Kenya
Human Trafficking
$44,730 Goal
Summary of the Situation
Cor Mariae Schools Nursery, Primary, Junior Kiambu Kenya is situated in tea and coffee plantation. We get children from different places; some are street children who have nobody to support them financially, pay school fees, and purchase personal effects. Parents are not able to pay their school fees because they earn their living by picking tea and coffee. These children need to wake up very early and begin their journey to school for a long distance through tea and coffee plantations, where there is a scarce settlement. They leave school at 5:00 pm and are often sexually abused and kidnapped on their journey back home. It has discouraged many children from coming to our school, and it has led to school dropouts due to the insecurity caused by the lack of proper means of transport. We, therefore, request that the school bus enhance the safety of the children and reduce dropouts since the bus will be picking up and dropping them back home.
How will the funds be used?
The sisters are requesting these funds to purchase a 27-passenger van that will make several trips a day to transport children to and from school safely.
The Sisters’s Response
-To safeguard children from abuse and accessibility of education
-To enhance the retention of children in school.
Systemic Impact
Over 200 students walk from the coffee and tea plantations to the Cor Mariae Schools in Kenya. The safety problems our children encounter on their way to school and back home are tragic. In the last year, five girls were raped, and six were kidnapped and trafficked. Some children drop out rather than risk the long and dangerous walks. Yet education is their best hope for having a future that is not subsistence living on the plantations.