What is it?
Future Developments
Facilities at Kikambala are very basic, with the most fundamental problem being the difficulty in getting running water to the site. The board of directors for the project have developed a long term business plan to develop this site. Planning permission has been secured to construct a 64 bed boy’s dormitory, a 64 bed girl’s dormitory, house parent accommodation, kitchens, toilets and farm buildings. One of the major long-term goals of the project is to increase capacity to provide for street girls, many of whom have worse experiences during street life than the boys. The vision includes directly helping up to 300 children at any one time, with a staff of 15+.
Planning permission has also been secured for a medical centre and school on the site. The aim with this is to provide facilities for a large number of street children, (girls as well as boys) but also make them available to the wider community, whose financial contributions would eventually lead to the whole project becoming self financing, and no longer having to rely on outside donors; a fundamental aim for any humanitarian project. Also the shared facilities would allow the children at the centre to live in a more balanced community by associating with village children.
Grandsons has past experience of bringing developments to fruition, Funding has already been secured for the new boys’ dormitory at Kikambala, which demonstrates clearly the organisation’s long-term commitment to, and pro-active work on the project. The hope eventually is to turn the existing street children centre in Mikindani to a street children’s ‘drop in’ centre, where food, advice and support are provided.
Until recently Grandsons only provided sufficient basic education so as to allow the boys to return to main stream primary school, which is free in Kenya. However it has become clear that older boys (who haven’t been able to return to their families) are severely disadvantaged in Kenyan society without a secondary education. Therefore the centre is constantly seeking individuals or groups to sponsor a boys boarding school fees.
Why They Need Help
The development of Kikambala is an ambitious long term plan with a budget that seems impossible; although it is a testament to the workings of the organisation that funding has already been secured for the boys dormitory, which is under construction. So far Grandsons has been funded part from a local Kenyan ‘Friends’ organisation, but mostly from the Catholic organisation, Maryknoll Missionaries. However there is a cut back in funding from Maryknoll (the timing for which was agreed at the outset), and the last funding from them will be December 2006. Subsequently the project will be handed over to the local ‘Sisters of St Joseph’, but future survival seems far from secure, which makes the ambitious expansion plans even more remarkable
