There are several differing statistics about the number of street children in Nairobi Kenya. A study commissioned by the consortium of street children (CSC) reveals some shocking statistics: In 1999 it was reported that there were over 50,000 street children in Nairobi and the government estimated that their numbers grew at 10% per year. In 2001 it was stated that conservative estimates indicated that 300,000 children live and work on the streets in Kenya, with over 50% of them concentrated in and around the capital Nairobi. In 2001, another report estimated that there were about 40,000 street children in Kenya, with about half concentrated in Nairobi. It was estimated in 2007 that there were 250,000 – 300,000 children living and working in the streets across Kenya, with more than 60,000 of them in Nairobi.
In 2003, a bold campaign was launched by the then government to try to remove the estimated 10,000 people who were sleeping rough every night in the Kenyan capital. Most of them were taken to children’s home and rehabilitation centres.
One of those centres was the Kayole Street Children’s Rehabilitation Home. Like most people were doing at the time, Bennington Owino (Assistant Manager, Audit- ABC Bank) visited the centre with some friends to take some donations to the kids. “I fell in love with the children. Seeing them happy because they had a friend added meaning to my life. It occurred to me, more needed to be done, so I approached the ABC Bank Audit department through which we later approached the Bank to adopt the home as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility. Several players from different departments also joined to become- Friends of Kayole (FOK). Anne Frank “No one has ever become poor by giving,” keeps the team inspired.
ABC Bank visits the home three times a year, April, August and December for mentoring sessions and bonding. Faith Kalulu, a beneficiary who is paralysed waist down wards, has been sponsored to Masaku School for the physically disabled through FOK. The young lady wishes to be a lawyer and we hope to see this dream come true. We also have 19 girls in boarding school that the Bank supports to ensure they have the required utilities each time they report to school. The bank has supported the home for over ten years now and we hope to continue.
Upendo Children’s Home- The home was founded in 2007 by a Kenyan couple residing in the USA. Their aim was to provide shelter for the street children, orphans and the homeless in Kenya. In 2016 the ABC Diaspora Banking team led by Joseph Waithaka went on a US tour. During the tour, the team was privileged to meet the couple and from then on a partnership was formed.
In March 2017 a group of children from Upendo kids traveled to the US on a two-week fundraising tour in Oklahoma State where they met various groups of Kenyans. The Bank was privileged to be part of the caravan.
ABC Bank has been visiting these homes thrice a year, during school holidays, giving donations of cash and kind to help support the children. The team has also made it their obligation that each child gets quality education by providing the required funds for fees. We are happy to say most have made it to university.
The Bank runs a mentorship program for the children. Once a year, a group, comes to the Bank’s head office to interact with staff. The visits are mainly for engagement purposes whereby the children get to meet the various hierarchies in the Bank. Staff get to explain what they do and a question and answer session follows. This allows the children to have a better understanding of what happens in the banking sector and helps them in career decision making. They also get counseling and motivation talks.
Nelson Mandela best puts it “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” As a Bank we take pride in making a child’s dream a reality.