You did it! Thanks so much to everyone who shared and donated--Elvis can now begin buying school supplies and getting ready for his first year of college.
Thank you so much for helping Elvis get to college. Shelter staff visited him last week to share the good news, and his family was overjoyed. Elvis wanted us to share this letter with you to let you know how much he appreciates your support. Thank you!
Elvis was living on the streets when he was rescued by Naivasha Children's Shelter in 2004. He lived at the Shelter for 10 years until social workers were able to reunite him with his mother in 2014.
Last year, Elvis graduated from high school with a B minus -- a huge accomplishment! He recently got a letter inviting him to continue his studies with a Diploma in Electrical and Electronics at Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology.
Elvis' mother is a single parent raising four children. She works as a casual laborer at a local flower farm, earning less than $70 a month. As much as she wants to, she can't afford to send Elvis to college.
Elvis's total tuition for the first year of college is $1300. This opportunity will giveElvis a bright future, and help his whole family.
We've started a GoFundMe campaign to raise the money Elvis needs to go to school. We are almost halfway to our goal, but we still need your help. School starts Sept. 6. Let's send Elvis to college!
https://www.gofundme.com/sendelvistocollege
Fidel (center) loves studying math, and wants to be a doctor when he grows up.
Five months ago, we introduced you to Fidel.
For two years, nine-year-old Fidel was sleeping on the streets. But in May, his life changed. A Shelter social worker came to the streets to rescue Fidel and ten of his friends. The boys were brought to Naivasha Children's Shelter where they were given clean clothes, a hot meal and their own beds to sleep in.
A team of dedicated teachers and counselors helped the boys to overcome their addiction to drugs that they used in the streets, and begin re-learning important life skills.
Now, Fidel wakes up every morning in his own bed. He makes his bed, gets dressed, washes his face and brushes his teeth. He joins 40 other boys at the Shelter for a hot breakfast of a boiled egg and some porridge. Then he helps clean up by washing his dish and wiping down the tables.
Fidel is learning to read and write, and is excited about going to school next year. He also loves playing soccer with his friends during free time. His teachers at Shelter describe him as "happy and always jovial."
"I love being at Shelter because here I get everything I need," Fidel said. I love learning math, eating with my friends and playing football."
Ronald, 18, graduated from the Shelter carpentry program in December and now works in a carpentry workshop in Kenya's capital city. The skills he learned at the Shelter allow him to support himself.
You know how the old saying goes: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Ronald learned how to fish during his time at Shelter -- but he also learned how to build.
When Ronald's mother died in 2011, poverty forced the 13-year-old boy to the streets. Living on the streets, he spent his days begging and searching for food. For years, he lived in constant fear of hunger, and of the beatings he would often receive from the local police.
“I started using drugs because my friends were using them,” Ronald told a Shelter social worker, “then I was able to sleep and not be afraid.”
Eventually, Ronald was referred to Naivasha Children's Shelter, where he chose to pursue carpentry. Ronald lived at the Shelter for two years while he learned all the skills he would need to support himself.
Immediately upon graduation, Ronald was offered a job in Gikomba--one of Nairobi's largest markets. Now 18, he spends his days in a busy workshop making furniture, and is able to support himself. He has rented a small house in a neighborhood in the city.
"I learned from Shelter how to be independent," he told Shelter staff who came to visit him at the workshop.
"I'm so grateful for the education I received and the tools they provided."
Six boys will graduate from the carpentry program this year. Would you consider partnering with us to give one of these boys the supplies he needs?
A one-time donation of $100 can provide one of our carpentry graduates with a set of tools that they can use to begin their own business.
Fidel has been sleeping on the streets since he was seven years old. For two years he’s been afraid his father would beat him for skipping school to visit his sister in a neighboring town, so Fidel has scraped by and risked his life to avoid his father’s wrath. He ran away from home after his father found out that he skipped school to go and visit his sister in a neighboring town.
Fidel wakes up every morning before sunrise to go to the market, where he wanders through the makeshift stalls to pick up tiny pieces of charcoal from the ground. He puts them in a large plastic sack slung over his shoulder.
When he leaves the market, he finds some women selling charcoal on the side of the road. He sells them the little charcoal he has collected and walks to the supermarket. He begs for money outside the supermarket until a security guard chases him away, beating him with a club.
Fidel takes the dollar that he has earned and buys two pieces of bread, eating one, and stuffing the second in his pocket.
He walks to a tin shack, where he pays a man the rest of his money to sit down in a white plastic chair and watch a movie. He falls asleep. No one will bother him there.
Fidel’s family lives only a few miles away, but he lives in fear of his father finding him, and beating him for the mistake he made two years ago.
And until he met John two months ago, Fidel had given up on his dreams of finishing school and becoming an engineer. His new-found friend, John, began visiting him on the streets and talking about something that Fidel could barely remember experiencing in his former life--sleeping in a warm bed, eating hot meals.
Fidel is not the only kid in his situation. Fidel has friends experiencing the same life, and so now, five days a week, John talks with them all over a simple meal of rice and beans.They talk about their past, and about the day they will leave the streets.
And on March 31, Fidel and his friends will do what they’ve been talking about for the last month. They will have the chance at a new life. Fidel is one of fifteen boys who have decided that they are ready to leave the streets and go to Naivasha Children's Shelter. But Naivasha is not their final destination.
At the Shelter, a team of teachers and counselors will help the boys transition, as they re-learn how to be a part of a family again. They will sleep in warm beds and eat hot, healthy meals three times a day. They will play soccer and learn to care for livestock and grow their own food in a garden. Some of the boys will learn to read and write for the first time.
John will take Fidel to visit his father, and eventually help them to resolve their conflict so that Fidel can finally return home.
This incredible opportunity is only possible for these boys because of the generous donations of friends all around the world.
12 donations of $100 each would ensure that Naivasha Children's Shelter is able to provide complete care for Fidel for a year. If you would like to to help rescue Fidel and his friends from the streets this year you can make a donation.
Or, you can send a check to:
Friends of Naivasha Children’s Shelter, Inc.
20 South Dudley, Suite 900
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
These ten boys were rescued from the streets of Naivasha, where they were sleeping under a shipping container. Now, many of them have been reunited with their families, and are in school for the first time in years!
2016 has already been a busy year for us.
As we reflect back on our first "street rescue" last year, we are grateful for all the boys whose lives have been changed and thankful for our partners who have made it all possible.
Last year, 31 boys were rescued from the streets. Sadly, 11 of the boys ran away and chose to return to the streets. We are always saddened when a child decides to leave the Shelter, but we believe that a child can’t change until he is truly ready. For that reason, we continue to reach out to these boys in order to help them to overcome their addictions and prepare for a new life.
The other 20 boys finished our rehabilitation program, and are now pursing educational opportunities with Shelter's support.
We are beyond grateful for all of the individuals who have supported us in our mission.
We are already on the streets preparing for our next "rescue" in March--and we still need your help!
It costs $100 a month to support a boy. This includes everything from food and medical care to home visits and counseling. To reach our budget goal, it will take 60 people giving $100 a month, 120 people giving $50 a month, or 300 people giving $20 a month! Entirely feasible.
So if you’ve been debating on donating, now is when it will really make difference. Even a small monthly amount will make this happen if enough people do it.
If you would like to commit to sponsoring one of our boys, you can donate online at http://www.ncshelter.org/donate or you can mail a check to
Friends of Naivasha Children’s Shelter, Inc.
20 South Dudley, Suite 900
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
Again, thanks for partnering with us as we change the lives of these precious children.
Naivasha Children's Shelter
Nine boys were living under a shipping container in Naivasha, Kenya.