Providing Sanctuary

The majority of street children have been forced onto life on the streets through abject poverty, neglect, child abuse and family breakdown. Quite simply, street life seems to them to be their only means of survival. On the streets, they are exposed to drugs, violence, sexual abuse and communities that despise them through lack of understanding of their experiences and reasons for coming to the streets. Many have been affected by bereavement and resort to glue-sniffing to escape the emotional pain and hunger that pervade their daily lives.

Day Care Centre

Rescuing children from the dangerous environment of the streets and offering them access to a safe environment is only the first step on the long road to recovery, but it is nonetheless a crucial one.

Through our Outreach Work and Street Children's Day Care Centre in Thika, Kenya, we help children wishing to make a break from street life with the opportunity to do so. At the Day Centre, staff begin the identification and rehabilitation process of street children, and start to understand and address the individual needs of each child.

In summary, the main purposes of the Day Care Centre are:

Identification of street children in Thika Town and other areas of Thika through weekly outreach work and on-going monitoring and evaluation work
Rehabilitation of street children through family liaison and mediation work, non formal education (basic literacy & numeracy), skills training, counselling.
Referral of children who are permanently residing on the street or being abused to our residential Interim Care Centre
On-going support for former street children who are back with their families, in school or in work (through staff home, school and workplace visits)

The main activities at the Day Care Centre are:

Provision of a structured daily routine for street children (from 10am- 4pm: children must attend throughout the day)
Provision of a nutritious meal daily.
Provision of hygienic washing facilities for the children and their clothing.
Provision of Non-Formal Education.
Provision of on-site skills training lessons in Barbering, Tailoring & Football Making.
Provision of skills training placements in the community with local tradesmen
Provision of life skills lessons on HIV/AIDS, Conflict Resolution, First Aid, Relationships, Overcoming Peer Pressure, Drug Abuse etc.
Provision of sport and other recreational activities
Provision of group and individual counselling on a daily basis

Not only are children's physical needs met, but we also aim to stimulate their desire to learn and help them to catch up on school work missed due to prolonged absence from school, through non formal education classes. The ultimate aim is to enable each child to find a permanent solution which is appropriate to his or her needs, e.g. return to school or access to vocational skills training.

The Day Care Centre provides direct assistance to around 50 children a year, and by supporting their parents and siblings we are able to assist a further 200 children and family members.

Interim Care Centre

The Interim Care Centre provides temporary residential care to street children who have particular problems as the result of solvent addiction, family breakdown or abuse, and who cannot, for these reasons, return home immediately. We carry out intensive non formal education, rehabilitation and family reintegration work whilst providing a nurturing, protective and structured environment.

Our experienced staff work with family and child over a six-month programme on the more complex difficulties that led the child to the street, and provide support for the child making the transition back to home, their community and school.

In summary, the main purposes of the Interim Care Centre are:

Rehabilitation of street children in Thika Town and other areas of Thika through an intensive six month residential programme. Children are referred to the centre through our Day Care Centre, other street children's organisation and the local District Children's Officer.
Re-unification of street children with their families through home visits, individual and family counselling and income generating activity loans to parents.
Enabling of children to return to school through intensive non formal education lessons daily (basic literacy and numeracy).
Enabling of children to enter sustainable employment where appropriate through provision of skills training.
Advocacy and awareness raising
On-going support for former street children who are back with their families, in school or in work

The main activities at the Interim Care Centre are:

Provision of a structured routine for street children with a timetable including non-formal education (basic literacy & numeracy), individual and group counselling, hygienic washing facilities, life skills lessons, sport and recreational activities.
Provision of skills training placements in the community with local tradesmen where appropriate
Follow up social work on rehabilitated street children
Home Visits & School Visits
Family Sponsorship for reunited families since December 2007

The children are taught to respect staff members and each other, and are encouraged to actively participate in the running of the centre. A volunteer comes three times a week in the afternoon to do beadwork with the boys. During this time, children are focused and calm, and able to concentrate and to work towards achieving something positive.

All children go through counselling at the Interim Care Centre: they are first given time to adjust to life at the Centre, and then are placed in small groups to discuss important issues and to enable them to deal with negative feelings about their pasts.

Family mediation is an important part of the work which the staff at the Centre undertake. Parents are contacted and discussions are held as to how best to reunite the child with his family.