Leap together
About the project
Challenge
Thousands of children live on the streets of Kenya, where those with special educational needs get no nurturing care or hope for the future. Theirworld works to provide street-connected children with care and support.
Approach
We partner with local organisation Chance for Childhood to identify and cater to special learning needs among children who live on the streets. The programme also helps communities create environments where young people with different needs feel safer.
A dangerous life
More than 40,000 people in Kenya live unsupervised on the streets, where youth are extremely vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and malnutrition. An already dangerous life is even harder for children with special educational needs.
But even learning basic skills can be enough to offer a route out of poverty. If all students in low-income countries were to acquire basic reading skills, for example, there would be 171 million fewer people living in poverty.
In Kisumu, Kenya, Theirworld partners with local organisation Chance For Childhood to offer the care and education so many children living on the streets lack.
A summary of the global issue of street children and homeless children
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Hear Reuben's story
Reuben, a formerly street-connected child, told us about his experience in the streets and how Leap Together is helping him look to the future.
Providing opportunity
From screening children for special educational needs to enabling learning support assistants to deliver bespoke support to those who need it, the programme has helped 200 children get the chance of an education that previously seemed remote.
In many cases youth with special requirements have run away from a family or community where they have been discriminated against. Chance for Childhood works to make home environments safer for children who are different by offering positive parenting workshops, training community members in violence prevention and educating communities around stigma and discrimination.
Every child, no matter their needs, deserves the chance of a quality education. Theirworld is proud to work with organisations on the ground who offer children the chance to be treated with respect and offered the opportunity of a better future.
Learn more at The Key: Theirworld’s comprehensive information toolkit on the global education crisis.
Education and Inclusion & Disability
All means all – and education is for everyone.
Education and poverty
Education is a key driver of poverty reduction.
News
One giant LEAP: children go from the street to school success
