About 2 months ago, we did an emergency rescue in Nakuru. The boys have been doing well and working through our rehabilitation program at Shelter, which includes counseling, life skills and remedial education. Typically, we would do an home tracing visit for each boy about 1 month after arrival, in order to connect with his family. However, due to continued government restrictions we were unable to do so until about 2 weeks ago, when the government granted us permission to begin family visits with certain precautions in place.
Since then, more than half of the boys have been able to visit their families, and our team has started compiling family histories and working towards reunification with the boys and their families.
Stephen* (left) with his siblings and mother on his initial home visit. His family was overjoyed when they saw him.
Stephen* is one of the boys who had his initial home visit this week. He left home back in February after he took some money without permission and feared punishment. This was the first time he had ever run away and his family was devastated. They searched for him day and night and even filed a police report hoping that someone would be able to locate him.
When Stephen and the social worker arrived at Stephen's home, his mother and siblings jumped up and down with joy. His mother held him close and praised God for bringing her baby back home. She said that she had been praying every day for his safe return and God had finally answered her prayers. After spending some time together with the family, she took our social worker and the boy around to all of her friends and neighbors who have been searching and praying along for with her for all of these months. The community was overjoyed to see that Stephen was safe and healthy, and had an impromptu thanksgiving service!
We anticipate that Stephen and his family will be ready to be reunited soon, and we plan to keep working with all of them to facilitate a positive reunification as soon as it is safe and possible.
*At Naivasha Children's Shelter, we respect children's right to privacy. So while their stories are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.
We are so grateful for our partner, Lachen Lernen Wachsen, who generously donated new laptops and the resources for a full update to our social work office, allowing our team to more easily access online tools and records.
A Change in Plans
We had planned to do an additional rescue this month, but unfortunately, due to added government restrictions and limited testing capabilities, those plans have been put on hold for now.
However, our street officer, Elphas, is still hard at work building relationships with boys in town, and as soon as it is safe and approved to do so, we will resume rescues.
How You Can Help
We are continuing our support of the boys at Shelter as well as those at home with their families. Many families have been unable to resume work due to COVID-19 restrictions, so we are distributing food to on a monthly basis during this season.
Please consider helping us cover these extra expenses with a one-time or recurring monthly gift as we continue this very important work.