In our Mitaboni Children’s Home, we shelter 25 girls and 28 boys who were either orphaned, abandoned, or rescued from abusive environments. Most of them came to us on the verge of starvation, needing urgent medical care, not to mention emotional support to help them get over past trauma. Not one of them had received any meaningful education.

At Mitaboni, our loving house parents work to create a holistic, family-style environment where the children feel safe and accepted. All 12 of our staff have been trained in basic trauma-competent care skills, enabling them to better help the kids work through their past experiences. We find this is crucial if they are going to thrive in whatever environment they find themselves in.

While residential care is often needed – especially in the season directly after the child has been rescued - the best place for a child is with their biological family. So part of our programme is to seek ways to make that happen when it is safe and wise. Our Families Together programme is currently walking alongside 10 local families, offering them the support and resources to keep the family together and strengthened.

As with all of our projects in Kenya, we try to make Mitaboni self-sustaining, and we are always developing our on-site farming projects, including tomatoes, maize, pumpkins, potatoes, bananas and coffee. We also use these projects to reach out to other needy children in the local community.

We rejoice at the continued academic success of our students and the spiritual growth we see, with some of the older ones starting to lead worship, and the younger ones attending Sunday school classes.