In 2021, the team of Inuka Pamoja Initiative in Eldoret – supported by the Belgian organisation Caprioolkinderen vzw - took over an inactive mobile school in Nairobi. Since then, the team has been very consistent in taking the tool out to the streets to build a trust relationship with children and youth living or working on the streets. One year and a half after the implementation, the highly motivated team went through different follow-up workshops to boost the work they are currently doing.
Unfortunately, the circumstances for conducting street work in Eldoret are currently very harsh. In a response to the large number of street-connected children, the county government of Uashin Gishu decided to chase street-connected children and street families out of the town center. A large part of the street population sought refuge in some of the nearby slums, while others were rounded up and placed in a rescue center. Currently, the team of Inuka Pamoja Initiative is working intensively with the mobile school in the rescue center to support the local government in ensuring their rights are respected and to look for long-term solutions for these kids.
After the follow-up week in Eldoret, our trainers travelled 120 kilometers to the southwest, to the city of Kisumu, located on the shores of majestic Lake Victoria. Here, the International Fellowship Kenya (shortly: INTERFELK) learned about our StreetSmart Wheels partnerships via the team in Eldoret and immediately showed great interest in starting to work with the tool themselves. Since the organisation provides both formal and non-formal educational opportunities to children and youth living on the streets, the educational materials would be a great add-on to their model. Moreover, the INTERFELK-team invited all members of the local consortium, a network bringing together all stakeholders in the field of street-connected children which aims to create a more efficient approach of providing services to the local street population.
In total, 21 participants completed the exploratory workshops on the different StreetSmart products. And since one of our mobile schools in the town of Kitale is currently looking for a new destination, there is a very high chance the INTERFELK team can soon start their interventions with the mobile school in Nyalenga and other target areas in the city.
While there’s still a lot of work to do, this Kenyan expedition definitely came at the right moment to boost the work of the Kenyan StreetSmart Wheels network. To be continued!
