The Bosco Boys centre helps children who are getting by in life without the support of parents or relatives. It gives them a substitute home and a basic education.
The beginnings of this project for children in need in Nairobi reach back to 1990, when the Salesians of Don Bosco began working in Kenya with boys living on the street. Thanks to the support of many donors and sponsors, the Bosco Boys centre grew up over the course of several years. Today it supports roughly 600 children, providing them with a basic education and enabling them to continue their studies at vocational training schools, secondary schools and universities.
How Bosco Boys changes the lives of boys from the streets
Bosco Boys provides a home for boys, most of whom used to live on the street. It also includes Don Bosco Primary School, which is attended by other boys and girls from poor families in the neighbourhood as well. After finishing primary education, pupils with good results can apply to study at secondary schools and universities, and the centre’s leadership continues to support them in that. Pupils with weaker results are given the chance to train in a trade — carpenter, welder, car mechanic and the like — in the workshops of the Bosco Boys centre itself or in other Salesian technical training schools.
How the various Bosco Boys facilities work
Bosco Boys covers a range of activities at several locations in Nairobi. Its core part is the boarding primary school in the Kuwinda neighbourhood. The Bosco Boys – Kariua outreach facility is the contact point for boys living on the street. When one of them shows interest in studying, a social worker helps him work through his situation. The Bosco Boys Langata centre is the entry point for newly admitted boys from the street. The boys spend their first few months — or years — there. The goal is to root out of their behaviour the bad habits picked up during life on the street, especially drug addiction, and to prepare them to move up to the next level of education. Bosco Boys also runs a kindergarten in a nearby slum.
How children’s talents and self-confidence grow thanks to your support
The children at Bosco Boys are given a new chance to build a better future, for themselves and for society as a whole. Many of them have a gift for sports, music, dance and a host of other talents, which they show in various competitions. They have dreams and ambitions, not even a fraction of which would come true without the help of many donors. The gratitude — and the desire to pass on the help they themselves have received — is palpable on every visit to the centre.
