SIM Kenya - Children at Risk Ministry-Families in Need Empowerment is a ministry with the
aim of walking alongside small struggling organizations that are responding to the needs of
children and vulnerable families in Kenya. We
believe that if communities have the capacity to care for children and vulnerable families, then
the level of vulnerability will be reduced and communities will embrace the
idea that child
protection is the responsibility of community and that every child should be enabled to grow up
within a family setup and not in the mushrooming orphanages. In Kenya, the religious communities are widespread and every vulnerable child belongs to a
community that has a religious community big enough to care for and protect children and
vulnerable families. Eg, it is claimed that in Kenya, the Christian community is 80%. We
sensitize and train the religious Communities to see children through God& #39;s eyes so that the
children can be helped to grow to full potential in body, mind and spirit as God intended. One of our strategies is to coordinate a large network of religious agencies that rescue,
rehabilitate, trace and re-integrate children and families back to their communities. The gap we
are trying to fill is to ensure that the child and families are reintegrated back to communities and
families that have been strengthened enough to embrace the children and that the efforts are
sustainable. We have experienced many cases of homeless families and children being
reintegrated but running back to the streets within a short time carrying along peers they recruit
and this is a great concern in our country. This has been a vicious cycle and very disheartening
not only to stakeholders who are the children, families, communities, individuals, community
leaders, religious agencies and the government. The government efforts are not enough. Categories of children and families needing care and protection include: Orphans and Vulnerable
children, families working and living on the streets, Abandoned-babies, Children with special
needs, children in dysfunctional families, children of prisoners, children living with hostile step
parents, children in poverty-stricken families, cases of human trafficking especially where
children are involved etc. We envision communities that are able to help every child reach their
full God-given potential with the goal of raising future Godly leaders, missionaries and highly
motivated professionals to contribute to the expansion of God’s Kingdom and in development of
the country. To be able to achieve our goal, involvement and empowerment of families is our top
priority. We do this through Partnerships, Collaboration and Networking with like-minded
agencies. Areas of Community strengthening include: Training on Child Care and Protection, Mentorship,
Community Mobilizing and Organizing, Community Sensitization, Linking the vulnerable
groups with support, Promoting Networking, collaboration and Partnerships, Trauma Healing,
Member-Care, Church relations, Mobilization and equipping, Discipleship, equipping the church
with social, professional and other skills. Our budget items include but are not limited to the following expenses:
Rescue and reintegration transport and other family related costs
School requirements
School fees
Family business starter kits
Family upkeep kitty as they start business and stabilize
Parenting skills training
Trauma care training
Human trafficking training
Child and family follow-up
Community sensitization forums
Community volunteers training
Beatrice Wangui Njoroge
Ministry Coordinator
( SIM Kenya-Children at Risk Ministry – Families in Need Empowerment)
