Geography: Kenya
Founded: 2007
Address:PO Box 63192-00619
Nairobi, Kenya
About Heshima Kenya
Heshima Kenya specializes in identifying and protecting separated and orphaned refugee minors living in Nairobi, Kenya. Their shelter, education and community outreach services, coupled with local resources and the refugee community, enable and empower unaccompanied refugee minors, especially adolescent girls, to live healthy lives. By providing resources for long-term support, these minors become catalysts for strengthening intercommunity ties creating sustainable change within the local and global communities.
Heshima Kenya accomplishes its mission through the Girl Empowerment Program, the Case Management Program, the Safe House and Outreach and Advocacy.
About the Girl Empowerment Program
The Girl’s Empowerment Project is a multi-phase program offering a safe community for girls and young women to learn about their human rights and how to access them while addressing avenues for self-sufficiency and leadership building. Participants engage in four program components with the Youth Coordinator, teachers and volunteers to:
- Gain a working knowledge of BASIC EDUCATION concepts focusing on math, English and Swahili using a specialized education curriculum for girls with no formal schooling
- Engage in LIFE-SKILLS discussions and activities with experts and volunteers surrounding topics of gender based violence prevention, reproductive health and nutrition, HIV prevention, peace and human rights, community resources, and art therapy.
- Participate in VOCATIONAL TRAINING to gain basic tailoring skills providing a foundation for future self-reliance and independence.
- Invest in INCOME-GENERATING PROJECTS through participation in a financial literacy course followed by a competitive micro-loan program to begin their own businesses.
Girls participate in the program on an average of two years or until they turn 19 years of age. Graduates are encouraged to volunteer as mentors to other girls in the program and within the community.