Health and Social Care for 2500 kids in Nairobi

For weeks the area has been affected by incessant rains and there have been several deaths, enough to attract the attention of the international media.

The number of displaced people is unspecified, but it is certainly above 40 thousand people, in the city of Nairobi alone. In the shantytowns the situation is serious and all the shacks that are within 30 meters of the riverbed, if not already swept away by the force of the water, will be demolished for safety reasons.

Furthermore, the latest news cites a worrying figure: around 2,000 schools destroyed. For the others it is not known precisely when they will reopen.

Despite the difficulty of contacting all our beneficiaries, we can tell that at the moment there are around fifty families cared for by Alice for Children who are displaced and we have no news of deaths or injuries among our children. We are taking care not only of moving these families to a safe place, but also of giving them the bare minimum to eat and sleep, for the time necessary to recover.

We also intervened immediately for what was a real food emergency. As people are unable to get food or cook it, we are using all our accessible schools as points for the distribution of hot meals and food parcels. This distribution has been active for a few days and fortunately, thanks to word of mouth, we are reaching hundreds of children and families.

Our Baby care is up and running so our 20 little guests are looked after as well as their families.

The village of Alice for Children did not suffer any damage and the Korogocho school, which in January saw its surrounding wall destroyed due to the flooding of the river, survived also thanks to the reconstruction and strengthening of the same. This intervention was possible thanks to the generous participation in the extraordinary fundraiser by our long-distance parents and friends of Alice for Children. We can say that this intervention saved our school from this flood.

The entire area of Rombo, close to Kilimangiaro, was not affected by the flood.

Also on this occasion we mobilized our donors for an extraordinary online fundraiser which will serve to cover these first interventions and which has replenished our emergency fund.

Only in the next few days will we understand whether we will have to deal with other needs such as food shortages, cholera outbreaks or other critical issues.

In recent months, there have been several issues that have negatively impacted the health and dignity of populations living near Alice for Children’s projects. Let’s summarize three urgent issues and see what has been done on the ground.

Climate change: drought, and frequent and sudden floods have disastrous consequences for human life, property, and the economy. Rural communities are particularly vulnerable. In the community of Rombo, at the foot of Kilimanjaro, we launched a specific project in February 2023 to defend the rights of Maasai girls and young women. We have welcomed sixty of these girls inside our facilities allowing them to stay overnight during the school year.

As a result, we are helping their families, who no longer need to worry about their livelihood. We are also ensuring their school attendance and educating the entire community on the importance of gender equality and girls' education.

Malnutrition: this is a severe problem in Africa, with over 20 percent of the population suffering from chronic malnutrition. Women and children are particularly affected. In the sub-Saharan region, a child dies from hunger every 30 seconds, and one in three under the age of five suffers from chronic malnutrition. Additionally, two in five women of childbearing age suffer from anemia due to food shortages.

Slum and dumpsite dwellers experience an even worse situation. Alice for Children constantly faces terrible situations such as when the mother of Catherine, one of our girls who attends school in the Dandora slum, gave birth to twins last December. A few days after giving birth, she fell ill and passed away suddenly, leaving her husband to care their nine children, most of whom are very young. The two infants required constant medical check-ups from the very beginning because of their precarious condition.

Thanks to the support of many donors, Alice for Children was able to raise what was needed to support this family for the next few months. The twins will receive all the care they need until June 2023, when they can be housed within “Alice Baby Care”, our nursery that allows us to welcome the youngest and most fragile children in a safe place, providing them with food and health support.

Discrimination: this is another critical issue that Alice for Children faces daily when working among the slum communities of Nairobi. The severe forms of discrimination that most affect those born disadvantaged lead to further poverty and repeat human rights violations. The first victims are the many children who populate the streets of Nairobi's slums. The condition in which they are born limits their life horizons, prevents them from attending school, and from growing up in a healthy and age-appropriate environment. Their fate is too often written at the exact moment of their birth. Alice for Children works daily to give them the opportunity to change through education as a tool for social redemption.

In January 2023, a new curricular course for Junior Secondary Schools was implemented due to education reform. Alice for Children prepared for this major reform by building new dedicated areas in its schools and setting up science labs for more interactive activities. The first students from the slums are now occupying the new classrooms, beginning this school journey so new and full of expectations for their social redemption.