Helping Destitute children
Date Published:
A Safe Place to Learn, Eat, Dream and Grow
A Funding Appeal to Establish a School and Child Rescue Centre in Kayole-Soweto, Nairobi, Kenya
**Dear Partner, Donor, Foundation, or Friend,**
There is a question that I cannot stop thinking about:
**What happens to a child who grows up believing that tomorrow will always look exactly like today?**
In Kayole-Soweto, Nairobi, there are children growing up in circumstances they did not choose. Some live in families struggling with extreme poverty. Some come from homes affected by alcohol and substance abuse. Some spend long hours on the streets because there is nowhere safe for them to go. Others regularly miss school because their families cannot afford the basic things needed to keep them there.
And behind all of this are children who are slowly losing something they should never have to lose:
their childhood.
That is why I want to start a project in Kayole-Soweto to establish a **school and child rescue centre for vulnerable children.
This project is not simply about constructing classrooms.
It is about creating a safe place where a child can eat, learn, play, receive guidance, discover their talents and begin believing in their future again.
We are asking for funding to help us make that place a reality.
## The children we want to reach
When people hear the word "poverty," they often think about money.
For a child, poverty is much more than money.
It can mean going to bed hungry.
It can mean missing school because there is no uniform.
It can mean sharing one pair of shoes with a sibling.
It can mean not having books.
It can mean living in an overcrowded home.
It can mean watching a parent struggle with alcohol.
It can mean spending the day around adults and environments that are not safe for children.
It can mean being forced to grow up before you are ready.
Kenya's latest child-poverty analysis paints a deeply concerning picture. The **2025 Brighter Futures report by KNBS, UNICEF and UN Women found that 55% of Kenyan children are multidimensionally poor**, meaning they experience deprivation across at least three dimensions of wellbeing.
UNICEF also reports that approximately **2.5 million children in Kenya are out of school**. School participation drops significantly as children get older, with UNICEF reporting adjusted net attendance of approximately **85% at primary level, 42% at lower-secondary level and 36% at upper-secondary level**.
These are not just statistics.
Behind every number is a child.
A child with a name.
A child with a personality.
A child with a dream.
A child who deserves an opportunity.
# When survival becomes more important than school
Imagine being a child who has not eaten since yesterday.
Then imagine being told to sit quietly in class and concentrate on mathematics.
It is not easy.
Imagine being 12 years old and knowing that your family needs money for food.
You may begin thinking less about your homework and more about how you can find something to sell or some small job you can do.
Imagine being a teenager who has missed school for weeks because your parents cannot afford the costs associated with attending.
Eventually, school can begin to feel like something that belongs to other children.
That is how truancy can begin.
Not always because a child hates education.
Sometimes because **life has become too difficult for the child to remain in school.
Kenya's poverty statistics show how serious this problem is. In 2022, approximately 31.7% of Kenyans were living below the food poverty line, while 39.8% were below the overall national poverty line**.
For children living in the poorest households, the pressure can be overwhelming.
And when a child is repeatedly absent from school, they fall behind.
When they fall behind, they can lose confidence.
When they lose confidence, they can become disconnected.
And when a child spends more and more time outside school, they can become exposed to environments that place their future at risk.
This is the cycle we want to interrupt.
# The reality of alcohol and substance abuse
Another concern that cannot be ignored is alcohol and substance abuse.
We must be careful not to label every poor family as an alcoholic family. Many hardworking parents in Kayole-Soweto struggle every day to provide for their children.
But where alcohol and substance abuse are present, children can suffer enormously.
Kenya's national child-protection framework identifies alcohol and drug abuse among parents and caregivers as a factor associated with harmful family environments and violence against children.
NACADA has also documented substance use among schoolchildren. Its national survey found that **16.9% of primary-school pupils were currently using at least one drug or substance of abuse**, while current alcohol use among primary pupils was reported at **2.6%**. The survey also identified bars and alcohol outlets among places from which children reported accessing substances.
This should concern all of us.
A child should not have to grow up believing that an alcohol den is a normal place to spend their afternoon.
