How I am picking up the pieces

My name is Felisters Ndirangu, I am 38 years old  and a mother of four– three boys and a girl. 

I used to run a private kindergarten, Little Lambs Day Dare, before Covid-19 pandemic struck, but I had to shut it down when I could afford to pay for the premises I had rented.

I started the day care in September 2014. It all started when I was running a shop in Eastleigh.

One evening I was walking home from the shop and suddenly I heard a voice of a baby crying in a dumpsite.

 When my friend and I reported the matter to the police, no one came forth to claim the girl and I opted to adopt her.

So here I was, a housewife, running my shop with four children. I had to look for a way to earn extra money and that’s how  I got the idea to start a day care . 

 Unfortunately, my husband died when the day care had 12 children in 2014. 

Current situation

I had to think outside the box and started hawking stuff online to sustain myself and supplement the income I got from the day care.

In 2015 I upgraded the day care and made the services comfortable and affordable to people around the area.

The kindergarten grew from 12 and admitted 70 children in one term after a year. 

By the time Covid-19 hit I had 220 children in the day care. But now, the premise I was renting was shut because I couldn’t afford to pay rent and the owner still has all my furniture.

I don’t know if I’ll recover anything given that the furniture has been there for six months. I am worried.

I don’t want to think what I’ll do and if the current situation doesn’t change. I sold my shop to cater for the bills and also due to losses I incurred. 

I started a tours company three months ago and though it still hasn’t picked, I hope for the best.