David Ndichu

“I needed to go to the street every day to get scrap metal to sell as there was no food at home. My brother lives with uncle so I had to go.”

David is 15 years old and lives with his single mother and 6 siblings in Ruiru. He is currently in Standard 8 at a local primary school, Mukuyu Primary School.

He first came to the attention of AfCiC in 2005 as he was on the streets in Thika town and frequented the Outreach Center at Majengo. Since his mother could not provide food or items for school and she often physically abused him, David sought out help from others. From there he was taken to a school in Meru that he attended for two years until tuition was no longer available for free. He dropped out and returned to the streets where AfCiC again picked him up and put him into the interim care centre.

AfCiC then followed up with the family and David was taken to school. David’s mother is a casual labourer who depends greatly on work being available on the nearby coffee plantations. However the recent drought has made life more difficult as the coffee harvests are failing and casual work at the plantations is harder to find, making it seem necessary to David that he go back to the street. David and his siblings have not have contact with his father since they were young and he provides no support.

David is a very bright boy, and when he is at school he is hard working. But he is also a serious young man who feels responsible for the welfare of his family. As such he drops in and out of school to collect scrap metal that he sells in order to support them. David’s mother has become more caring toward her children yet she continues to struggle financially.

David is a quiet, dependable and polite young man who wants to learn. His brother, Robert, has recently earned a scholarship to attend one of Kenya’s top secondary school and David hopes to follow in Robert’s footsteps. He is a hardworking, able student who could do very well with the right environment. AfCiC would like to put him in a boarding school where he can get the structure and support that he needs to succeed.

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The cost of David’s education at boarding school is £60 a month or £700 a year. If you are interested in helping David please email the Sponsorship Coordinator using sponsorship@actionchildren.org.