Over the past 2-3 months we have been dealing with a shelter crisis (read about it here) that caused disruption to our work with reintegration and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. More importantly, it meant we could no longer offer a secure and stable environment for the victims we were supporting. After a lot of work, long hours and tears from our dedicated team, we are extremely happy to announce that from today there will be a dedicated rescue center for victims of trafficking in Kenya. The local Advisory Council and the District Children Office inspected the rescue center and although there were still a few details left to fix such as getting all the furniture delivered, the inspection team was happy with the progress and have given an approval for the center to begin it’s operations.
By Rehema Baya
We will not share the location or announce the staff that work there both to protect the victim and our staff as the Rescue Center is meant to be a safe house and the place will not be open for the public. However, we can say that the rescue center is in a safe neighborhood within 1-2 hours’ drive from Nairobi City Centre. The Centre will have a maximum capacity of 20 female victims of trafficking from the ages 8-18. We still have not decided on a name for the place and although we have some ideas, but if anyone have a good suggestion we are willing to listen.
Now that we are offering accommodation full-time to victims of trafficking if you have anything you would like to donate it would be very well received. Whether it’s monetary or items such as food items, household items, hygienic items, toys or books, we would be extremely grateful. We would like to thank our supporters who donate every month and also thank Bobmil Group who donated 21 mattresses. We are also extremely grateful for our donors such as Misereor, Misean Cara, Walk Free Foundation, Razem Dla Afryki, Mensen met een Missie and Missio Austria who allow us to assist victims of trafficking in Kenya. Lastly, we would also like to extend our gratitude to our UK partner Medaille Trust who have helped us by generously sharing their own shelter guidelines and manuals which has made the transition a lot easier.
Finally, from the management we are extremely proud and honored that we are able to work with such a capable and dedicated team that never wavered and worked extremely hard and diligent to make this rescue center a reality.
We are happy to receive the first residents of the rescue center today!