Protect 150 children in Kilifi, Kenya

Sande an 11 years old boy is ever smiling, friendly and very hardworking. He is very promising and shows a lot of determination to make it in life.  He is very independent and always eager to learn. He is also a determined boy and very ambitious.

Being in school has given a glow to this former street boy at the Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Center. He comes from the Miritini slums at the outskirts of Mombasa County and together with his three siblings, was raised up by their late single mother.

Before the demise of his mother, Sande and his brothers had a fairly normal life at the Miritini slums. Despite the area being densely populated and lacking essential amenities leading to unhealthy environment and occasional diseases, their mother, who had no known source of income somehow managed to fend for them. However, Sande had already reached the school going age but was not able to attend school. 

Shortly after Sande's mother became ill and her health started deteriorating and was in and out of hospital. Unfortunately, due to lack of proper care, the mother passed on leaving Sande and his siblings with their ailing grandfather. Their grandfather could not provide adequately and so Sande started moving around the village collecting empty bottles and selling them to afford a meal. He could walk across the slums dirty, malnourished and was vulnerable to many abuses. The influence in the slums was so much with older boys going to Mombasa streets for some days and come back with stale foods from streets. Sande would feed on the stale food since he could not afford fresh food.

Soon Sande would end up in the streets of Mombasa, not knowing that this was the start of a long stay in the streets. Life in the streets was difficult especially at night he had to sleep in the cold on shop corridors to pass the night. Despite making some friends in the streets, life was hard and the cold nights were unbearable. The day to day harassment by the city authorities led to his several arrests for loitering in the streets. He could spend several weeks without showering and this predisposed him to several skin diseases.

“I used to go without food even for three days.  One must be aggressive in the streets in order to survive, but I was young and too weak to scramble with the older guys. I eventually started sniffing glue and other drugs to avert the suffering”, says Sande.

Fortunately, Sande's day dawned with luck and hope for him. It was on this day that social workers from Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Center went for a street rescue in Mombasa City. Sande was one of the boys who caught the attention of the social workers. His state was pathetic owing to what he had undergone at the cruel street life. He was frail, sickly and dirty. He was among the youngest too to be at the streets. But, despite the state he was in, Sande's face radiated with a smile of hope and resilience. He expressed his desire to be in school like other children his age, and to be in a family setup laced with love and care.

The social workers sympathized and empathized with Sande's case. He was rescued to Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Center, where he was taken care of.  His health improved. He made friends at the center, engaged in many life skills that and proved to be very talented. He regained his ever jovial and friendly personality enlightening the environment of the Centre.

Later he was enrolled in school where he is doing exceedingly well in his studies. He is also a good footballer, baseball player and an artist too. He is currently in Grade 4. 

“I am working hard to be a Doctor like the doctors that treated me when I came to Grandsons, so that I can be able to treat young children in the future too”, says a jovial Sande.

Thanks to our you and all our supporters who selflessly donate through GlobalGiving to enable Sande and all the children at the Grandsons of Abraham Rescue to regain hope and have a new lease in life. 

Asked what message he had for our GlobalGiving supporters, Jovially, Sande had this to say:

“Your support has helped in rescuing and transforming me to the new person that I am. I am very happy with your support. May God bless you all.  Thanks for helping me go to school.”

Seven years old Akango cannot believe his transformation from the streets to school.  At Grade two, he is even dreaming of becoming a doctor.  The boy hails from the slum of Runyu in the outskirts of Mombasa City. The slum is known for illicit brewing of alcohol and abuse of drugs

Akango is the last born of a family of three boys and one girl.  Their single mother was arrested in 2018 and jailed for a crime she never committed. He was left in the hands of their aged and sickly grandmother who has got no source of income.
“Life was so hard for us and we used to go without food for two days as we waited for a well wisher or a neighbour to offer us food. When we did not get any, we started loitering in the slum looking for leftovers and plastic bottles to sell to get some coins to buy food”, says Akango.

Their grandmother had no control over the situation given her frailty due to old age and ill health.
The young Akango goes on to say that things were hard for him as his age could not allow him to scramble and earn space to survive in the slum streets with other older children, so he played in the streets with other young colleagues while his two brothers moved across the street stealing metal scraps and any other item that could give them a few coins.

