Sikizana Trust for Community Development

Sikizana Trust for Community Development has the following activities all focused on the child protection and development. 

•  Child Rescue. Children are rescued who have been abandoned by their parents, defiled, orphans without immediate family, victims of child labour, early marriage or general neglect. Once at the centre, they are provided with shelter, food, litigation and medication where applicable.
•  Education support. Once rescued children are put back to school. Over and above the rescued ones, secondary school sponsorship are provided to children that are identified to be very destitute primary school leavers.

The shelter serves as dormitory for boys, for girls, office and library and has kitchen. 

Location: Kenya 

Amount of children: Being a rescue centre, the number is never constant but it oscillates between 25 and 40. Sometimes have to turn back very deserving cases due to shortage of food and beds. 

How much difference your contributions make?

• $1 -  Can feed breakfast for 10 children for one morning
• $10 -  Buy 10 kilogrammes of beans enough for 5 days for 10 children
• $50 -  Purchase a solar battery for evening lighting to save electricity lighting
• $200 -  Pays for the whole year of secondary school fees 

What is the current state?

Each one time we have upto 25 children at the centre. Additionally,  have 45 more in boarding secondary schools (on a fee waiver scholarship, that is they have no fiscal sponsor). 

What have we done so far?

Since 2005 over 220 have gone through the rescue centre with some already working as lawyers, accountants, journalists among others. 30 are in universities under government scholarships. 

About the Founders: Rachel and Cosmas

Cosmas grew up in very poor family where his father was most of the time absent. Schooling was curtailed and he had to leave home and loiter the streets of Mombasa for three years. He was eventually rescued and sent back to school by a good Samaritan and later won a scholarship to high school. Thereafter, he proceeded to university of Nairobi where he met Rachel at the University and together they started to assist street children in Nairobi. This background led them to start the rescue centre with the goal to wish to attempt making sure no other child goes through the same situation he went through.