Street Children in Kenya

150.000 - 200.000 children in Kenya have no home. With nowhere to go, they live in the streets..

After doing research on poverty stricken Third World countries, we decided to focus our attention on Kenya because here there are so many areas in need of desperate help, which have never been visited by any humanitarian organisation.

On the outskirts of Nairobi, one can observe the terrible conditions which typically afflict this country. More than 60,000 children live on the streets. These children have been abandoned by their families due to the fact that the parents have no money to take care of their new born. In some cases the mothers have been viciously sexually abused, which has also contributed to an alarming rate of unwanted childbirths.

Children without homes

At night they sleep in the streets. To fight hunger many of them have become addicted to glue. Many are sexually abused and have contracted the deadly AIDS Virus.

These children now roam the streets and wherever the night finds them, there becomes the resting place for the night.

Quotes from Kenyan Children

The following are actual quotes from children, as told to the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya and published in the Kenya Sunday Nation, Dec. 11, 2011.

• "I was raped by a neighbour who took advantage of me because of my disability".
  17 yr old girl, Likoni
• "I was forced to repeat class three, I was so ashamed I ran away and started living on the streets."
  13 yr old boy, Kajiado
• "My father is alive and well but doesn't care for me or come see me in my institution; they have left me all alone."
  13 yr old girl, Garissa
• "I ran away from home because my mother wanted to sell me off in Tanzania"
  13 yr old girl, Nairobi
• "I saw my mother being beaten to death by my father"
  11 yr old boy, Kisumi
• "I was lured by a tourist, and sodomised. I joined a gang; we were arrested for stealing and now I am in remand."
  14 yr old boy, Nyahururu
• "My mother was raped and infected with HIV/AIDS during PEV. She died of depression."
  15 yr old girl, Naivasha
• "I left school for lack of fees and basic needs and engaged with 'wazungus' to earn money."
  13 yr old girl, Mombasa
• "I ran away from home becaus I was being forced to marry early by my relatives."
  16 yr old boy, Kisii

Glue addictions and AIDS Victims

To overcome hunger many of these children have become addicted to glue..

A substance used as a form of drug, that lets them forget the never ending hunger that they live with day after day. Obviously they suffer harassment and all types of unthinkable abuses, because they are homeless. Aids and other such diseases are rampant among these children. If you visit some of the children?s homes in Kenya, you will meet many of these children who are aids victims. If you ask them how do they feel, they will respond that they are happy because they know that they will soon die. They welcome death because its the only release they will receive from this terrible illness. The situation of these miserable children can bring one to tears, when one observes that these children have been brought into this world only to suffer and to die a painful death.

Government orphanages are overcrowded

More than 150 children live together in inadequate, congested and unclean buildings.

Visiting the only government owned children?s home existing in Nairobi, you will observe overcrowded conditions in which the children live. More than 150 children live in cramped and congested buildings and some of the slum areas and on the outskirts of Nairobi, the inhabitants also live in overcrowded and unclean conditions..

Unhygenic and overpopulated slums

In the slum areas, many people live in shacks made from garbage, and are therefore vulnerable to poisonous snakes, insects and disease.

Many of the houses are precarious ruins. In such conditions many homes are easily invaded by dangerous snakes or other such poisonous reptiles, and insects. If bitten by these animals, this in many cases means certain death due to lack of high quality medical facilities which are so common in developed countries.

United Nations Statistics

More than 100.000 people die of hunger every day.

The cost of a typical McDonald?s (Europe) snack can feed a poor Kenyan family for 1 day. According to UNO statistics, more than 100.000 people die from hunger everyday. In Kenya food is relatively cheap when compared with first world countries. For Example: The cost of a typical MacDonald's (Europe) snack can feed a poor Kenyan family for 1 day. But many of the poor people do not currently have the means to earn, even this small amount on a regular basis to feed their families..

Clean drinking water is hard to get in Kenya

In many cases water must be brought from over 3 to 4 kilometres away.

To make matters worse this supply of water is usually not clean enough for human consumption. The provision of a suitable continuous water supply is greatly needed.

Farmers need assistance in agricultural techniques to fully exploit Kenya's fertile farming lands

Kenya is blessed with fertile land. But what the locals lack is the necessary skills and support to successfully grow and maintain crops for daily consumption as well as to earn a livelihood.

Our research has shown that even a relatively small area of land, properly cultivated and maintained would greatly supplement the nutritional needs of a typical household diet.