“I would move around shops, kiosks and even dumpsites looking for something to eat”, says Akango. After getting tired, he would just sleep anywhere, even on dangerous roadsides. His health started deteriorating and he developed some skin diseases and his toes were full of jiggers. No one in the slum society could do anything about the children’s condition due to poverty among the residents.
Akango calls the day “fortunate”, when social workers from Grandsons of Abraham Rescue Center were doing street rescue, came across him at one of the dumpsites in the slum and rescued him.  He was in a pathetic state, tired, sickly and could not walk well due to jiggers that had infested his feet.

Once at the Center he was taken for medication and put on a nutritional diet.  He also narrated the story of his two brothers who were also in the streets too, and the center went to look for them and rescued them too.

After a short stay in the drop in Centre in Mikindani, Akango and his brothers were transferred to Abrahams Education Center to continue with education.

Akango is an ever smiling boy, active and very hardworking. Presently, he has build up resilience and at Grade 2 he says he is working hard to become a doctor. He is so happy to see himself and his brothers schooling together to achieve their dreams in life.

Thanks to our supporters like you, who donate through GlobalGiving, Grandsons Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre was able to rescue Akango and his brothers, an intervention that ensured these little ones are able to find hope again and can enjoy their young age and good health to grow up normally and dream like all children.
Akango can boldly say....'I was a stranger and you took me in ' and in him a responsible citizen is in the making. 

Grandsons of Abraham end the year with happy news for all our supporters. With little practice, no equipment nor the needed gear for the game, the boys moved from the county to national and international baseball competitions in a span of one month. The Team also produced the best and youngest national player of the year. Now they are celebrated champions in the country.

It all started when boys who are participants in the school’s Baseball team at Abraham's Education Centre participated and emerged victors at the Jack Robinson Tournament at Chang’ombe Primary school in Kaloleni, Kilifi County on November 14, 2021.

As champions of the County, they would represent the coast region at the national competitions held at Kenyatta University in Nairobi the following week. It was here that the boys’ prowess in the game was noticed. Despite little practice, the boys came third at the national games and one of them, Ramadhan (16 years old) was crowned the best and youngest player of the year.

“We were the youngest Team and it was our first time at the national level. We even played against Teams from the Universities. Playing at the prestigious University of Nairobi is something we had never dreamt of, and we are very grateful to all who support us to reach our potential not only in academics but also in extra curriculum activities”, said David, one of the players.

Following their spectacular performance at the National Level, the Grandsons Team had three of them chosen to play in the national team in Uganda. They played in Uganda on December 12^th and 13^th 2021 where they competed with international Teams as part of the Kenyan Team.

Another player, Salim says that “this has been a great opportunity for us. It has exposed us to the world of Baseball Competitions as it has been our first time to compete. The exposure was very good and even made us to go out of the country. It has been very exciting and motivating”

Following this, the Grandsons have been requested to participate in all future games. “We cannot wait to participate in more games in the future”. Says Ramadhan.

Baseball is not famous in Kenya but in countries like the US, Japan, South Africa and the UK. So how did the boys at Grandsons get involved in it?

“One of our older boys, Darius learnt it in high school where he had met an American friend, Jimmy. When Darius returned to Grandsons of Abraham Centre, he taught the game to his colleagues”, says an elated Sr. Janefrances, the Director of the Centre.

Darius, would later join the national baseball Team after high school and he is now a baseball coach. Since he introduced the level 5 game to his brothers they started playing it for fun with no equipment at all, but improvised ones.

Thus it was a blessing when recently, the President of Baseball in Kenya Mr. Titus visited Grandsons, and introduced Baseball 9 that uses equipment. The boys practiced for only two days after which they went for competitions at the County level and emerged number one.

“Can you imagine even without our own equipment we won? All what we used for the competitions was borrowed”, says a thoughtful Ramadhan.

Following their win, other boys want to take part in the games. Now Grandsons have instituted two teams. A Juniors Team (7-12 years) and a Seniors Team (Ages 13 – 17). They seem happy to play and nothing can deter their spirit even without equipment, regalia or team kits. A true Christmas gift for you, our friend who continues to support us through GlobalGiving.