A child should not have to take responsibility for an intoxicated parent.
A child should not have to choose between the safety of a classroom and the dangers of the street.
# What happens when children are left without protection?
When children are consistently absent from school and spend large amounts of time on the streets, they can become vulnerable to exploitation and harmful peer influences.
For some children, crime can begin as a survival strategy.
A child needs food.
There is no food at home.
Someone offers them money for carrying something.
Another child introduces them to a group.
The child begins doing small jobs.
Eventually, the line between survival and criminal activity can become blurred.
We should not wait until a child is arrested before asking why that child ended up there.
We should ask the question much earlier:
Where was the child supposed to be?
Our answer should be:
In school.
And if the child cannot safely remain at home during certain hours, there should be a safe place where they can go.
# Girls and boys both deserve protection
Our project will support both girls and boys.
Girls living in vulnerable environments can face risks such as sexual exploitation, violence, early pregnancy and dropping out of school.
Boys can face pressure to join gangs, participate in crime, use drugs or prove themselves through violence.
Neither should be written off.
UNICEF reports that approximately **one in two young adults in Kenya experienced violence during childhood**. Among 18–24-year-olds, 46% of women and 52% of men reported experiencing at least one form of violence during childhood.
This means that protecting children cannot be an afterthought.
It must be part of the foundation.
# Our vision: a school and rescue centre
We want to establish a **safe school and child rescue centre in Kayole-Soweto where vulnerable children can access education and a protective environment.
The centre would aim to provide:
* Quality basic education
* Safe classrooms
* School supplies and learning materials
* Nutritious meals
* Clean water and sanitation
* Qualified teachers
* Guidance and counselling
* Child-protection support
* Mentorship
* Sports and recreation
* Art, music and creative activities
* Digital and technology skills
* Life-skills education
* Support for girls to remain in school
* Identification and support for children at risk
* Family and community engagement
* Referral to appropriate child-protection and social services when necessary
The rescue component would be particularly important for children facing serious vulnerability.
We want to create a place where a child who is struggling can be **seen, heard and connected to help.
# We don't want to build just another school
There are schools.
What we want to create is different.
We want to create a place where teachers know their students beyond their names on a register.
If a child suddenly stops attending, someone asks why.
If a child comes to class hungry, someone notices.
If a child becomes withdrawn, someone checks on them.
If a girl is at risk, someone listens.
If a boy begins spending time with dangerous groups, someone intervenes.
If a family is struggling, we look for ways to connect them with appropriate support.
The goal is to create a **protective community around the child.**
# Education is the doorway to another life
Education cannot solve every problem.
But without education, many other problems become harder to solve.
A child who learns to read gains access to knowledge.
A child who develops mathematics skills can manage money and understand opportunities.
A child who develops confidence can communicate and advocate for themselves.
A child who learns technology can access an entirely different world.
A child who discovers a talent can begin imagining a career.
Education gives children something incredibly important:
choices.
Poverty can make a child's world feel very small.
Education can make it bigger.
# We have proof that children can return to education
There is reason to believe that intervention works.
UNICEF Kenya reported that in 2024, its education interventions helped the Ministry of Education re-enrol **66,142 children**, bringing the total number supported since mid-2022 to more than **317,000 children**.
That tells us something powerful.
Children who fall out of education are not necessarily lost.
They can return.
They can catch up.
They can learn.
They can rebuild their confidence.
But someone has to create the opportunity.
# What your funding would help us achieve
We are seeking financial support to establish the project and gradually develop it into a sustainable education and child-protection centre.
Funding would help us with:
1. Land and construction
We need a safe and appropriate location where classrooms, offices, sanitation facilities, play areas and other essential facilities can be established.
2. Classrooms
Children need safe, clean and dignified learning spaces.
3. Learning materials
Books, desks, stationery, educational equipment and other learning resources are essential.
4. Food
For a child experiencing hunger, a school meal can be the difference between being able to concentrate and spending the entire day thinking about food.
