One major issue of concern to the Koinonia Community has always been the increasing number of children living in the streets of the African cities. It is estimated that in 1975, there were some 115 children in the streets of Nairobi, Kenya. Today, the number of street children in Nairobi is estimated to have topped 60,000.
Koinonia initiated a small street children program in 1992. A football team comprising of children living in the streets and other children from Riruta area was formed, and alongside the sporting activity, hot meals, medical care, school placement and temporary shelter were provided to the children.
This led to the idea and the subsequent realization of Kivuli Center.
With the assistance of AIFO (Bologna, Italy), Koinonia acquired a 6,000 square meter plot at Kabiria, near Riruta, and developed it into an operational Centre with the continuous assistance of Amani (Milano, Italy)
The Center actively involves the participation of the local people in projects that aim to improve the quality of life lived by their poorer neighbors, with a special focus on street children. |
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LOCATION
Kivuli Center is found about 15 kilometers from the Nairobi city center. It is located along Kabiria Road in Dagoretti, a division on the western fringes of the Kenyan capital. The area has very poor and dilapidated infrastructures in terms of roads, sanitation, water, electricity, telephone lines, educational and medical services.
INTERVENTIONS
CHILDREN PROGRAMME
Kivuli Center is meant to be at the service of the poorest children who formerly lived in the streets. The programme is aimed at rehabilitating them in preparation for eventual reintegration with their families or guardians.
More than 50 children are provided with full care at Kivuli Center. Another 60 children from the neighborhood are assisted to meet their educational requirements while staying with their parents or guardians.
There is a designed programme of activities for the rehabilitation of the children. The activities pursued include the following:
- Education: Kivuli works in cooperation with 11 Nairobi City Council schools neighbouring the Center, and all children under the Centre’s care – both resident and home based – are enrolled in these schools.
- Weekly group meetings: Every week, the boys are organized into small groups of 10-12 members, each supervised by one social worker. The social worker facilitates the group's weekly meeting and engages each boy in a personal encounter.
- Individual Counseling: During individual counseling, the social worker gives guidance and helps the child find direction on various life issues.
- Sports: Boys at Kivuli are encouraged to practice sporting activities such as football, karate, boxing, swimming and volleyball under the supervision of a coach.
- Duties and Responsibilities: The boys are encouraged to be responsible and take care of their environment. Each boy is consequently allocated duties and responsibilities. For instance, all boys, except those aged below nine, wash their own clothes and beddings.
- Coaching: Social workers and volunteers offer extra tuition to help “slow learning” boys catch up with lessons taught in their respective schools.
- Entertainment: Children at Kivuli find entertainment through different activities including games, music, debates and video shows.
The boys are often the protagonists of the entertainment activities, with groups doing traditional dances, juggling, acrobatics and other performances that build their ability to socialize and help foster a sense of belonging.
- Spiritual growth: The boys are encouraged to practice their faith and are offered all possible support. Christians can join Bible Study groups and Catholics have the opportunity to participate in the life of the local parish to help nurture their faith. In this regard, the personal choices of the individual child are respected.
- Home visits: Social workers at Kivuli regularly visit the children’s parents/guardians in order to maintain a positive relationship with them. This relationship is of great importance when the child is eventually reintegrated back into the family of origin upon completion of the rehabilitation process.
- Reintegration: This is the main objective of the rehabilitation programme: to reunite the rehabilitated child with the family.
- The child and his family are monitored to ensure the conditions that had initially pushed the boy to a life on the streets do not reoccur.
