Why We Do It
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Kenya is a country where poverty, deprivation, disease and neglect result in too many children being abandoned to the streets, vulnerable and alone. Nairobi is a city of more than 4.4 million people. It is estimated that more than 6-% of the people in Nairobi live in slums, in grueling poverty. The average slum resident lives in extreme poverty, earning less than US$2.00 per day. Unemployment rates are high. 12% of the population are living with HIV. Cases of assault and rape are common. There are few schools, and most people cannot afford education for their children. Clean water is scarce. Diseases caused by poor hygiene are prevalent. A great majority living in the slum lack access to basic services, including electricity, running water, and medical care. Because of poverty, children are often taken out of school to help provide food for the family or are abandoned.
How We Do It
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We accept boys who are living on the streets, destitute, abandoned and alone in Nairobi, Kenya.
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We can accommodate 26 boys living in the home at any given time.
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In addition, we support seven more boys who are pursing higher education
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The home is a family unit, not an institution. Love, acceptance and belonging are key components.
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We focus on quality care, healing from trauma, emotional nurturing, quality education, health care and housing, all provided with love.
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Our boys are given dignity, respect, love, acceptance, encouragement, security and opportunity.
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Our staff members themselves live in the family environment in our home.
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All the children become “siblings”, and all partake in household chores and responsibilities.
Why Boys?
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We often are asked, “why do you support only boys?’ Our founder originally chose to provide a home for boys. Boys are more often abandoned. Boys are considered to have little value in Kenya society. Girls have value in Kenya: for their domestic skills, for their ability to earn income for the family, and for the dowries they attract on marriage.
What Life4Kids Does
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We rescue and nurture abandoned boys in Nairobi, Kenya.
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We provide for their emotional, physical, social, and educational needs.
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We provide a loving and nurturing home conducive to personal growth.
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What Life4Kids Canada Does
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We provide funding representing more than 75% of the cost of operation of Life4Kids in Kenya.
What You Can Do
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The annual cost of educating our boys and maintaining a home for 26 boys is almost CDN $170,000. And costs are mounting! There are many reasons for this:
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Inflation is rampant in Kenya.
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Kenyans continue to experience supply chain issues.
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Utility and fuel costs have more than doubled.
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Drought and floods have caused food costs to skyrocket.
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The exchange rate for the Kenyan shilling has changed dramatically, resulting in more Canadian dollars being required to buy shillings.
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The little boys are now in private school.
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The state-run medical insurance program appears to have collapsed.
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Four of our boys are in post-secondary education with higher education costs.
We need continuous financial support to sustain this important project. We have a budget to meet EVERY MONTH. Please donate today. Or, better still, please set up a recurring monthly donation so we can meet the monthly needs of the boys.
