Action for Children in Conflict - Kenya

Action for Children in Conflict (AfCiC) works to transform the lives of children affected by extreme poverty, hunger, illness, persecution, abuse, and neglect. Our projects focus on helping some of the most disadvantaged, socially excluded, and vulnerable children and young people in Thika District, Kenya. The children and families we work with come from backgrounds of abject poverty, family breakdown, abandonment, and abuse. They are often forced to live on the streets, working and begging for money for food, in conflict with local residents and the police. Many resort to substance abuse as a means of escaping the cold and hunger which pervade their daily lives. We believe that these children have the capacity and desire to transform their lives, and AfCiC operates several programmes designed to help them do so:

• Outreach Programmes for Vulnerable Children: preventing children from ever going to the street and rehabilitating those who are already on the street:
  • Education Empowerment – School Drop Out Prevention Project; Non Formal Education for street youth; Child Play Therapy sessions in Thika Women’s Prison; Child Sponsorship programme for former street children.
  • Economic Empowerment – Into Work Programme for older street youth; Family Sponsorship and Micro Finance projects with acutely vulnerable families.
  • Youth & Community Empowerment – After School Children’s Clubs; Outreach Clinics for street children (Makongeni, Ruiru); Community Training & Research activities.

• A residential Interim Care Centre for street children who cannot immediately rejoin their families; carrying out intensive non-formal education, rehabilitation, counselling and family reintegration work.
• Kenyan Children’s Legal Aid Work (KCLAW) providing free legal advice to children and their guardians.
• School Feeding programmes feeding 1000 vulnerable children daily.
• Holiday clubs providing additional education, life-skills, lunch and games/sports for 400 vulnerable children; keeping them away from abuse/exploitation on the streets during school holidays.

- AfCiC-Kenya is closely affiliated with Action for Children in Conflict-UK, which has its own profile on idealist.org.