Since 2001, we’ve been working alongside individuals, communities and local government to improve the lives of children, young people and families in Kenya.

Active Programmes

Seed of Hope vocational training centres

Since 2004 our Seed of Hope vocational training centres have witnessed more than 2,000 young people graduate with the skills, confidence and experience they need to build secure livelihoods.

The young people who access our support have been exposed to high-risk situations including child marriage, child prostitution, familial abuse and extreme poverty. Almost 80% of Seed of Hope’s student population are girls and young women, the majority of whom have not had the opportunity to attend secondary school.

• 69% of Seed of Hope students were unemployed and ‘idle at home’ before joining a Seed of Hope programme
• 20% of Seed of Hope students were engaged in casual labour before joining a Seed of Hope programme
• 86% of our graduates are currently employed or self-employed, 5% are in further education or training
• 59% of our graduates have ‘no struggle’ to provide for themselves and their dependants
• 89% of our graduates contribute to their family’s needs every month
• 50% of our graduates are currently mentoring others in their community (of which 34% are mentoring 10 or more individuals)
• 21% of our graduates are currently training others
• 5% of our graduates are employing 1 or 2 people in their business

Completed Programmes

Sustainable specialist schools for children with disabilities

We have supported the establishment of two specialist education schools, Kirunguru School in Kandara District and Percy Davies School in Kambiti, offering specialist education to children with complex physical and mental disability. Having helped establish the two schools, we handed them over to the community and worked with local government to encourage local ownership.

• 74% of students have improved communication skills since joining school
• 71% of students have marked improvement in their mobility since enrolment
• 60% of students have significantly better social skills
• 99% of students have improved motor skills (61% rated significant improvement)
• 78% of students are able to dress themselves – only 36% at enrolment
• 91% of students demonstrate improved concentration
• 92% of students show improvement in the ability to follow simple instructions

Between 2019-2021 we were privileged to work with Danish NGO Help Every Day to support these schools in the final stages of their journeys to full self-reliance. Final investments were made to infrastructure and each school was supported to establish a School Business Farm to grow food to supplement the feeding programme provided by the Government. A range of nutritious crops including oranges, mangos, tomatoes and beans are now on rotation at the schools. In August 2021 we were thrilled to see both schools finally fully self-reliant. 

Self-reliant families

Historically, we worked to build the capacity and support the running of locally run children’s homes in Kenya. In 2015 we made the decision to move away from this area of work and worked very purposefully towards deinstitutionalising these homes so that children might be better placed and cared for in loving families.

We are extremely proud that 63 children have been reintegrated to their families and we continue to support both the children and the families to ensure the re-integration is successful. In 2019 and beyond, we worked closely with each family on a self sufficiency plan that allowed them to support the children in their care using their own household income. Through the provision of business and financial literacy training and the establishment of support groups all of these families are now running profitable businesses and are able to pay for their children’s school fees and basic needs.