Child Protection Kenya Project #22375

Protect, feed, and educate 114 rescued children

by Grandsons of Abraham Rescue/Rehabilitation/ Education Centre

Project Report | Dec 23, 2019
My Grandmother is my only family!

By Faustine Mutiso | Social Worker

In a flowery mood!

He is a very bright boy, active and ever smiling. To date, he is happily living with the other boys in the Centre and is doing well in class work. Kinuthia wonders aloud: ``I never knew I would get a place to call home free from hunger and bullying’’, but I could tell him…``The best thing about life is that you can always change, grow and get better. You are not defined by your past. You are not your mistakes.’’

When Kinuthia was in class one, his mother remarried and left to an unknown place. Kinuthia was left to the mercy and care of his ailing grandmother. He was young and oblivious of what was happening. His grandmother would sell tobacco to earn a living and to make sure Kinuthia went to school. She was extremely controlling and at times hostile to her grandson.

Many times Kinuthia would skip school and other times go to bed without food. His grandmother earned a meager income from selling tobacco. Life for Kinuthia was not smooth. Anytime he complained to his grandmother he would get a thorough beating and be reminded that his mother was not there and should go find her and complain to her. This happened over time untill Kinuthia dropped out of school. He says he felt that nobody cared about what he did.

Kinuthia devised ways to enable him survive. He would go to Nakuru town to beg and even collect leftover foods from the hotels and kiosks. One day Kinuthia spent a whole day without food. It was raining and he could not go to the town to beg for food. He took his grandmother’s hundred shillings note with which he bought some doughnuts at a kiosk. When his grandmother realized this, he was thoroughly beaten which prompted him to run away in the dark of the night.

Kinuthia decided to make the streets of Nakuru town his new home. He had no aim of going back home. During his 1 year stay in the town, he joined a gang of young boys who would spend day time in unfinished buildings and at night go begging for food outside clubs. Soon Kinuthia and two of his friends decided to go to Mombasa after stories about a lot of tourists who would give them money. The three hideously boarded a truck to Nairobi where they stayed for a week. They again sneaked onto another truck that was ferrying building materials to Mombasa.

In Mombasa, they landed in Mbaraki area from where they could go around begging for food in the hotels and stores. Life was not easy for them. For a whole year they experienced a lot of hunger, sickness, harassment and bullying from older street children. On a street mission one day, the social workers from Grandsons of Abraham Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, found Kinuthia in the streets in a pathetic condition, sickly and frail due to the poor life in the streets. He was rescued and taken to Mikindani where he stayed, underwent treatment and regained his health.

Thanks to our supporters through GlobalGiving, Kinuthia is now back in school. His relation with his grandmother is repaired and he is even ready to be reunited with her when time to exit him from the centre arrives. He would like to study hard and get a well paying job to sustain his grandmother and himself. "My grandmother is the only family I know, he says"

``I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU TOOK ME IN’’

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Sep 27, 2019
I want to provide a decent meal to street children

By Bridgita Mwawasi | Project Leader

School, a dream come true

When Kimwe agreed to move to the Grandsons Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Mikindani, Mombasa County, he had only one thing in mind. To shower, eat a meal and then sneak back into the streets, where, according to him, there was more freedom of being himself. He had heard stories from boys who had been to the Centre that they were not allowed to be high on drugs at the Centre. He could not also imagine an organized kind of life where he would be required to wake up at a particular time, do certain activities at particular times and even eat at set times.

“I could not imagine myself surviving a day without my favourite bottle of glue”, he says holding back tears with a smile. Glue is the drug that most street boys use to remain “high” as they say. It kind of aids them in forgetting or dealing with difficulties in life.

“So when the Social workers who visited us often at our maskan (hideout), asked us to accompany them to Mikindani (the drop in Centre), I would always convince the other boys that we were okay here. So I could not understand when some boys decided to follow them and even remain there. I always told myself if at all I went, that would be for curiosity, but I would still come back to maskan”.

