- P. O. Box 68– 40100 Kisumu, Kenya.
- neri.boyz.kisumu@gmail.com Talk to us: +254 700 313 086
- Mon - Sun 9.00 - 18.30 Karibu mgeni mwema!
OUR NEW HOUSE
With your help, we have managed to raise funds for the purchase and reconstruction of a new shelter for our offspring.
While we show our boys a better way, we educate them, so our experience grows with them. Unfortunately, the number of street children in Kisumu city is also increasing.
Until recently, we used a rented house for the activities of the St. Philip Neri Rehabilitation Center (SPNR). After consideration, discussions, and reevaluation of options, we decided to move to our own premises. We found a nice house near Lake Victoria, close to our former location.
However, this house had been unused for a long time. We needed to renovate it properly and adapt it to our needs and local legislative standards for the children's center. We had to reintroduce electricity and water, reinforce the structure, lay new tiles in several rooms, set up a kitchen, build outdoor dry toilets and a football field. We also had to adapt the accommodation areas, the social room with dining area, and the indoor bathroom.
For all of this, we owe you a humble 'Thank you, God bless you!' However, as always, the main sponsor was the University of Health and Social Work of St. Elizabeth, which significantly contributed financially to the purchase of the property. For all other expenses mentioned, we relied on the goodwill of people. We are pleased to announce the successful completion of this project!
What Are We Doing?
We are looking after the poorest, most vulnerable individuals scattered in the streets of Kisumu town. These are minor boys abandoned by their families, left for the favor of an unpredictable tomorrow, on mercy of a by-passer. Street boys rarely enjoy any empathy. The life treats them harshly. Humanity though offers them a second chance. If they show the good will and cooperation, we do our best to help them to escape vicious circle of drug abuse, show them the right way and help them to walk further, until independence. This path is full of obstacles and challenges, almost on every step. You can understand how we manage to drive them out of the drug abuse, reintegrate them back to their communities and help them to grow and fluorish in this following section.
OUR MISSION
Our goal is the complex transformation. Step by step - from the first knock on our gate, through the process of rehabilitation leading to a successful reintegration into the community.
2016-2024
Since our beginning in 2016 we worked with 157 children altogether. From these we managed to reintegrate 29 children into their original communities. With our assistance 32 children successfully accomplished the primary education.
HOUSEMATES
The sum of housemates in our SPNR centre is very fluid. At this time we shelter 11 boys, 5 on primary school, one studying secondary. 3 boys are in the initial rehabilitation stages. You can read about the rehabilitation process below on this page.
SCHOOLING
Since attending school is not free in Kenya, it is a privilege to participate. Many children never get the chance. We currently fund the education of approximately 42 children from our resources. 24 boys attend secondary school.
STATISTIC: More than 300,000 children struggle to survive on the streets of Kenya every day
According to the central government of Kenya, in 2018, the number of street children was estimated at 300 thousand souls, ranging from the age of 4 to adulthood. However, the accuracy of this number is questionable. Most of these children survive from day to day, while notoriously abusing cheap inhalant drugs like jet fuel and shoe glue, as well as herbal drugs, such as khat and marijuana. The long term effects are fatal. After years of inhalant abuse, the child is no longer able to learn new skills or absorb any complex information. Due to various diseases, malnutrition, violence or drug related problems, the lifespan of these poor individuals rarely exceeds 25 years. Street children are expelled from any social interaction with other population, by being ignored or physically intimidated. Such woeful circumstances form the vicious circle of drugs, robberies and violence, which makes it almost impossible for them to escape this misery. Those children are usually exposed to multiple forms of abuse since the early childhood, therefore their traits of behavior are fundamentally damaged.
We have a safe home where we try to live as a family. We provide all basic necessities, such as food, shelter, clothing, medication and recreational services. We are ensuring a proper rehabilitation process thanks to our qualified social workers who help in recruitment, admission case study and ongoing counselling of street children.
First Contact & Admission Process
FIRST CONTACT
The local standard is the myriad of needy children scattered on the city streets. We meet them on a daily basis, from the youngest to the recent adults. Due to the notorious abuse of inhalant drugs, many of them are irreversibly damaged both mentally and physically. Those of them who have hope for salvation and a new life are identifiable after an informal, but precisely targeted conversation. By their communication, their demands and the way they percieve themselves, it is possible to estimate their potential. Our social workers perform field work in the city centre by contacting and observing newcomers of the Town’s street. If they find a hopeful child who shows a will to be rescued, they take him to the SPNR for further action.
Our center and its location is well-known in the street community. In case a child comes directly to our gate by itself we cannot drive him away, therefore we take the first steps in our yard.