5. Teachers and staff
We need committed teachers and trained support staff who understand the challenges vulnerable children face.
6. Child protection
The centre should have clear safeguarding procedures and links with qualified professionals and relevant child-protection services.
7. Counselling and mentorship
Some children will arrive carrying experiences they cannot explain in words.
They need adults who know how to listen.
8. Sports and recreation
Children deserve somewhere safe to play.
Football, athletics, art, music and other activities can help children develop confidence, discipline and teamwork.
9. Technology
Digital literacy can give children skills that connect them to opportunities beyond their immediate environment.
We want to measure our impact
We do not want to simply say that we are helping children.
We want to demonstrate it.
We will work toward measuring:
School attendance — Are children attending consistently?
Retention — Are children remaining in school?
Academic progress — Are literacy and numeracy improving?
Nutrition — Are children receiving regular meals?
Child protection — Are vulnerable children being identified and appropriately supported?
Gender equality — Are girls and boys receiving equal opportunities?
Transition — Are older children progressing into secondary education, vocational training or employment pathways?
Family engagement — Are parents and caregivers becoming more involved in education?
Every improvement will matter.
Because behind every statistic is a human being.
# Our biggest dream
Our biggest dream is not to have the biggest school.
It is not to have the most beautiful building.
It is not to have the most expensive equipment.
Our dream is much simpler.
We want a child in Kayole-Soweto to wake up in the morning and know:
"I have somewhere to go."
Somewhere safe.
Somewhere they belong.
Somewhere they can learn.
Somewhere they can eat.
Somewhere they can play.
Somewhere someone cares about what happens to them.
# Help us stop children from becoming victims of their circumstances
A child should not be punished for being born poor.
A child should not inherit the consequences of a parent's addiction.
A child should not have to enter crime because there was no food at home.
A girl should not have to abandon her education because she was not protected.
A boy should not have to become involved in violence to prove that he is strong.
And no child should have to give up their dreams simply because they were born in a disadvantaged neighbourhood.
Their circumstances are not their destiny.
But someone has to give them an opportunity to prove it.
# We are asking you to help us start
We know that establishing a school and rescue centre will not happen overnight.
It will require land.
It will require construction.
It will require teachers.
It will require equipment.
It will require food.
It will require safeguarding systems.
It will require patience.
And it will require people who believe that investing in children is one of the most important investments a society can make.
We are not asking you to solve poverty in Kenya.
We are asking you to help us **change the trajectory of children in one community.**
Start with one classroom.
Then another.
Start with 20 children.
Then 50.
Then 100.
Then hundreds.
Because transformation does not have to begin with something enormous.
It can begin with one child.
# The child behind the statistics
When you see a statistic saying that millions of Kenyan children live in poverty, it is easy to move on.
But imagine that one number is a child sitting alone.
Imagine that child has not eaten.
Imagine that child has missed school.
Imagine that child is being told by people around them that education will never change anything.
Now imagine someone opening a door and saying:
"Come in. You are safe here."
Imagine giving that child a meal.
A book.
A teacher.
A football.
A friend.
A mentor.
A classroom.
A reason to wake up tomorrow.
That is what we are trying to create.
# Will you help us open the door?
We are inviting individuals, foundations, companies, churches, community organisations, philanthropists and development partners to join us in establishing this project.
Your support could help provide:
A classroom.
A desk.
A book.
A meal.
A uniform.
A teacher.
A counselling session.
A safe place.
A second chance.
But most importantly, your support could give a child something that poverty cannot provide:
Hope.
The children of Kayole-Soweto do not need pity.
They need opportunity.
They need adults willing to stand beside them and say:
"Your circumstances do not determine your future."
That is the project we want to build.
A school.
A rescue centre.
A safe space.
A place where children can learn, eat, play, heal and dream.
And eventually, a place that produces young people who return to their own communities and help others rise.
We are asking you to help us make that first step possible.
Because every child deserves a safe place to learn.
Every child deserves a meal.
Every child deserves protection.
Every child deserves an opportunity.
And every child deserves the chance to simply be a child.