It was jubilation for Grandsons of Abraham when the results for the national Kenya Certificate of Primary Education results were released in April this year.  Despite a year long absence from school due to the COVID 19 pandemic, eight of the rescued children performed very well and in July reported to some of the best schools in the country. 

A proud Joshua is determined to be a neurosurgeon when he finishes school.  As he prepared to report to school his joy was evident as he joked with his colleagues.  “I cannot imagine that I am joining the secondary school of my choice. Attaining higher education seemed very far for me at some time in my life and I cannot but thank the well wishers who support Grandsons of Abraham to keep us in school”. 

Joshua garnered 389 out of a possible 500 points in the national examination. For him it was a dream come true when he received the news.  He has vowed to work even harder in secondary school so he may become a neurosurgeon.  He says that it was a real challenge when COVID 19 hit and they had to stay out of school for a whole year. 

When his mother died Joshua remained with his stepfather and an older brother.  He dropped out of school because they could not afford even the food to eat.  Teachers in the school he used to attend decided to organize with other pupils to bring him food.  At some point he got sick and stopped going to school.  His older brother had already started using drugs and initiated him into the habit, following which they ended up on the streets.  It was from here that they were rescued and ended up at Grandsons of Abraham, where after rehabilitation they joined school at Abraham’s Education Centre.

Four years down the line Kevin sees his life as changed for the better as he has just joined secondary school.  His older brother too has completed his primary school and has also been accepted in a secondary school of his choice where he intends to work hard and become an engineer.  When not in school the boys enjoy playing football and reading novels. 

Though they are grateful to Grandsons of Abraham for taking them back to school, it is because of the generous contributions of great people like you, who keep donating through GlobalGiving, that Grandsons of Abraham is able to keep Joshua, his brother and many other young people in school, and give them hope for a brighter future.

Mother and son were lost in words when they were reunited after several agonizing years.  The path to the reunion was not a simple ordeal though.  Sr. Janefrances and the social workers at the Grandsons of Abraham Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre had worked for many months to try and trace the home of Jasper, a boy who had lived at the centre for a few years.

“When he arrived here, he showed a desire to study and kept saying he missed his parents and siblings”, says Sr. Janefrances.  “He however could not remember how to get to his home, when we asked him to take us there though he knew the name of his village.  At first he was afraid to go back home.  He did not want to leave school and the friends he had made here.  However we had to assure him all would be well, and that he would continue with his schooling.  Eventually he was willing to meet his parents. We quickly got in touch with the local government offices in his home County of Taita Taveta and the search for his parents began in earnest.” 

When the parents were eventually found, they were overjoyed to learn that their son was well.  They could not wait to hug him again.  And so it was, in the month of November, when lockdown rules due to the COVID 19 pandemic were eased, that the Grandsons Team made that memorable visit to the outskirts of Voi town in Taita Taveta County.  It was joy and jubilation at the village to be reunited with their son.

Jasper, like many boys on the streets, did not intend to live in the streets.  However, circumstances forced him to end up there.  When Jasper's parents could not afford money to buy him school uniform, books and writing material, he knew it was the end of his schooling.  Young though he was, soon he would land in Mombasa with a dream to change his life forever and the lives of his parents and siblings.  Though he had no knowledge of the big city, he knew looking back was impossible. He had to make a living at the tender age of ten. He was taken to the city by a distant relative who promised to give him work so he could earn some cash and send some back home to his parents who had four other siblings to look after and had no source of steady income for the family upkeep.

After only a few days in Mombasa, he wandered alone and could not find his way back to the relative's place.  As evening approached he feared for his life but could not trace his way back.  He says when some older boys saw him, they knew he was new in the city and invited him to stay with them.  The rest is history.  They would go around the town foraging for food and plastic bottles to sell until he got rescued and taken to Grandsons of Abraham Centre.

Thanks to supporters like you who donate to Grandsons of Abraham rescue and Rehabilitation Centre through GlobalGiving, Jasper and many other children like him can be reunited with their families.