World Relief - Kenya Report

AFLC World Missions partners with World Relief. Donations for World Relief can be sent to AFLC World Missions at 3110 East Medicine Lake Blvd. Minneapolis, MN 55441.

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In Nairobi, Kenya, four children between the ages of 14 years and two months stood by the graveside of their last surviving parent who had recently died of AIDS. After the service, Paul, the oldest boy asks his aunt, “What is going to happen to us?” She said that she would take his eight year old sister home with her. The boy was left to return to his former parent’s home with his three other siblings. He wondered how they were going to survive, especially when after a few days the neighbors stole the family’s two goats.

In a short while, the infant died. The boy went to find his sister and discovered that she had been enslaved by the uncle and aunt as a household helper with little food provided and poor living conditions. He brought the three of them together and determined to provide for them himself--somehow. Just at the time, volunteers from a nearby church found these children, built them a safe place to live, enrolled them into World Relief’s OVC program (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) and are now watching over this “Orphan Headed Household” (OHH). Among the things that volunteers in World Relief’s OVC program do for orphans is: make sure they are safe and well nourished; attend school; protect their human rights; secure their documents; and visit them daily—in short—envelop them into the community under the protection of the church.

There are 1.4 million orphans in Kenya, which has a population of 33 million people. The rate of HIV infection is 6% and 60% of the population is under 15 years of age. The challenge of orphans is huge and is going to be around for a long time. This is typical sub-Saharan Africa.

It will take many interventions to meet the challenge of OVC’s. While building orphanages, adoption, or some kind of sponsorship may help, it cannot be done on a scale that will meet all the needs of all the kids that will need help. But, churches are ubiquitous in Kenya and can be empowered to find and care for the orphans and envelop them into their communities. In the past 12 months in Kenya, World Relief served 2,838 orphans, 421 volunteers were trained, 30 churches were involved, 150 care groups for OVC’s were formed, and 200,000 people in the surrounding communities were reached through mass media with messages on how to take care of orphans.

At the same time, World Relief is working to prevent the spread of AIDS: 390,000 young people were taught of the dangers of HIV/AIDS, 60,000 youth made pledges of abstinence, and 11,398 teachers and peer educators in school and colleges were trained to present the abstinence and faithfulness curriculum.

Kenya is said to be 80% Christian, and World Relief has formed a partnership with seven major denominations that have thousand of churches spread across the whole country. If we can scale up our present programs, childhood can be restored to many thousands of OVCs. Your prayers and financial contributions will go a long way to making this a reality in 2008. Thank you.

Church led community empowerment is the key to caring for and restoring dignity to AIDS orphans. We would appreciate your help. Go to www.wr.org, for more information.