Fursa Children Centre, Isiolo, Kenya
New Hope Children's Centre is the new name of Fursa Children Centre. It is a rehabilitation centre for street children intending to provide the children with safe accommodation, food, education, medical assistance and drug counselling in order to satisfy the primary needs associated in a healthy lifestyle.
The school is located in Isiolo, a town north of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It is the gate to northern province of nomadic tribes of rich tradition but struggling to make their living from an arid land and lack of water. Some of children end up on the streets of local towns and this is where the Fursa centre comes in, by providing them with a safe place to live, meals and gives them the opportunity to learn and become a valued member of society.
New Hope Children's Centre offers girls and boys the access to the primary rights of the child and the opportunity for each individual to understand his own qualities, abilities and the opportunity to follow their own aspirations. The goal of the Fursa Centre is not to give long term accommodation to the children of the street; we give them a safe and reliable support in their transitional moment of need. The intention of the program has always been for the child to return to their primary environment-- her/his family, clan, tribe and community.
The organisation requests the active participation of the girls and the boys in the decisions about the management of the centre and allows each individual to express his view, allowing the children to be exposed to and exercise a democratic decision process. The admission criteria of the children for the Fursa Centre are impartial to the gender, tribe, religion, and the educational degree of the candidates. The selection is made trying to satisfy the individuals' personal request while giving preference to the youngest children in the street because of their maximum exposure to the risk.
The centre accommodates 28 children in the Full Boarding Programme that provides outdoor feeding program facilities, day-care, and sleeping accommodation. In addition to the full-time boarders there are eight girls and one boy who use the program facilities in the daytime and return to their homes at night.
The New Hope Centre provides funds for these 46 children to attend public primary school within the region, ranging in age from Nursery School to STD7. 28 of these children attend Pepo La Tumaini Primary School and 8 attend Waso Primary School.
