Background:

The orphan and street children problem in Africa is well known and many wonderful projects are working to raise infants and small children in nourishing, Christian environments. Unfortunately, older orphans and street kids have it tougher- many orphanages and children's homes are unwilling to take in children over 12 due to the challenges that often come with teenagers in general, compounded by any time spent on the streets. Even so, there are successful projects working to rescue street boys.

Older street girls, however, are largely ignored, sometimes as a result of social stigmas, often because of the perceived cost and/or challenges. Their plight is especially grim- within a week of being on the street, a girl can expect to have been raped multiple times. Pregnancy often quickly follows, and then prostitution. AIDS and other diseases are not far behind. The life expectancy of these girls is depressingly short, and their children become the next of generation of casualties from poverty and disease- they perpetuate the “cycle of pain.”

We want to do what we can to break this "cycle of pain." We want to get these girls off the street- preferably before they have children, but mothers and their children will be welcome as well. We want to provide a safe, healthy, loving, and nourishing environment for them and their children to learn and grow, such that they can re-enter society and prosper. We want to show the Christ's love first-hand, and let them live in His embrace.

Project Plan:

We are looking to develop this program in four phases:

Phase 1- Day/Night Shelter. We are looking to rent a facility in downtown Nakuru in which we can provide shelter, meals, counseling, showers, basic necessities (e.g. baby formula), and basic medical care for the street girls and mothers of Nakuru. This will be a walk-in type operation.
Phase 2- Live-in Program. We would like to start a home that can house 15-20 girls and young mothers on a full-time basis. As part of the program they will learn social, trade, and leadership skills, be provided a rich Christian education, and be allowed to thrive until such a time as they can prosper on their own.
Phase 3- Work Program. We would like to start a handful of companies that require skills that we can teach to the girls in this program (as well as children in other programs) to provide them a "stepping stone" place to work as they enter the workforce. Profits from these companies would go to starting other companies for the same purpose and/or be rolled back into the program.
Phase 4- Expansion. We feel that this model is needed and can work anywhere in East Africa, and we'd like to take it to the places where the need is greatest.

Costs:

We have seed funding from First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Missoula, MT, to begin phase 1. We are still working on models, and to some degree the program will expand or shrink to fit the funding available. We are looking for partners who can assist in funding so that Phase 1 can be an ongoing concern and we can start working on Phase 2. We expect that Phase 1 will cost ~$20K/year to operate, and Phase 2 will cost $25-40K per year (not counting any capital startup costs).

Timeline:

Phase 1 is in progress. Phase 2 will begin at the soonest in 6-9 months.

Mission Trip:

FPC Missoula is currently planning a trip to Nakuru, Kenya, in the summer of 2008; any and all are welcome to go with FPC. The plan will be to spend time working in or on the shelter.

Project: Bridging the Digital Divide

Background:

There are many reasons why third world nations are in their current plight- war, poor governance, colonialism, etc. In most cases, this results in the nation being at a significant industrial disadvantage, a problem that is often compounded with geographic challenges (lack of resources, off major trade routes, difficulty of transportation). Creating a tradition economy under these conditions is a slow and often environmentally painful process.

The arrival of the internet has provided an opportunity to change the rules. Once on the "information superhighway", anyone can participate in the global economy. In addition to the potential of bringing in hard currency, access to the internet also provides educational opportunities and access to information resources on health and other critical topics.

Widespread access to internet is now very possible in Kenya. Kenya has a nationwide GSM/GPRS mobile network that provides wireless internet access at reasonable speeds for reasonable costs. None-the-less, the cost of computers and the monthly cost of service is still out of reach of many Kenyans. We'd like to create a fund for subsidizing these costs, especially for churches and schools in and around Nakuru.

Future opportunities include: