76-year old Dyson Donga from Malimba village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Symon in Neno district is a beneficiary of the Lean Season Response (LSR) programme, which is being implemented in the district. Having lost his spouse over the years, Dyson found himself living all alone in the outskirts of the hilly district. His situation was the reason he was registered as a beneficiary of the LSR intervention, which commenced in November 2019.
On 14th January 2020, a well-wisher called YONECO’s Tithandizane Toll-free National Helpline to report that Dyson had received K23,000 just like all the other beneficiaries, but his relatives forcefully took away K22,000 and left the vulnerable old man with just K1,000 for his survival. It was heartbreaking to hear the tragedy that had befallen the helpless Dyson, who did not even have hope that anyone would fight for him.
Against Dyson’s expectation, officers from YONECO, Police, Neno District Social Welfare and other key stakeholders visited his village to investigate the matter. The team established the facts of the case, located the relatives in question, and gave them 22nd January, 2020 as the deadline for them to return the money they had snatched from Dyson.
On 26th January, the case follow up team went back to witness Dyson getting back his money. The whole K22,000 was duly returned to the once helpless, vulnerable man – who almost shed tears as he could not believe that people he never knew actually did everything possible for him to reclaim his money.
At the end of it all, Dyson expressed gratitude for the cash support under Lean Season Response (LSR) programme. Dyson further extended his gratitude to the team that facilitated the recovery of his money, against his expectation.
