Rescuing children in the largest slum in Africa

Kili Kids' Centre is a children's centre in the Kibera slum in Nairobi.
Here a child can eat, rest, spend the night and get help when there is nowhere else to turn.

Who the centre is for

About the centre

Kili Kids' Centre is our fourth project in Kibera. We opened it for children who have nowhere to go after school. Here they get a hot meal, a place to rest, a day spent safely — and a bed for the night if no one is waiting for them at home or it is not safe for them there.

The centre has beds, toys, board games and a kitchen. It is all very simple. But for many children in Kibera, even such ordinary things are out of reach.
For the children who have it hardest.

For orphans, and for those whose parents cannot cope because of poverty, illness or addiction. For children who are left to themselves most of the time.

We do not look for easy cases. We work with those who need help right now.

What comes next

How we help

By the standards of Kibera, Kili Kids' Centre counts as luxury. Here a child can sleep on a bed with a mattress rather than on the floor. Wash with clean water. Be given clean bed linen and a towel. There is a small yard to run and play in, and there are board games and toys. But the heart of the centre is the kitchen. We cook three times a day.

For breakfast the children have red maize porridge. For lunch and supper, rice, pulses, vegetables, eggs, chicken or fish; sometimes we cook beef. For many of the children in our care, food is the first reason to come. Almost all of them eat a full meal only here.
The centre is still growing
No, we cannot change life across the whole of Kibera.
But we can make sure that the children who come to our centre have a safe place, a hot meal, care, and a chance to forget for a while what is going on outside its walls.
A playroom

We want to set up a separate space for play and activities — somewhere children can read, draw, play and simply spend time somewhere calm and safe.
A dining room

It still needs fitting out. We have tables and furniture to buy so the children can eat in decent conditions; at the moment there are not enough tables and some furniture is missing.
A first-aid

We plan to put together a proper one with a stock of essential medicines. Even a small scratch can become a problem when the simplest supplies are not at hand.

Kili Kids' Centre — one year on

The team

Behind the centre are people who greet the children every day, cook for them, help them work through problems and keep the centre a place worth coming back to.
Centre manager
Lilian Wuoto
Lilian has a large heart and a gift for wrapping children in care; for her there is no such thing as someone else's child. She has four children of her own and four foster children. Her husband, Alfred Okumu, runs our Tabor School. Lilian also heads Lily Education, a school our foundation supports regularly. She seems born to rescue children. We share one mission.
Social worker
Millicent Awino Juma
Millicent organises activities and classes for the children and keeps the atmosphere at the centre calm and welcoming. She spends a great deal of time with them and helps every child feel part of something larger.
Cook
Everlyn Otieno
Everlyn helps us do the most important thing there is in the slum: feed children. Every day she cooks breakfast, lunch and supper for the children at the centre. For many of them these are the most filling and complete meals of the day.
Security guard
Joseph Ndege
Joseph keeps the centre secure and helps maintain order on its grounds.

Our children

10 years old
Violet
Violet's mother is seriously ill and can barely work. There is no father. To survive, Violet spent whole days on the dump looking for plastic and charcoal to sell. Constant malnutrition left her exhausted and often ill. At our centre she eats well and attends Grade 4. Violet is a natural performer and loves singing and dancing.
9 years old
Kennedy
Kennedy's mother died when he was young. His father remarried, but his stepmother treats him badly and has not been able to love him or give him a mother's care. The boy is suffering. Kennedy should be in Grade 2, but he is not attending school at present: there is no money for uniform, textbooks or meals. He goes hungry.
6 years old
Jayden
A complete orphan. He lives with a guardian and is not attending school at present, for the usual reason in the slum: there is no money. Nor is there money for food. Jayden goes hungry.
10 years old
Emmanuel
Emmanuel studies at Lilian's school. His father drinks and has left the family. His mother struggles alone and barely makes ends meet; there is nothing to eat. That drove the boy to roam the slum looking for scrap metal to sell, buying what little food he could for himself and his family.
10 years old
Erick
Erick is in Grade 5 at Lily's school. He lives with his parents. His father's methods of discipline are harsh: the boy is beaten and often thrown out of the house. Once his father — the person who should be his protection — broke his son's arm. It healed by itself, as it healed. At our centre Erick finds what he lacks at home: safety and calm.
5 years old
Desmond
If you had to describe this child's life in one word, it would be suffering. Desmond learned early what loss means: his mother died. He lives with a chronic condition that requires continuous medication and a special diet that does not interfere with his treatment, and at the Kili centre he gets it. We would like Desmond's life to become a joyful one. For now, it is what it is.
11 years old
Raphael
Raphael lives with his mother. His stepfather abandoned the family: a pregnant wife became a burden once she could no longer work and bring in a few coins. The family is quite literally going hungry.
9 years old
Tony
Tony's mother died. His father is alive but has never recovered from losing his wife, and the boy often feels like an orphan. He is left to himself much of the time; occasionally neighbours keep an eye on him. He eats whenever, however and wherever he can. Rarely.
5 years old
Don
Their home was recently destroyed by fire, leaving Don, his brother and their father without a roof. They sleep in the open, on bare ground. His mother, who might have been his support, left the family right after the disaster.
Sheriff Omondi, 11 лет
Sheriff
He lived through a terrible ordeal: a fire that destroyed the shack where he lived with his parents and brother. His mother left the family immediately afterwards. His father is surviving with two young children only thanks to people who care. They sleep on bare ground. His earnings are meagre, and when he will be able to rebuild the house into something liveable, nobody knows.
14 years old
Steven
Playing on his way home from school, he fell and badly injured his abdomen. He had an operation in September and was discharged from hospital, but behind that relief lies a hard reality: his family lives in extreme poverty. There is simply nothing for a child weakened by illness to eat, and his recovery is slow and difficult. At the centre he will get proper food and care — and finally get well.
7 years old
Joseph
His family recently lost the one thing that offers any safety or hope in the slum: their home. His mother and her three children are staying with their grandmother for now. She does not yet know how to rebuild the little they had.
10 years old
Tamia
What happened in her life should not happen to children, but often does. Her father left, abandoning his wife and two daughters to poverty. The family has nothing to eat, and her mother cannot pay Natasha's school fees. At our centre she will have food, shelter, things to learn, new friends — and, most of all, adults who care.
9 years old
Vincent
Vincent never knew his father. His mother's love and care kept him going, until she fell seriously ill. Looking after him and his sister fell to an aunt, but the family tie did not extend to accepting the children: she treated them badly. They were returned home, but their mother is still recovering, cannot work and is in no position to feed two children.
12 years old
Wayne
Wayne's father died. His mother kept the children going as best she could, until she too met with disaster: a road accident and a broken spine. She can no longer work as she did. The family is going hungry.
7 years old
Angel-Catherine
Fate is hard on children in the slum, and Angel-Catherine is no exception. Her mother is seriously ill and can barely work. There are occasional scraps of earnings, just enough for food a few times a week — not a few times a day. Sometimes kind people help. At our centre the girl will get proper meals.
Help the children of Kibera
The centre provides children with food, a place to rest and everything they need day to day, free of charge; we cover all of it.

Supporting one child at the centre costs USD 60 a month.

That money goes on food, everyday needs, activities and the daily running of the centre. You can help the children of the slum and become someone they can rely on.

Contacts

Kili Kid's Center

Address:
Gatwekera, near Kibera town centre across railway line, sarang'ombe ward, Kibra constituency - Nairobi, Kenya
P.O. Box 3885 00100

Certificate

KILI C.B.O.
No. 0012755