What we do
Gathiga Children’s Hope Home
The home in Gathiga was founded in 1996 and is located in Gathiga, about 15 kilometres north of Nairobi. Many children come from the streets of Nairobi, are orphans or come from difficult backgrounds. The street children in particular are first rehabilitated and then sent to school. They also receive safe accommodation, schooling, regular meals and medical care at the home.
Due to the relatively high school costs, not all children always attend school, which in Kenya is divided into pre-school, primary and secondary school depending on age. Almost all children want to study after school and are incredibly committed and willing to learn. In Kenya, it is compulsory to wear a uniform to school, which has to be paid for in addition to school fees and learning materials.
Key’s Academy
The project was opened in Gilgil in August 2017. Due to some difficulties with the land, the project had to move in 2021 and is currently being rebuilt on a new site. It is located in Langalanga, Gilgil, about 130km from Nairobi. Around 40 schoolchildren are currently provided with lunch here every day. Many poorer families cannot afford to send their children to school with lunch. This means that the children study from 07:00 in the morning until 16:00/17:00 in the afternoon without food. After consultation with the local teachers, these children now receive lunch from us every school day.
A polytechnic (school for further technical training) is also being built here, which will offer local young people and young people from the street with difficult access to the labour market training opportunities in locally needed fields of work. The idea for the school arose from a discussion within a local church group about how to meet local needs. Lucy is a member of this church group. The project has therefore received a lot of support from the residents of the immediate neighbourhood, including local dignitaries who occasionally pay a visit. Gilgil is a divided urban society. On the one hand, there is one of the country's most expensive public schools directly connected to a self-contained settlement inhabited mainly by British people. On the other hand, Langa Langa is a neighbourhood inhabited exclusively by Kenyans whose income situation is not always rosy due to a lack of employment opportunities. The project is located in this settlement and is primarily intended to offer new opportunities to the next generation.
Street Feeding
The home in Gathiga grew out of the Street Feeding programme. We regularly visit people on the street and bring them tea and bread for breakfast. Through these interactions, the young people come to trust us and make contact with us in order to improve their living situation. Depending on the situation, we take the children or young people into our home in Gathiga or look for other solutions for them.
Would you like to sponsor a street feeding? Then get in touch with us!