STORYTELLING
After arriving to SPNR and during the first moments spent there, our social worker leads an informal conversation with the newcomer. This is partly for getting closer to the child, for establishing a new relationship and partly for obtaining the basis for the next step. The boys coming from the streets tend to be tricky and precautious because of the injuries caused in body and soul. Therefore, the conversation must be handled with care, great patience, understanding and above all with prudence.
During the first days spent at the center, our social workers approach the new child in order to build a trusting relationship. Through a personal dialogue we try to find the way to the child's heart. After the success by observing the boy's personality in detail, it is neccessary to listen carefully and to percieve his non verbal expressions.
As soon as we notice a conscious and honest will to change the course of his life, the official part of admission can proceed. A social worker familiar with the child’s mother tongue leads a set dialogue about the child’s street situation and its background,
the relation to the family and its issues, as well as with experiences of substance abuse.
DOCUMENTATION
The admission is finalized by registering the child's life history in an official admission letter. The copy will later be delivered to the representatives of the state police and the County Children's Office (CCO). The competent SPNR staff member shall also record in the document his interpretations / observations, as well as the names of the child's parents or other living relatives. This document is later broaded with information from home visits, search for a suitable foster parent, the child's progress in behavior, study and overall well-being.
In the event of interruption of rehabilitation (which may occur for various reasons), the case is suspended and the competent authorities are informed. If we manage to return the child to the rehabilitation, the registration may be reopened with the knowledge of the authorities.
Rehabilitation
The purpose of rehabilitation is to rid the child of the habits of the street that helped him survive until coming to us. However, these habits are unacceptable for a proper life in the community.
For the success of our work, it is necessary to fulfill all phases of the process in SPNR. However, the rehabilitation part of the program is the most complicated and risky, both for the child and for our team. This is because ex-street boy must give up his deep-rooted habits of survival from the street and accept, understand the new reality and chances within it.
OBSERVATION
The boys who have spent a lot of time on the street are quite unpredictable. In the first few months, it is necessary to closely monitor their behavior in individual and group activities. Our older boys also help us verify how the new comer behaves outside our sight.
We get to understand the level of basic skills of newly admitted children during our morning tutoring. We start with a worksheet at the level of the child's age, proceeding with non-invasive, playful exercises. We combine the work with text and exercise books with interactive applications on our tablet. All focused on the basics of English, Swahili, mathematics and geography.
At our monthly employee meetings we analyze our findings, compare them with the history of these newcomers and adapt our individual approach to them.
KINDNESS
The boys we work with are used to living in a hostile environment, under the constant stress, struggling to survive. One of the basic pillars of re-education is the building of trust in the world and the people, which is an essential part of life in any society.
An important task of our staff is to arm themselves with almost endless amount of patience and kindness. To understand the reasons for the delinquent habits of these children, which touch all the other residents of the center. Our employees are therefore not only obliged to pay attention to the equipment of the center and their own private property, but also to protect belongings of other children as much as possible. Otherwise, there can be a serious conflict between the newcomer and another child, which can have severe consequences for health, also for further progress in education.
VALUES
Values tend to be an unknown concept at the beginning both linguistically and conceptually. Many of the cases we deal with come from an unimaginably demanding, cruel environment. Also the street life does not contribute to the development of any morals. In our program, we try to build them from the ground up.
We set an example for children and enable them to observe them in the practice of everyday life. If there is a situation between the boys that one gains thanks to the kindness of the other, we use to point it out and reflect on it together. If some of the children are reckless, cheating or otherwise hurting their companion, instead of physical or other punishment, we discuss this situation and try to find a lesson in it.
We simply try to build love of neighbor, forgiveness of trespassers, and to root the familiar 'do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you'.
RELATIONSHIPS
The human, being a social creature is dependent on relationships. From those basic ones within a family, to complex coexistence ability within the society. Our stable relationships are the essentials to determine a great part of our personality. Our relationships evolve capabilities of trustworthiness, self-confidence, sincerity, etc. Although these are the basics, it is not easy to build them without a good experience with the world of people. Being constantly pushed away, beaten or deceived since early childhood causes lifelong wounds, whose depth shall be demonstrated in the future social life. To heal such scars also requires a lot of patience, understanding, a role-model and a lot of experience with the bright side of life.
A life within a community naturally develops and comprehensively shapes an individual’s personality. At SPNR we focus to endorse conditions and situations requesting communication, discipline, sharing or cooperation in a collective spirit. To schedule daily household maintenance, upon which our leisure time activities depend on, ensures punctuality, discipline and the responsibility towards a collective. Our leisure time is also designed to understand a meaning of the companionship. On our trips we distribute different inevitable items to each bag, so the boys would experience the meaning of partial contribution to the society, when each role is equally important in order of progress. The relevance of sports and other collective games is self explanatory, the team spirit is concentrated and used at full potential there.