He identified this place as his home since as he says, there was a lot of acceptance from the other boys despite the fact that life on the streets was bad enough. Now Kimwe is a changed boy. At fourteen and in school, he dreams of setting up a big hotel near his former maskan, so that he can provide a decent meal to other street children.

“Now I can count, I can read, and I can even play football with my friends. These were things I thought belonged to other privileged children but not me. It is a miracle or a dream that is happening to me in broad daylight. Not in sleep. So when I leave here, I will work so hard to earn enough money. I will be able to count my money, then I will build a big hotel near maskan so that I can offer a hot meal to the children who will be there. I will also bring some of the food to Grandsons Centre, my current home.”

So how did Kimwe end up, and even remain in Grandsons?
“It had rained a lot one day. Even our box houses were soaked in water and falling on us. We could not find shelter anywhere. The whole night I soaked in rain. In the morning I decided to go to Grandsons. Not to stay, but to see if I could get some food and maybe a dry shirt and shorts. The clothes I had on were still wet and dripping with rain water. I thought they would not accept me since I had always refused to go there. Instead, I was served with a hot meal. Chapati, beans and a cup of tea. I showered and I was even given dry clothes to put on. I thought it was a dream. I did not want to turn back. I decided to stay.”

“Later I learnt there were people who contributed money and other items to help us so we could be safe. I just want to thank all the people who support us. They do not know us. We are not related in any way, yet they care for us. They have a good heart. They are good people. I love them”, says Kimwe.

Thanks to you, our supporter, for donating to Grandsons through GlobalGiving. It is through your support that Grandsons Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre is able to give hope to Kimwe and the other children at the Centre.

A hot meal of Chapati

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Jul 1, 2019
I realized this was the place to be!

By Faustine Mutiso | Social Worker

As Lee was growing up in the little village of Kiambu, he never thought one day life would be a nightmare in the streets of Mombasa. Yet this is what happened when his mother divorced his step father. They moved to the village where his mother was born. His mother had no source of income and the grandparents were old and sickly.

Life was hard. There was no food in the house and Lee even dropped out of school. The next thought for Lee was to go collecting scrap metals, sell them and use the proceeds to buy some food. At the tender age of 10 he would move to Nairobi in search of a better life.

“I had the hope that the big city streets would be good for me”, he says. “I was made to believe that in Nairobi it was easy to find a job and get good money. But life in its streets was terrible so I decided to go to Mombasa to search for my aunt who lived there. I had no idea that Mombasa was a big town too and being in Mombasa streets I could not trace where my aunt lived”.

I gave up all hope of ever finding her, and I had no money to return home. One day, Grandsons of Abraham social workers came for a street rescue and found me there. I was weak and sickly because I had resorted to taking drugs to forget my troubles. I also lacked food since I did not have money to buy it when I could not find anything on the streets. My only clothes that I had on were now torn and I had long hair and was dirty too since I was not taking care of myself”.

Being new in Mombasa streets, life was not kind to Lee. However, when he was rescued and taken to the Grandsons of Abraham Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Mikindani, he was not comfortable with the organized kind of life and several times he escaped back to the streets. He would only go back to the Centre once in a while for a meal or to take a bath. Soon he would settle down at the Centre and he was given medical care until he got well.

“When my health improved, I realized this was the place to be and through counseling and guidance I resolved to stay on and go to school as I was promised”.

Now Lee has moved to Abrahams Education Centre in Kikambala where he is doing well in his studies. He is a promising young man and he is endowed with many talents. At 13, he has a dream to become a doctor. He is also a gospel dancer; he recites poems and is a footballer. He will be completing his primary education in the next two years.

Thanks to our supporters who by donating through GlobalGiving are enabling the Centre to buy stationery, school uniform and food, to keep Lee and the other children in school and to give them hope for the future.

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