Lest we forget the vulnerable children…
According to USAID[1], there are an estimated 2.6 million orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Kenya as at March 2021, with an over 1 million households caring for at least one orphan. These children are susceptible to verbal, emotional and sexual abuse, mistreatment and abandonment by their caretakers, poor sanitation, increased levels of poverty and chances of dropping out of school, stigma and discrimination as well as lack of parental care. In years past, OVC would have been absorbed into the extended family system and enjoyed the protection of the extended family. However, this traditional social safety net is under severe threat due to social and economic constrains.
Because the vulnerability of these orphaned children is as a result of the morbidity or mortality of their parents or other primary caregivers, household poverty or other socio-economic problems that render a child unable to receive basic needs, we at ACLAD aim to strengthen the capacity of families to protect and care for OVC through interventions such as pig and chicken rearing for their livelihood enhancement. One such intervention that we have is for one of our sponsored girls whose family identified pig farming as an income generating activity. They constructed a piggery unit and received three Large White piglets –two sows and one boar from ACLAD. The pigs were served and one farrowed eight healthy piglets in June 2021. These will be sold and others kept for further breeding to increase the herd and go a long way in easing their financial burdens and become financially independent.
In September 2020, five vulnerable households identified chicken farming as their income generating activity to enhance their livelihood to support 23 OVC -nine girls and 14 boys. The households then embarked on putting up suitable chicken houses after which, ACLAD supported each household with one cockerel and five hens early this year. When follow-ups were done on the households, they reported that the chickens were doing well with minimal challenges of avian diseases. In all the five households, at least two hens have hatched and they are projecting to have more than 30 chicken per household by mid this year. These chicken are sold to cater for various needs such as purchase of school uniforms and other equipment needed by the OVC for school, medication and farm inputs.
ACLAD not only gives sponsors households with animals to help them take steps towards gaining financial freedom, we also donated a wheelchair to one child challenged by cerebral palsy. The wheelchair has enabled his primary caregiver to be able to move him around much easier (than carrying him around) and allowed her to carry on with her day-to-day activities while he is being monitored on his chair. When families cannot sufficiently meet the basic needs of their children, the community should become a safety net that ensures that the OVC are accessing these needs. In addition, the community becomes essential in monitoring the situation of OVC within their immediate or extended families. With your support we can make a difference to these orphans and vulnerable children, one child at a time and help them explore their purpose and experience their full potential, Contact our team through info@aclad-hq.org. Together, we can make a difference one child at a time!
Catherine Muteithia
ACLAD Research and Communications Assistant