Universal Children’s Day 2017

Kenya News
Children are one of the most treasured possessions on earth.  Kenya joins the world in marking Universal Children’s Day on the  20th  November. This is a day aimed at creating awareness on children rights and preventing their exploitation. Research indicates that about 80% of children living in Child Care Institutions (CCI) are not orphans but have been placed there due to other reasons such as poverty, neglect or domestic violence. Grace Mwangi , Country Manager at Give a Child a Family states that such factors push factors that distance a child from its family thus ending up at CCI’s or the streets. Koinonia Community is one such institution that looks to rescue and rehabilitate vulnerable and street children and ultimately ensuring that they are reintegrated back to their families as…
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Scaling the Heights

Scaling the Heights

Kenya News
She is graceful and her laughter lights up a room. 15 year old Grace Njeri* is among the over one million candidates sitting for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams in the country. She is also among hundreds of children under the care of Koinonia Community. Grace was admitted to Koinonia in 2009 when she was only 6 years old. Life at home had become unbearable after her father abandoned them and her mother became the sole bread winner.  Life in the city became too costly and they were forced to relocate to the rural area. A few years after their relocation her mother passed on leaving her in the care of her grandmother. It was during this time that she found a new home at Anita Home,…
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Child Family Reunification Meeting

Child Family Reunification Meeting

Kenya News
The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) is just around the corner, set for the first week of November. Children from various centers- Kivuli, Tone la Maji and Anita Home will also be taking part in this year’s examination after which they will be reintegrated back to their families. Throughout the year parents have been attending seminars to enable them prepare mentally and physically towards the arrival of their children from the centers. During the seminars parents are equipped with information on ways in which they can become responsible parents and how to build a solid relationship between the parent and the child. The last seminar of the year took place at Shalom House on the 30th of September, which was conducted by Ambassador Edwin Tiego, a mentorship coordinator. In…
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Psycho-support Parents/Guardians meeting

Psycho-support Parents/Guardians meeting

Kenya News
Koinonia Community have been at the fore front impacting the lives of community members through the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of children from the streets. A family set up is the best place for a child to grow in thus the need for children to be reintegrated back to their families. The reintegration part greatly involves parents being able to build a relationship with their children that will deter them from heading back to the streets.  It is due to this cause that Koinonia Community organizes forums for parents and guardians to be guided on ways in which they will relate with their children once they return home. Pycho-social support is important as it helps parents understand the important role they are expected to play in the upbringing of their…
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Recognizing the Best Performers in Koinonia

Recognizing the Best Performers in Koinonia

Kenya News
Success cannot be achieved unless someone has the vision and desire- the words of Mr. Harrison Kyalo, Koinonia Community Administrator during the 2nd edition of Koinonia Recognition Event that took place on 28th July 2017 at Paolo’s Home in Kibera. This is a day set aside in the Koinonia calendar aimed at honoring individuals and projects that have performed well in attaining certain goals as a means of motivation, in the last year. The recognition had been based on two sections the Income Generating Activities (IGA’s)/Social enterprise and Social Projects, which were further classified into five categories- Innovation and Growth, Improved projects, Family Involvement, Resource mobilization and networking and Finance Managements. Best performers in the Social Enterprise category included; Kivuli Trailoring School - Quality of Service and Compliance award. Shalom…
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Reintegration Seminar for Parents

Kenya News
Reintegration is the process through which children that have been successfully rehabilitate from the streets are introduced back to their families. The reintegration process focusses on three key points; retention of a child in the family setting, safety and wellbeing of the child. Families to Families is a Koinonia Community project mandated to help both parents and children through the process of reintegration. A family setting is the best place for a child to grow in thus the need for reintegration as a human being is incomplete without a family. The 1st Saturday saw the first parents reintegration seminar held at Shalom House, the key aim being to help prepare them on the coming home of their children. Kenneth Kariuki, a family counselor talked of some of the influences that affect…
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International Day for the Street Children 2017

Kenya News
International day for the street children is marked annually on the 12th April since 2011 to create awareness on the millions of street children in the world so their rights may not be ignored. Koinonia Community in partnership with Amani and the MAECI project worked together in ensuring that street children in Nairobi have a remarkable day, through the Koinonia Street Kids Tournament. The past two weeks street children from different areas in Nairobi have been practicing twice per week for the ultimate final of the tournament that took place today at the Joseph Kang’ethe Community Centre in Woodley area, Nairobi County. Eight different teams took part in the tournament; Adams, Mutindwa, Santiago, Van Couver, Anita Home, Majengo Base, Kawangware and Riverside in football and in the 100m race. Each team…
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Word Health Day 2017

Kenya News
On the 7th of April every year the world celebrates World Health Day, whereby this year the key focus is depression themed as let’s talk. Depression is one of those terms that one uses when they are feeling sad or miserable about life, where by these feelings fade in due time but if they persists over time it could be a sign of one being depressed. Depression is a treatable condition however about 50% of the cases go untreated as most people still don’t understand it or the stigma associated with it. Kenya is  ranked 6th by the World Health Organization in a report released early this year, about 1.9 m cases reported in 2016. Number of people with depression has increased by 18% since 2005. Depression cases are highest in Nigeria,…
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With a Big Vision, I Take my Step

Kenya News
John Nduati is among a group of young people who have gathered at Shalom House, Nairobi, for a two day workshop on Career Guidance and Entrepreneurship. At 19, Nduati is passionate about the arts and knows exactly what career he would love to undertake however financial. Constrains and adequate knowledge on how to enroll for an appropriate coarse have hindered him from pursuing his dream career. This is a story that replicates with many other young people attending this particular workshop. Many were not able to complete their high school due to poverty or got into the wrong group of friends thus dropping out. The two day workshop has been organized by Amani an Italian organisation, MAECI- Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Corporation and Koinonia Community. It is aimed at…
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Empowering the Community on Children’s Rights

Kenya News
Knowledge is power, for this reason Koinonia Community together with Amani under the MAECI project have undertaken a campaign to empower community members of children rights. An estimate by Consortium of Street Children (CSC), an international charity, suggests the number of street children could be as high as between 250,000 and 300,000 throughout Kenya, including 60,000 in Nairobi alone. A number of factors contribute to the high number of children in the streets ranging from poverty, neglect by parents and guardians, peer pressure among other issues forcing the children to seek refuge in the streets. Koinonia Community has been of aid to vulnerable and street children, by rescuing them, rehabilitating and reintegrating them back to their families, in partnership with Amani. At the end of 2016 the MAECI project started…
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