KENYA

48.4M population

• About 40% of the population is under age 14

• 2.6 million children are orphans, 47% are AIDS orphans

• Approximately 30-45% of these orphans end up in charitable children’s institutions (CCIs), sometimes referred to as “orphanages.”

• 18.5 million Kenyans live below the poverty line and 35 million Kenyans lack access to basic medical care.

​

The Situation of Children in Kenya: 

Approximately 3.6 million Kenyan children are orphans or otherwise classified as vulnerable. Of these, 646,887 children have lost both parents, while 2.6 million children have lost at least one parent (one million of these to AIDS). Other children are vulnerable due to poverty, harmful cultural practices, family breakdown, abandonment, natural disasters, ethnic and political conflict, and poor care arrangements.

 

The Challenges:

Communities in Kenya have traditionally responded to children without parental care by placing them informally in the care of extended family or community members. However, with increasing socio-economic pressures and weakening family structures, this kinship care mechanism is under threat, and many children are at risk of maltreatment. The predominant formal alternative care arrangements are placements in children's charitable institutions or other institutional care.

​

Working Toward Solutions:

Children's homes in Kenya are privately run. Most orphanages in Kenya are founded and run by individuals, not the government, and while many have religious affiliations, most rural children's homes do not receive any funding. Grace + Hope's founder, Stephen Wabuko, was an orphan himself, and has dedicated his life's work to providing help and hope to the children of Grace + Hope. Due to the limitations of local funding the efforts have extended to Western friends and family, where as little as $10 / month would have an enormous impact of the lives of these children.  

​

​

​