KENYA
Kenya has 2.5 million people infected with AIDS - half of them are orphans. Relatives, in some cases, care for the very little children, but the majority of them must rely on handouts. The older children are often forced to leave school to become breadwinners for their younger siblings.
The Samaritan Children's Center was opened in 2001 to take care of AIDS orphans. Originally, it was a small classroom with 13 children. Today, the center has two parts, a recruitment center and a residential center.
The recruitment center is a place where 12-15 street children can get an education and a nutritious meal. This lessens their time on the streets where only trouble can be found.
The residential boys and girls centers are actual orphanages with a larger school. Over 45 former street children now have a nuturing environment where they receive food, clothes, shelter, medical care, and the most important thing of all - love.
The center offers hands-on shop training, welding, sewing, carpentry, computer training, farming and animal raising.
Capitol - Nairobi
Size – 224,080 sq. mi.
Area Comparative – slightly more than twice the size of Nevada
Language – Swahili, English
Population – 36.9 million
Life Expectancy – 55.31
Annual Income/Person - $1200
Exports - tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement
Religions - Protestant 45%, Roman Catholic 33%, Muslim 10%, indigenous beliefs 10%, other 2%
When you think of how these children were once wandering the dirt roads of Nakuru - homeless, hungry and alone, it is overwhelming to see how well-adjusted and happy they now are.
Street children in Kenya often find shelter in the drainage tunnel.
Abandoned Children's Fund - Copyright 2007
