Rehabilitating Former Street-Children

Grant Status

2011:

2010:

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About

Profile

The Turning Point Trust works to prevent and rehabilitate street-children within Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, Kenya. When a child comes from the streets to the Turning Point Project, they bring with them behavioural characteristics that they have learnt in that environment. This behaviour frequently prevents them from immediately returning to school, and a period of rehabilitation is required.

Our School Transition Class provides a safe, nurturing, educational environment that enables the child to slowly readjust to a more structured way of life: for example: relating to adults in authority; lengthening their concentration period and adjusting to being within four walls.

During this time, our staff work to trace the child’s family and work alongside them to address the problems the family are facing. If appropriate, a parent or guardian might become involved in Turning Point’s Finance Programme, giving them the chance to start a small business and earn a steady income.

Each child that comes to Turning Point is assessed by our qualified and experienced teachers and any gaps in the child’s education are addressed over the course of the next 12 months. There are two teachers in Transition Class, teaching up to 35 children across Standards 1 to 7.

In addition to educational classes, life skills and counseling are also provided to help children get their lives back on the right path. We also provide children with access to regular meals and healthcare, ensuring they grow to become strong, healthy, young adults.

Once the child has been in Transition for a year, we assist the child in returning to school and support them to complete their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.

At this point in time, depending on the marks achieved, we either enable the child to continue with their education at Secondary School or offer the child a chance of undertaking a vocational skills course.

Project History

The Turning Point Trust have been working with street-children in Kibera since 2003. To date, we have supported almost 200 children to access education, enabling them to create positive futures for themselves away from life on the streets.

Project Impact

Direct beneficiaries of the programme will be the 35 students per year who are rehabilitated through the Transition Class and then provided with school uniform and school bags, enabling them to commence education in a mainstream school.

Indirect beneficiaries will include the children’s families and children already in school as a result of Turning Point’s support who will act as role models, sources of encouragement and future mentors for the children. The local community will also benefit from a reduction in the number of street children and associated social problems such as crime, prostitution and substance abuse.

Project Team Credentials

The Turning Point Trust is a driven non-governmental organization which is duly registered in the UK and Kenya. We began our work in Africa’s largest slum, Kibera, in March 2003. Since this time, due to our many successes, we have grown both in the scope of our projects and the number of children we support. We currently provide a holistic range of programmes to over 300 children. We work to towards the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the end to poverty and hunger, universal education and the promotion of child health. Turning Poitn work by invitation from the local slum community and at a grassroots level, allowing local community members to be extensively involved in all of Turing Point’s work.