Help us give them that chance.
Help us build a place where their story can change.
A Funding Appeal to Establish a School and Child Rescue Centre in Kayole-Soweto, Nairobi, Kenya
**Dear Partner, Donor, Foundation, or Friend,**
There is a question that I cannot stop thinking about:
**What happens to a child who grows up believing that tomorrow will always look exactly like today?**
In Kayole-Soweto, Nairobi, there are children growing up in circumstances they did not choose. Some live in families struggling with extreme poverty. Some come from homes affected by alcohol and substance abuse. Some spend long hours on the streets because there is nowhere safe for them to go. Others regularly miss school because their families cannot afford the basic things needed to keep them there.
And behind all of this are children who are slowly losing something they should never have to lose:
their childhood.
That is why I want to start a project in Kayole-Soweto to establish a **school and child rescue centre for vulnerable children.
This project is not simply about constructing classrooms.
It is about creating a safe place where a child can eat, learn, play, receive guidance, discover their talents and begin believing in their future again.
We are asking for funding to help us make that place a reality.
## The children we want to reach
When people hear the word "poverty," they often think about money.
For a child, poverty is much more than money.
It can mean going to bed hungry.
It can mean missing school because there is no uniform.
It can mean sharing one pair of shoes with a sibling.
It can mean not having books.
It can mean living in an overcrowded home.
It can mean watching a parent struggle with alcohol.
It can mean spending the day around adults and environments that are not safe for children.
It can mean being forced to grow up before you are ready.
Kenya's latest child-poverty analysis paints a deeply concerning picture. The **2025 Brighter Futures report by KNBS, UNICEF and UN Women found that 55% of Kenyan children are multidimensionally poor**, meaning they experience deprivation across at least three dimensions of wellbeing.
UNICEF also reports that approximately **2.5 million children in Kenya are out of school**. School participation drops significantly as children get older, with UNICEF reporting adjusted net attendance of approximately **85% at primary level, 42% at lower-secondary level and 36% at upper-secondary level**.
These are not just statistics.
Behind every number is a child.
A child with a name.
A child with a personality.
A child with a dream.
A child who deserves an opportunity.
# When survival becomes more important than school
Imagine being a child who has not eaten since yesterday.
Then imagine being told to sit quietly in class and concentrate on mathematics.
It is not easy.
Imagine being 12 years old and knowing that your family needs money for food.
You may begin thinking less about your homework and more about how you can find something to sell or some small job you can do.
Imagine being a teenager who has missed school for weeks because your parents cannot afford the costs associated with attending.
Eventually, school can begin to feel like something that belongs to other children.
That is how truancy can begin.
Not always because a child hates education.
Sometimes because **life has become too difficult for the child to remain in school.
Kenya's poverty statistics show how serious this problem is. In 2022, approximately 31.7% of Kenyans were living below the food poverty line, while 39.8% were below the overall national poverty line**.
For children living in the poorest households, the pressure can be overwhelming.
And when a child is repeatedly absent from school, they fall behind.
When they fall behind, they can lose confidence.
When they lose confidence, they can become disconnected.
And when a child spends more and more time outside school, they can become exposed to environments that place their future at risk.
This is the cycle we want to interrupt.
# The reality of alcohol and substance abuse
Another concern that cannot be ignored is alcohol and substance abuse.
We must be careful not to label every poor family as an alcoholic family. Many hardworking parents in Kayole-Soweto struggle every day to provide for their children.
But where alcohol and substance abuse are present, children can suffer enormously.
Kenya's national child-protection framework identifies alcohol and drug abuse among parents and caregivers as a factor associated with harmful family environments and violence against children.
NACADA has also documented substance use among schoolchildren. Its national survey found that **16.9% of primary-school pupils were currently using at least one drug or substance of abuse**, while current alcohol use among primary pupils was reported at **2.6%**. The survey also identified bars and alcohol outlets among places from which children reported accessing substances.
This should concern all of us.
A child should not have to grow up believing that an alcohol den is a normal place to spend their afternoon.
