get involved > Maisha Bora: community sponsorship
Social problems for children
The main social problems effecting children in Maisha Bora are drug taking and exploitation through prostitution.
Although these issues affect only the most vulnerable children from the community as a whole, they are a reality for a number of the orphans and other vulnerable children our work here is supporting.
DRUGS
The drug 'Miraa' can be chewed or drunk and is the most widely intoxicant used by children who become addicted, idle and inhibited; dropping out of school because of the drug or taking the drug and then falling out of school.
The same scenario is often true of children involved in glue sniffing and other prevalent forms of drug abuse in Maisha Bora.
PROSTITUTION
Figures for child prostitution in Kenya have risen nationally since the 2008 election violence. In parts of the country, it is thought as many as 30% of children have or are being abused.
The most vulnerable Children from Maisha Bora have been or are exploited as prostitutes from as early as 10 years old.
These children are preyed on by truck drivers and travelers as well as local men who give them a floor to sleep on in exchange for their prostitution in Isiolo.
Many children who are exploited as prostitutes are also 'Chokowra' (street children) like Jane Wangeci, who lives in a single roomed hut in Maisha Bora with many other vulnerable children of all ages.
CAUSE AND SOLUTIONS
The cause of these problems is complicated - linked to a combination of the social value assigned to street children, the poor support for orphans and other vulnerable children, the desperation of children to earn money to live off, the perversion of those who abuse them, and so on.
Each of these factors is in turn linked to a series of causes.
Local staff are working to address these causes with solutions to change attitudes as well as actions.
Work within Maisha Bora caters for the emotional care of abused children and will work towards their rehabilitation.
