Students across Kenya returned to classes in January after almost a year away due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, many families have struggled to place their children back in school. Our social work team has been traveling across the country assisting parents to enroll reintegrated children back in school. Unfortunately, school fees and uniforms have been a significant financial burden to many parents who are already struggling due to the ongoing pandemic. Our staff saw a need to help other children in the families we support, and because of your gifts, we were able. This year, we have assisted 47 students to return to school.
Our team will continue conducting regular follow-ups with the families and schools to ensure that each child is continuing well with their studies. We look forward to seeing them succeed in their academic pursuits!
Celebrating 20 Years!
This year, Naivasha Children's Shelter celebrates 20 years of life-saving work in Kenya.
Our story began in 1996, when the East African Women’s League launched a feeding and teaching program at the YMCA in Naivasha town to help with the growing problem of street children. The project was very successful, but the children still had to leave at the end of the day and sleep on the streets.
The ladies continued to reach out to boys living on the streets until 2001, when Debbie Case and Melissa Keng realized their dream of establishing a home for the boys. Ten acres of land were donated for construction of a shelter. Case and Keng rallied friends from around the world and Naivasha Children’s Shelter was born.
In 2014, Eunice Murage and Kristen Lowry joined the Shelter team as volunteer Co-Executive Directors. Murage and Lowry have continued the Shelter legacy with a new approach aimed at rescuing more boys from the streets, and restoring families.
To celebrate 20 years, Shelter is rebranding this year to Shelter Yetu. In Swahili, this means "our Shelter." Shelter has been growing and expanding our reach for several years now, and this new name represents the larger scope of our work throughout Kenya. While we remain committed to serving the children of the Naivasha community, we have been able to expand our rescues to other cities with the county, and are exploring partnerships across the country as well.
How You Can Help
If you'd like to support our COVID-19 efforts to keep families togther and/or our ongoing family reunification work, you can submit a one-time or recurring monthly gift.
Thank you!