A child should not have to take responsibility for an intoxicated parent.
A child should not have to choose between the safety of a classroom and the dangers of the street.
# What happens when children are left without protection?
When children are consistently absent from school and spend large amounts of time on the streets, they can become vulnerable to exploitation and harmful peer influences.
For some children, crime can begin as a survival strategy.
A child needs food.
There is no food at home.
Someone offers them money for carrying something.
Another child introduces them to a group.
The child begins doing small jobs.
Eventually, the line between survival and criminal activity can become blurred.
We should not wait until a child is arrested before asking why that child ended up there.
We should ask the question much earlier:
Where was the child supposed to be?
Our answer should be:
In school.
And if the child cannot safely remain at home during certain hours, there should be a safe place where they can go.
# Girls and boys both deserve protection
Our project will support both girls and boys.
Girls living in vulnerable environments can face risks such as sexual exploitation, violence, early pregnancy and dropping out of school.
Boys can face pressure to join gangs, participate in crime, use drugs or prove themselves through violence.
Neither should be written off.
UNICEF reports that approximately **one in two young adults in Kenya experienced violence during childhood**. Among 18–24-year-olds, 46% of women and 52% of men reported experiencing at least one form of violence during childhood.
This means that protecting children cannot be an afterthought.
It must be part of the foundation.
# Our vision: a school and rescue centre
We want to establish a **safe school and child rescue centre in Kayole-Soweto where vulnerable children can access education and a protective environment.
The centre would aim to provide:
* Quality basic education
* Safe classrooms
* School supplies and learning materials
* Nutritious meals
* Clean water and sanitation
* Qualified teachers
* Guidance and counselling
* Child-protection support
* Mentorship
* Sports and recreation
* Art, music and creative activities
* Digital and technology skills
* Life-skills education
* Support for girls to remain in school
* Identification and support for children at risk
* Family and community engagement
* Referral to appropriate child-protection and social services when necessary
The rescue component would be particularly important for children facing serious vulnerability.
We want to create a place where a child who is struggling can be **seen, heard and connected to help.
# We don't want to build just another school
There are schools.
What we want to create is different.
We want to create a place where teachers know their students beyond their names on a register.
If a child suddenly stops attending, someone asks why.
If a child comes to class hungry, someone notices.
If a child becomes withdrawn, someone checks on them.
If a girl is at risk, someone listens.
If a boy begins spending time with dangerous groups, someone intervenes.
If a family is struggling, we look for ways to connect them with appropriate support.
The goal is to create a **protective community around the child.**
# Education is the doorway to another life
Education cannot solve every problem.
But without education, many other problems become harder to solve.
A child who learns to read gains access to knowledge.
A child who develops mathematics skills can manage money and understand opportunities.
A child who develops confidence can communicate and advocate for themselves.
A child who learns technology can access an entirely different world.
A child who discovers a talent can begin imagining a career.
Education gives children something incredibly important:
choices.
Poverty can make a child's world feel very small.
Education can make it bigger.
# We have proof that children can return to education
There is reason to believe that intervention works.
UNICEF Kenya reported that in 2024, its education interventions helped the Ministry of Education re-enrol **66,142 children**, bringing the total number supported since mid-2022 to more than **317,000 children**.
That tells us something powerful.
Children who fall out of education are not necessarily lost.
They can return.
They can catch up.
They can learn.
They can rebuild their confidence.
But someone has to create the opportunity.
# What your funding would help us achieve
We are seeking financial support to establish the project and gradually develop it into a sustainable education and child-protection centre.
Funding would help us with:
1. Land and construction
We need a safe and appropriate location where classrooms, offices, sanitation facilities, play areas and other essential facilities can be established.
2. Classrooms
Children need safe, clean and dignified learning spaces.
3. Learning materials
Books, desks, stationery, educational equipment and other learning resources are essential.
4. Food
For a child experiencing hunger, a school meal can be the difference between being able to concentrate and spending the entire day thinking about food.
5. Teachers and staff
We need committed teachers and trained support staff who understand the challenges vulnerable children face.
