Welcome Home, Bryann!
Bryann ran away from home to the streets of Naivasha in February. Bryann's parents and the village elders were surprised by his departure and told Shelter staff that he ran away without a good reason. He was reported to the government as a lost child and his family even used local media stations to try and spread the word and bring him home safely. They went as far as to visit the local mortuary, believing their son to be dead. After Bryann's disappearance from home, his mother developed high blood pressure because of the stress of losing the boy and his father was fired from his job after failing to report to work.
A quiet and well-mannered boy, Bryann struggled with the harsh realities of life on the street. In March, he was befriended by Shelter social workers and agreed to leave the streets behind and come to Shelter. After a few weeks at Shelter, one of our social workers accompanied Bryann to his home for a visit.
When they arrived, the social worker reported an experience he had never seen before--all the women and children of the village broke out in joyful tears upon seeing their lost son return home. Soon after, people started streaming from the nearby villages, thanking God for his safe return.
The next day, Bryann's father and some members of the community traveled to Shelter to express their thanks and bring him home for good.
Stories like Bryann's embody the mission and vision of our program...restoring families and bringing hope to desperate situations.
Changing the way we think about reintegration…
Bryann's story highlights the heart behind our new approach to reuniting boys with their families. Since 2014, we have built our program around the truth that the very best place for a child is in a family. We have typically operated on a one-year cycle, rescuing a large group of boys early in the year and aiming to reintegrate them by the end of the year.
However, as we've learned over the years, some families need more time to work towards reunification and some, like Bryann's, are ready much sooner.
Our goal is for boys to be away from family and home not one day longer than necessary. We are so proud of the work we are doing at Shelter, but our true success is in reuniting boys with their families as soon as it is safe and everyone involved is ready. Whether that's 2 months or 18 months from rescue, we want to be sensitive to the needs of each child in our care.
So this year, as always, we'll be working closely with boys and their families on an individual basis as they go through rehabilitation. We will create an individual rehabilitation plan for each boy, along with the family, and reunite boys throughout the year. This will also allow us to rescue new children from the streets throughout the year, serving even more boys, families, and communities.
Celebrating Our Success Since 2014
109 boys rescued from the streets.
93 boys reunited with their families.
26 boys fully trained in carpentry, and placed in a job.
Your support is key in changing the lives of these precious young men. We look forward to sharing many more success stories in the months and years to come!