Renowned author Roy Bennet wrote, "Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people."
In the spirit of being a neighbour's keeper, journalists in Kakamega went beyond the call of duty of highlighting the plight of a widow in the area who had been living in a house with nylon walls to make her abode more livable.
The scribes led by KBC's Fredrick Mukhamwi had reported on her story where the woman, Mama Dorina, whose husband had died years ago led a destitute life in a shanty structure.
"We found her living in a structure that was not fitting and beyond reporting, we decided to take action on it as well," Mukhamwi explained.
The reporters made a point of initiating a WhatsApp group where they raised money for her home renovation. A total of 60 journalists contributed and the team on the ground set out to put up a new structure for the widow.
The building of a decent structure took two weeks as they put up the walls, insert a door and put new iron sheets for the roof.
On her part, Mama Dorina could not hide her excitement for the kind gesture highlight the troubles she faced living in the shanty including fearing for her safety.
"The house used to be cold because I did not have walls and I used to get very sick because of that. These journalists found me when I was heading towards dying," the widow recalled.
The journalists added that they were still in the process of furnishing the home by getting supplies for Mama Dorina.
Mukhamwi noted that widows in the areas had been neglected despite government programmes that had been set up to look into their welfare.
"The funds like Inua Jamii are not getting to those who need it most because of corruption and inefficiencies in the government agencies that are supposed to disburse these funds," he stated.
The neighbours also expressed gratitude to the journalists for their humanitarian work in the area.
