Our Vision

The concept of street kids in Africa is relatively new. The onslaught of AIDS has been a major factor in creating broken families and deprivation – a recipe that drives vulnerable individuals onto the street. The street offers hope in the form of street gangs – but a place in one of these has to be earned. Children often undergo fierce initiation trials such as sodomy or other forms of abuse. The gangs are run by pimps who take their pound of flesh – if the kids don’t ‘earn’ a minimum amount in cash or kind each day, they are ejected from the gang. At least there is some sense of belonging on the inside – and the pain is eased by the highs of cheap drugs and glue.

There is no easy escape route from a vicious circle that locks children early on in a dependent and abusive relationship. What they need is a safe and supportive environment that takes away the need to fight for survival so that their scars – mental and physical – have a chance to heal and they can learn the skills that will eventually get them a job and a future.
This is the vision of Naivasha Children Shelter. Our aim is to rehabilitate all the children in our care and enable them to integrate fully into the local community as good Kenyan citizens. Creating a supportive environment is an absolute priority; counselling, friendship and individual attention play a vital role in the healing process. The school curriculum focuses on basic education and vocational subjects like sewing and carpentry that will help get the boys into the workplace. Some of the boys go to the local Government school and we now have 5 boys in Secondary school. The shelter aspires to be as self-supporting as possible and all the boys are actively involved in ongoing projects on site including care of the vegetable patch, chickens and cows, as well as fund-raising activities like beadwork and other arts and crafts.

We measure our success by the number of boys that we get into jobs, by minimal return to the streets and by the sense of belonging that the boys feel, not just while they are at the shelter but even after they have left and gone on to become independent. The shelter is and will always be their family.

We are extremely thankful to all our donors, without them the Shelter would simply not exisit. Food, clothing, medicines, school fees, wages, security, electricity, insurance have to be paid every month in order for the Shelter to continue. Please consider this. Thank you