Of course, program is not the only factor evolving the understanding of the sense of relationships. Since we cannot replace a hole which biological parents left in a
child’s heart, we believe that the kindness, consistency, perseverance and especially heartful care can make a child witness the good side of mankind. We hope that in the future it may help (whether rationally or emotionally) them at those crucial moments of choice.
DISCIPLINE
A punctual approach to both job duties and private life is another determinant of our place in a collective. Though it is a big thing, which both forms our mentality and is being influenced by it, it’s composed out of countless details. These lie in moments, in small, everyday decisions. Our personality leaves an imprint on each of them. However, even our character is not a constant, it is being evolved on a causal basis, which we are able to influence and direct. So we can restructuralize our approach to life, consciously building our everyday routine step by step. This way reforms also our reputation, subsequently our self-esteem and confidence.— In SPNR we are vigilant about punctual fulfillment of boy’s duties regarding school, household maintenance and, of course, keeping agreements and promises. A boy who witnesses a positive response, as a result of consistent activity tends to imitate such behavior also in the future. The more vast this experience is, the more solid is the basis of self-discipline.
Our zest for life depends to a large extent on the awareness of our own effectiveness and on the evaluation we recieve from our companions. A positive reaction of one’s personal surroundings is therefore the strongest motivation, reason and goal of our personality developments across life. Therefore, the direction of this development depends on external impulses.
We believe, that a non-invasive way of instilling a sense of discipline within our SPNR ‘culture’ can reform the perception of personal priorities of our pupils.
RESPECT
Becoming an integrated individual does not only require a focus on self-development. Along with our own efforts and activities we also must accept the uniqueness of other people, both sides of it. It starts with exploring our own base. To get to know one's own essence leads to the tolerance of irritable sides of our companions. Isn't sensitivity to other's annoying traits just a simple recognition of our dark sides we observe in the outside world?
Abandoned children lack almost everything they need for a healthy mental growth. Love, support and understanding come first. As mentioned, respect for others comes from self-esteem. Self-esteem is formed mostly from the reaction of others to us. Those children who experience only contempt will inevitably develop a deep self-loathing. An automatic defensive reaction causes an enforced exaltation above everything different to one's own patterns of behaviour. However, a gentle but systematic intervention at the right time can reverse the malignant process.
The SPNR approach promotes collegial and considerate manners on all levels. Everyday life in a household constantly brings numerous exemplary situations, which we use for gradual rectification. Our child thus develops his own social habits in the desired direction (due to the natural instinct of adaptation), at the same time he feels the positive consequences of similar behaviour of other children towards himself. If the young individual endures this process long enough, the roots should be deep enough to develop independently in the right direction.
Education & Reintegration
In order to get a boy into an elementary school class appropriate to his age, we need to identify and fill gaps in basic knowledge. Some of our boys have never entered any school facility until thirteen years of age. On the contrary, some little comrades have completed a handful of school years. Our approach to the lessons must thus be quite individual, each of the attending pupils lacks a different skill set.
As mentioned, SPNR is a temporary solution, our goal is to place the child back in the community, so that he can be prepared for individual life. Living in our center until the end of primary education must therefore be a last resort.
THE ROOTS
Every human beings needs to reconcile with its own past and origin. The boys in SPNR are coming from an hostile environment, being born to a regrettable family situation. For such an individual, it is a lifelong mission to process the circumstances of its creation.
We do understand, that the major part of a kid’s character is being formed in the early childhood, by perceiving the male and female pattern, which are represented by parents, or other close persons. The area of the first steps, first encounters with age mates, with the community also determines the future self-confidence and acceptance. If these cornerstones are not solid, no followable role models are to be found, the inner balance of the whole individual is fragile. The goal of our admission process is to understand the boy’s situation inside him, in his family, to map the scars caused on his soul. Throughout the process we strive to get the informations which could help us to complete the image of the whole story and its main characters. After the initial phases of the rehabilitation are accomplished, we start to pay home visits to these ex-guardians. To hear the other side helps us to see, whether the burden of the child’s fate lays on them, or it is to be found somewhere else.
If the potential caretakers do not present any harm, we visit them regularly in the presence of the kid. If we conclude, that their interaction is good, we place this boy into this family, enroll him in a local school. Afterwards we do perform the regular home visits to make sure, that the child attends the education and that the relationship with custodians is optimistic and prosperous.
If the new environment proves to be toxic without the possibility of future development, our last resort is to offer a place in our SPNR center, to provide education at St. Vitalis Nanga primary school. Yet this is the last resort. Our target is to place the promising student within the community of the origin. There he can get familiar with his culture, observe the roots, understand himself. So gets the chance to become a good parent and an honorable member of the community.
