Giving abandoned babies a loving start in life!

INTRODUCTION

Macheo is committed to giving babies a safe and loving home where they can grow and live a healthy life. We provide temporary care while working on long-term solutions like family reunification, foster care, or adoption. This report shares our, achievements and challenges from January to August 2025.

Success

During this time, we provided a safe and caring home for abandoned, abused, and neglected babies, ensuring they received love and protection. In this period, we cared for 16 babies and placed 6 babies under family-based care. All babies were promptly taken for medical checkups and receive scheduled immunizations. The staff received training on psychological safety, which helped them give and positively receive feedback. They were also trained on Care for child development, bonding, attachment, and caregiver well-being, which gave them skills to care for babies and take care of themselves. They also underwent debriefing, which helped them cope with difficult situations.

During this period, we also received donations in kind and hospital waivers worth Kes 57,000. 

Challenges

Despite the successes, we also faced some challenges. It has been hard to find families for abandoned babies because there is very little information available, which makes tracing slow and difficult. We also had a case of twin siblings who were brought back to the baby house after their situation got worse. We started a new case management process for them, which is ongoing. We had three cases where we managed to trace the babies' family members, but they were not willing to take care of the babies.

As a result, we had no choice but to continue keeping the babies in the Baby House, where they are safe. This has led to the babies staying longer than expected. We also had one baby with delayed developmental milestones. She was placed on supplements and now attends therapy twice a week. This has increased our expenses due to hospital visits and the cost of supplements. Due to the cold weather many babies fell ill and became unusually fussy, which caused stress for both the
babies and the caregivers. Even with these challenges, Macheo remains committed to helping more babies and giving them the love and care they need.

Baby Justin’s story.

Baby Justin came to Macheo Children’s Home when he was only 7 months old. This was after his father had been arrested for unknowingly buying and selling a stolen phone. Justin’s mother had left him when he was just 3 months old and never came back, leaving all the care to the father. After the father was arrested, there was no one to take care of the baby. The police officers contacted the Children’s office, who placed Justin at Macheo for safety and care.

At Macheo, Justin was warmly welcomed. He got medical care and grew stronger every day. He soon became a happy and playful baby who enjoyed being with other children and caregivers. He was always cheerful and smiling.

While Justin stayed at Macheo, a social worker worked hard to find his relatives. His father remained in prison as his court case continued. Despite many efforts, his mother could not be found. The social worker utilized information from the father’s social inquiry and successfully traced his rural home. This led them to Justin’s grandparents in Kakamega.

Justin’s grandfather admitted he didn’t know about his grandson. He said that according to their culture, a child must be introduced to the extended family by the father, so that they can raise the child by themselves. So, he asked Macheo, the social worker, to wait until the father was released before bringing the child home.

Early this year, Justin’s father was released from prison. He came to Macheo to visit his son, showed deep regret for what had happened, and promised to take care of Justin. Macheo allowed him to stay for a while so he could bond with his son. The bonding went well.

Later, Justin was reunited with his father. Macheo social workers accompanied them to Kakamega, where the child was officially introduced to his extended family. The whole family was happy to receive both the father and the child. Macheo also supported the father by giving him a bed and bedding for Justin. Since then, regular follow-ups have shown that Justin is growing well and developing as expected for his age.