Education - Health
& Human Services - Leadership & Sustainability
Okari Children Foundation
Keeps Them Safe and Cared For
The plight of many African children who have suffered the loss of one or both parents to HIV/AIDS constitutes one of the gravest humanitarian and human rights crises in history. Yet for the most part, the world has continued to stand silent, while AIDS orphans suffer under a wide range of atrocities.
AIDS orphans in Kenya suffer equally as much. The challenges and fears they face echo those of each AIDS orphan across the continent. Cultural and ethnic differences have not spared the orphan from an almost unified manner of neglect and mistreatment.
The death of any parent, regardless of illness, is traumatic for a child. But for Kenya's AIDS orphans, that is just the beginning. Once orphaned, they face challenges unknown to most other children, essentially condemning them to a life of hardship, poverty and eternal doom.
Child Labor
It is estimated that there are over 1.5 million children in Kenya today, who are involved in “child labor”. When a mother dies, the oldest child assumes her role of caring for the younger siblings. Seven and eight year olds have taken over the household responsibilities, after a mother dies. Their siblings’ survival depends on them.
Such children are vulnerable to exploitation and the worst form of child labor. They are unskilled, so their choices are limited. Most of them are forced to work on commercial tea and coffee plantations. These children are traumatized, first by the death of their parents and then by the heavy responsibility of caring for their siblings.
Child Prostitution
Some relatives and guardians, who, after their relative's death, are initially willing to help, find themselves unable to cope with the additional responsibility of supporting extra children. As a result, guardians send these children out to the streets with instructions to return home with money or be sent out to the street. They are left with no choice but to comply. So for girls, prostitution is usually the easiest option.
Sexual Abuse
As part of coping with the added household expenses, it is typical for a relative to send out an orphaned girl to work as domestic house help. Although low paying, the position is generally viewed as a reliable means of income and support for the family.
Several reports, however, indicate that a majority of these girls end up being sexually abused by either someone in their employer’s family or circle of friends. These girls are vulnerable, defenseless and as a result, they are repeatedly raped, ironically by the very relative who is supposed to protect them. The psychological trauma that these children are subjected to is unimaginable.
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