Reality in Kenya

Many people imagine Kenya to be a country where life is perfect. They imagine an exotic tropical travel destination with visits to pristine beaches with clear seas, and picture the excitement of that long dreamed for safari seeing animals running wild in their natural habitat.

There is however a shocking contrast behind this facade of beauty and tourist idyll, the lives of many thousands of children and their families is abhorrent.

Many children do not have a bed and will sleep on the mud floor where they are at risk of snake and mosquito bites. Most children have no clean running water where they live. Shoes are a luxury and many will walk miles barefooted in rough terrain. If a child is sick they cannot just access a doctor freely. There are many children who have no mum or dad or both or who have been abandoned. A parent may be so desperate for money that they are prepared to sell their child for as little as £20.

Many children and adults do not have a birthdate let alone a birth certificate.

Many children and adults go hungry and without food for long periods, often not knowing when the next meal will arrive.

This is reality in the life for many children who live in Kenya.

The poverty many children and their guardians, families and relatives live in is appalling.

Key Facts:

1. There are 42 tribes within the country each with their own language and customs.
2. The major language is Swahili. this is followed by English for those who receive an education.
3. Kenya is ranked 152 out of 177 of the poorest countries in the world.
4. The inequalities between rich and poor are enormous.
5. There is no welfare system so there is no child support allowance or income support or free healthcare. Everything costs money.
6. There are an estimated 2.4 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Kenya in need of care and support.
7. Many children get placed in extended families with relatives who often do not want the child, nor do they have the capacity and finances to cope with an additional human life.
8. All children are desperate to go to school and to learn and will go to great lengths to try to secure a place at school.
9. All the children deserve and need love. That is a fundamental right regardless of how they came into the world. They are a gift.
10. The country is predominantly Christian and Muslim based faiths. Regardless of which religion, children and adults pray. They seem to have an innate connection to God.

Change a Chapter is actively working
to help change the chapter in the life of a child
and their families to help make theirs a happier story.