Development
In Nakuru, the fourth biggest city in Kenya, the phenomenon of street children is extremely spread, as in the rest of the country. It often happens that minors leave their houses to avoid starvation or because they are victims of violence and abuses. In the street, children are approached by criminal organisations that exploit them and control every single moment of their lives. In most cases, children become addicted to drugs, sniffing glue to stop hunger and thirst.
Welcome to the Family project is developed in this context in order to give a second chance to the children and the adolescents that it hosts.
The centre is divided into two sections: the Boys Ranch, a residential centre for male where minors follow a one-year rehabilitation and educational path; and the Calabrian Shelter, a residential centre for female, which offers assistance and psychological support to girls victims of abuses.
In 2017, within the Boys Ranch, we realised the project “Right to water – Right to life” which ensures access to drinking water to all the children hosted in the centres, through a water purification system. The project also includes activities of bottled water production and sale and of plastic recycling. These activities will support the educational path offered by Welcome to The Family and will cover the salaries of the educators who work with the children daily.
In 2018, we carried out another project: “For a sweeter world”. An activity of beekeeping which values the boys and the girls involved, so that they become responsible growing in harmony with themselves. Beekeeping is linked to the rhythms of nature and the contact with the bees can gradually teach them to respect it. In this way, they can acquire the values of responsibility and hygiene, learning to live in the community respecting nature. Currently, a first group of boys and girls completed the theory lessons and has already produced the first jars of honey. A delicious and quality honey, thanks the proximity of the centre to the Lake Nakuru National Park, whose biodiversity is extremely high.
In August 2019, a new family house was built within the compound to host about twenty street children from 10 to 17 years old, who had been rescued by the educators of the Welcome to the Family, after the latest raid ordered by the Kenyan Government.
