Kenya: “When we rescue these girls, there is a total transformation”
For many years, ACN has provided support, especially through scholarships, to members of the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret. Using the skills obtained through this aid, the sisters have been helping to get girls off the streets of Nairobi.
There are over 60,000 street families living in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, including thousands of boys and girls who do not go to school and are often addicted to drugs or involved in other illegal activities, Sister Caroline Ngatia tells ACN, during a visit to Aid to the Church in Need’s headquarters in Germany.
The Assumption Sisters of Eldoret are a religious congregation that was founded in Kenya in 1962. With over 200 members now, they have spread all over the country and even to other African states, and one of their central projects continues to be getting children off the streets to try and give them a chance for a better and more dignified life.
The sisters used to work only with boys, but more recently began to direct their attention also to girls, after realising that the girls are much more vulnerable in the streets than the boys. “We go to the streets of Nairobi, and we bond with these girls, we visit them three days a week and we work with their mothers as well, most of whom are on drugs. When we bring the girls to the centre we start partnering with the mothers, and we take those who are willing to be rehabilitated to another organisation. Once they are rehabilitated, we empower them economically, and then we reintegrate the girls back with their families,” says Sister Caroline.
Unfortunately, that is not always possible, but the sisters never give up on the young girls. “Those who cannot be reintegrated with their relatives remain with us, so we take them to school, we pay for their school fees, and we do a lot of psycho-social support, because they are girls who have been sexually abused in the streets, girls who are infected with AIDS… so we empower them,” Sister Caroline tells ACN.
With the boys, the sisters had a success rate of around 50%, and they were surprised with the fact that, when given the opportunity, girls never prefer to return to the streets. “There is no relapse. When we manage to rescue these girls there is a total transformation to becoming a better person in society. We encourage them to take education seriously, because only education can break that cycle of poverty,” Sister Caroline insists.
One of the reasons for this discrepancy between the girls and the boys could be that the sisters maintain a closer presence in the girls’ residence, which they cannot do with the boys. The order is planning or dreaming or considering building a convent next to the boys’ residence, to try and improve the situation.
ACN has been supporting the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret with some construction projects, but especially with scholarships for the sisters themselves. For the current Superior General, Sister Joyce Nyagucha Ontune, ACN’s support cannot be separated from the pastoral ministry carried out on the streets. “The help you give us, in the form of scholarships, gives the sisters the skills to be able to carry out their work. Because they are well trained, they can run the projects well and we can see the fruits. Your support is key in helping us to grow in our mission, with confidence. We even have other organisations asking us to run their homes, because ours are doing well, because the sisters are skilled,” she says during the visit.
The enthusiasm of the Assumption Sisters is boundless. With the skills provided by ACN-funded education, they dream of even bigger things. “We have land, and assets. Our greatest joy would be to become self-sustainable, so that other congregations can benefit from ACN’s help instead of us. And maybe when we grow, we can become even donors to others!”
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