6. Child protection
The centre should have clear safeguarding procedures and links with qualified professionals and relevant child-protection services.
7. Counselling and mentorship
Some children will arrive carrying experiences they cannot explain in words.
They need adults who know how to listen.
8. Sports and recreation
Children deserve somewhere safe to play.
Football, athletics, art, music and other activities can help children develop confidence, discipline and teamwork.
9. Technology
Digital literacy can give children skills that connect them to opportunities beyond their immediate environment.
We want to measure our impact
We do not want to simply say that we are helping children.
We want to demonstrate it.
We will work toward measuring:
School attendance — Are children attending consistently?
Retention — Are children remaining in school?
Academic progress — Are literacy and numeracy improving?
Nutrition — Are children receiving regular meals?
Child protection — Are vulnerable children being identified and appropriately supported?
Gender equality — Are girls and boys receiving equal opportunities?
Transition — Are older children progressing into secondary education, vocational training or employment pathways?
Family engagement — Are parents and caregivers becoming more involved in education?
Every improvement will matter.
Because behind every statistic is a human being.
# Our biggest dream
Our biggest dream is not to have the biggest school.
It is not to have the most beautiful building.
It is not to have the most expensive equipment.
Our dream is much simpler.
We want a child in Kayole-Soweto to wake up in the morning and know:
"I have somewhere to go."
Somewhere safe.
Somewhere they belong.
Somewhere they can learn.
Somewhere they can eat.
Somewhere they can play.
Somewhere someone cares about what happens to them.
# Help us stop children from becoming victims of their circumstances
A child should not be punished for being born poor.
A child should not inherit the consequences of a parent's addiction.
A child should not have to enter crime because there was no food at home.
A girl should not have to abandon her education because she was not protected.
A boy should not have to become involved in violence to prove that he is strong.
And no child should have to give up their dreams simply because they were born in a disadvantaged neighbourhood.
Their circumstances are not their destiny.
But someone has to give them an opportunity to prove it.
# We are asking you to help us start
We know that establishing a school and rescue centre will not happen overnight.
It will require land.
It will require construction.
It will require teachers.
It will require equipment.
It will require food.
It will require safeguarding systems.
It will require patience.
And it will require people who believe that investing in children is one of the most important investments a society can make.
We are not asking you to solve poverty in Kenya.
We are asking you to help us **change the trajectory of children in one community.**
Start with one classroom.
Then another.
Start with 20 children.
Then 50.
Then 100.
Then hundreds.
Because transformation does not have to begin with something enormous.
It can begin with one child.
# The child behind the statistics
When you see a statistic saying that millions of Kenyan children live in poverty, it is easy to move on.
But imagine that one number is a child sitting alone.
Imagine that child has not eaten.
Imagine that child has missed school.
Imagine that child is being told by people around them that education will never change anything.
Now imagine someone opening a door and saying:
"Come in. You are safe here."
Imagine giving that child a meal.
A book.
A teacher.
A football.
A friend.
A mentor.
A classroom.
A reason to wake up tomorrow.
That is what we are trying to create.
# Will you help us open the door?
We are inviting individuals, foundations, companies, churches, community organisations, philanthropists and development partners to join us in establishing this project.
Your support could help provide:
A classroom.
A desk.
A book.
A meal.
A uniform.
A teacher.
A counselling session.
A safe place.
A second chance.
But most importantly, your support could give a child something that poverty cannot provide:
Hope.
The children of Kayole-Soweto do not need pity.
They need opportunity.
They need adults willing to stand beside them and say:
"Your circumstances do not determine your future."
That is the project we want to build.
A school.
A rescue centre.
A safe space.
A place where children can learn, eat, play, heal and dream.
And eventually, a place that produces young people who return to their own communities and help others rise.
We are asking you to help us make that first step possible.
Because every child deserves a safe place to learn.
Every child deserves a meal.
Every child deserves protection.
Every child deserves an opportunity.
And every child deserves the chance to simply be a child.
Help us give them that chance.
Help us build a place where their story can change.
