Tens of thousands of children live on the streets of Nairobi, without the care of their own family or of society at large. The Bosco Boys centre has already rescued several hundred of them. It provides them with a home and an education up to the end of the eighth grade of primary school. Most graduates cannot access further education, which is financially demanding. After finishing primary school they need to enter working life. Because of insufficient qualifications and lack of work skills, they risk ending up back on the streets.

Thanks to this project, alongside basic schooling the Bosco Boys centre ran informal practical-skills courses for older pupils in tailoring, carpentry, welding, crop growing, animal husbandry and cooking, so that young primary-school graduates could find a place in the labour market. Emphasis was placed on developing the children’s talents, especially in music, dance, drama, sport, acrobatics, and creative handicrafts producing artistic items and souvenirs, since these areas, too, can offer them future employment. The subsequent sale of hand-made items and of products from the various workshops and courses helped finance the centre’s day-to-day running costs.

Alongside practical skills, the pupils’ social skills were also developed. Holiday camps were organised for them and formal schooling was combined with informal activities to support their healthy social development. School teachers and the children’s caregivers were also given training so that they could respond better to the specific needs of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with experience of life on the street. The project was supported from the state budget of the Slovak Republic through the official development assistance programme SlovakAid with the sum of EUR 217,574.