Kenya, 76 boys have found a foster family thanks to the model developed in 17 years of work in Italy

MILAN – In Nairobi, 76 children and teenagers have found a family in foster care. This is the budget that The Tree of Life Foundation – Kenya announces as theAfrica Day (next May 25), the day in which the whole world remembers the anniversary of the foundation of theOrganization of African Unity (OUA).

Millions of people below the poverty line. In Kenya, 19 million people live below the poverty line and often the lack of resources, combined with situations of hardship within the families of origin lead many children to be removed from their families. “We are working in concert with the local government to remove the children from institutions and family homes by entrusting them to close family members or foster families wherever possible” – explains Bonface Buluma, coordinator of the project. “What the Tree of Life Foundation has done in Kenya in recent years reflects our mission and desire to protect childhood. In Kenya we have borrowed a working model developed in Italy thanks to over 17 years of activity and which over time has trained 350 foster families and found suitable foster care for 251 children and young people”.

The initiative of the Tree of Life Foundation. Collaborating with the Kenyan government, it has activated a digital training program aimed at 120 Kenyan government workers from the Department of Children’s Services he was born in National Council for Children’s Services – on the issue of family custody. During 2022, through a major communication campaign in Nairobi and Kiambu counties, The Tree of Life Foundation promoted the practice offamily custody as a key tool for protecting the rights of minors outside the family and as a value for solidarity. “In addition to offering technical support to government structures in charge of the foster family system, we have contributed to the development of reintegration services and the recruitment and training of foster families. The children welcomed often have emotional and physical scars, for this reason, after their placement phase it is necessary to assist the foster family also through a psychological counseling service” – explains Buluma. “We are also working to create an association of foster families in Kenya in order to be able to share even more practices and experiences”.

Kaikai’s Story. Kaikai is a married man who lives with his wife and their five biological children. Kaikai and his colleague were working for a client in Kasarani when they noticed an abandoned baby by the side of the road at a junkyard. The little girl was hidden in a travel bag and was without clothes. Kaikai and his colleague managed to retrieve a shawl from a nearby house with which they wrapped the little girl to keep her warm. Kaikai immediately informed her wife that, at the time, she was breastfeeding her 4-month-old baby. The woman has made herself available to breastfeed the baby found by her husband to make her grow up in a healthy way. The little girl was taken to the hospital and her abandonment was reported to the police. After receiving the necessary medical care and stabilizing, the little girl was entrusted to the Children Care Institution by the county children’s administrator as efforts to trace his family were activated. Kaikai indicated that he and his wife were interested in fostering the child.

Family involvement. After completing the application forms, and submitting the necessary documents, a home assessment visit was carried out by a child protection volunteer, Tree of Life Kenya consultant and social worker. The family participated in a long discussion about the great commitment they were about to make and the temporary nature of the foster care and made themselves available in the event that the child’s family could not be traced. The family and their home were declared suitable for foster care and the little girl was warmly welcomed into the home by the couple’s other children as well. Kaikai attended a training course for foster parents and shared her experience with other parents as well. The Tree of Life caseworker recently visited the family and was delighted to find that the child is doing well and fitting in perfectly with the family.

The story of Eunice. Eunice was 12 when she was physically abused by her mother with whom she lived in Nakuru. The situation was reported to the community head of the village where she lived and was then referred to a child ombudsman. Eunice was rescued and entrusted to a center where she remained for 3 and a half years. During the girl’s stay in the institution, the social worker and her staff were working to resolve the conflicts in Eunice’s family and to ensure a smooth process of reintegration into the home for the girl. At the same time, a family who often visited the center agreed to take the girl into foster care. The official procedure with the provincial child care officer has been initiated and some training courses have been conducted for the foster family. At the end of the journey, the girl was entrusted to her family and was helped to continue her studies. After a year and a half, once the situation at home had been restored, Eunice was successfully reintegrated and both were offered psychosocial and educational support.