds. School children visit elders to record oral histories, preserving wisdom while fostering respect across generations.
A Call to Honor Our Elders
These programs represent more than charity – they’re about restoring the sacred social contract that values every life stage. OFEAS invites all Kenyans to join our movement to ensure no elder spends their final years in hunger, pain, or fear.
Why This Matters
Elders are living libraries of traditional knowledge, the glue of communities, and deserving of dignity. By protecting them, we preserve our cultural heritage while modeling the kind of compassionate society we all hope to grow old in. Their wellbeing is the truest measure of our nation’s humanity.
Every medical visit, every secured land title, every protected night’s sleep represents our collective promise: that in Kenya, growing old will never mean being left behind.