RE-RELATIONS
There is a difficult and complicated story behind every street child. It is difficult to find the truth by default. All parties involved offer a different version of the issues history. It is our goal to listen to both parties and so observe the probable truth in between the lines.
Afterwards we try our best to persuade the guardians about the growth and change our pupil went through. Without their good will and collaboration it is impossible to reimplement him back to the local community.
All the intimate relations are very sensitive to lies, moreover those within a family. Our children come from the lowest class families, with many members and few resources. This makes them crave for any kind of materialistic satisfaction. The nature of a child’s soul is not being able to overthink the consequences, meanwhile the poverty eliminates empathy. The common cause of an escape is a severe punishment of the young one after stealing from family budget or property. The local culture considers thieves as immutable and punishes this act ruthlessly.
Whatever the guilt was, both relatives and boy feel victimized. This wound is always very hard to heal and the scars shall remain forever. Both parties involved need to be very careful as it is easy to open them again. If there is an honest bound and mutual will to improve, the process uses to be successful. However, if the strong resentment of any kind remains, reestablishment of the relationship seems to be impossible and we need to search for a capable foster family. This mission is possible only if the child is not too devastated from the disappointment. If so, the boy usually decides to escape and finds the relief in drugs.
It is clear, that such operation within such an intimate area is a ‘dance among eggs’. It requires a great sensitivity, empathy and a great amount of patience from our social workers. It is perhaps the most complicated phase of the rehabilitation process, where everything uses to fail in most of the cases and we have to start from the beginning or- to close the case. However, our dedication is to do our maximum and never give up. Though it uses to be hard to restart again, after a lot of attempts, it is the best we can do to reform the life of the innocent soul.
STUDIES
To complete the formation of a valuable citizen and responsible parent, the education, both formal and cultural is an obvious key to success. That is our main goal. On the one hand, we support a successful entry into the labor market by improving the personal background and portfolio of the future adult. On the other hand, we ensure that this future adult citizen could integrate into the local community and build a healthy, perspective family.
As described, at the very beginning of the rehabilitation process we eliminate multiple pathological habits. Then we observe the level of basic skills needed for school attendance and fill in the gaps. As soon as the child reaches both moral and knowledge requirements, we start to look for a school in the area of its guardians.
When we manage to complete all of these procedures successfully we incorporate our pupil into this new ambient. After the successful replacement we monitor the situations both at home and in the school with regular home and school visits. Our children are always welcomed to visit our premises during holidays, where they can relax and share with us. So we can estimate the development of each ones individual situation and plan next steps in each case.
In the case everything goes well and our pupil successfully completes 8 grades of primary school, we’re ready to operate similarly in order to secure also the secondary education. Ex-street boys usually manage to get to high school around their 18’s (age of maturity in Kenya) due to the gap caused by the time spent on streets. We can’t keep young adults mixed with minors, according to the local laws. We try our best to find some family member who, under certain circumstances and support, can shelter this particular boy. If this option isn’t possible for any reason, we group two/three of our adult boys and rent them some suitable housing for studying years- whilst inspecting regularly, of course.
A lot of the boys do not manage to complete the education process due to a vast variety of reasons. They undergo lots of challenges, temptations and frustrations during this period. But, who of us doesn’t? Difficulties may occur at any level of the education process. If it isn’t the relationship with the guardian family, then there are prejudices towards streetboys within the school administration and members of the local community. In such cases we’re always ready to show up and help to solve the ongoing issue. Luckily, many of our pupils are able to withstand these circumstances and overcome the obstacles on their way of education. For these we are immensely happy, they are our greatest motivation. If you are interested in some of our successful pupils, click >here.
New Life
At the end of a successful rehabilitation process, the outgoing young adult is able to distinguish Good and Bad, to follow the right path indicated by the basic christian values and general rules of the peaceful coexistence in the human society.
We know that we’ve accomplished our mission, when our ex-pupil completes the formal education (whether it is secondary school or university depends on individual skills) and is being able to find a sustainable job, or even to start his own small business.
Our hearts rejoice as we see small-big miracle: an abandoned child with a minimum hope, grown to a wise adult able to establish a healthy family. Becoming a good parent who understands the absolute necessity of love, education and patience imperative to raise his own children.
It is a common knowledge that the Family is a basic social unit. The well-being of nuclear families is key to a healthy, prosperous society. The transformation needs to begin both from the bottom (our work) and from the top. The Kenyan government and charitable organizations, such as SPNR, collaborate closely in order to ensure the efficient symbiosis of legislation and our procedural guidelines. In this way, step by step, we reverse the adversity of fate and raise faithful, responsible fathers of future families. These shall be learned from their parents mistakes, rather than to repeat them. Thus they break the vicious circle and raise their own children to prosper and contribute.