Seven rescue and rehabilitation centres

• Abandoned children
• Orphaned children without any known responsible guardian
• Children of imprisoned parents
• Lost and Found children
• Children forced into early marriages
• Physically and sexually abused children
• The centres provide temporary care and enhance parental care and guidance, quality education and primary health care to the children before they are reintegrated back to the society through:
• Adoption
• Foster care
• Reintegration

Introduction

Imani Rehabilitation Agency is a registered nonprofit making organization in Kenya working with children in need of special care and protection. The agency, consisting of 7 centres,
has been in existence since 1992. During this time, it has transformed the lives of thousands of children, some of whom are now grown adults leaving productive lives and
contributing to the society they live in.
Imani’s goal is to help vulnerable and abandoned babies and children to escape from a background of deprivation and achieve their full potential by providing the children with:

• Parental care and guidance
• Quality education
• Primary health care
• Rehabilitation and reintegration back to the community.

Imani Mission

Imani shall endeavor to improve the situation of orphaned and vulnerable children by providing care and protection, guide the reintegration process into society and address the factors leading to their situation.

Vision

A society in which all children will be able to live a dignified existence with equal and just access to future opportunities in life.

Imani Centres

1. Imani A
This is the mother center established in 1992. It is situated in Soweto slums of Kayole, Nairobi-Kenya. It hosts the administration block alongside babies unit.
It has a capacity of 50 children in the ages of 6 to 18 years

2.Imani Babies unit
The babies unit started in 1999 to address the abandonment of babies. It has a capacity of 50 babies. Its goal is to take care of babies of 1 day to 2 years by providing them with primary health care and parental guidance for a period of time before releasing them for adoption or foster care.

3. Imani B
This centre was established in Kayole Matopeni in 1996 and provides temporary shelter as it is a preparation house for exit. It has a capacity of 100 children of both sexes and of ages 3 to 12 years. A small array of livestock and poultry (cows, goats, chicken, geese, ducks, and rabbits) is kept in Imani “B”. This provides at least part of the daily requirement for dairy products, but also allows the children to get acquainted with animal rearing, as part of the rehabilitation activities.

4. Imani Malindi
This is a community based project whose aim is to reach out to the community where children are cared for. It was established in 2003 and it has a capacity of 80 children. It is not a permanent home for the children, but a rescue centre for a period of time after which the children are reintegrated into the community. Temporary shelter for innocent children of imprisoned parents, girls who enter into early marriages and prostitution, is provided to secure an upright child development.

5. Imani Ngong
This centre was started in Kajiado district in 2006 and has a capacity of 45 children. This home is specifically incepted to address the needs of children who have either been sexually or physically violated. Here their needs are addressed on a more personalized way in an environment that helps them adjust better.

6. After Imani Boys Kibera
This is a transitional program for ten young adult boys between 18-22 years old. They are well trained and organized from the Imani centres and are ready to join the community. These boys have no families at all. They are retained and accommodated as they pursue different disciplines in local, international universities and college before venturing into outside
world.

7. After Imani Girls Kasarani
This is an exit strategy for 15 Imani girls above 18 years similar to After Imani Boys Kibera. This house also serves as a residence for children who are being prepared to join their families after rehabilitation.

8. Imani Home for the Aged
In an effort to meet growing social needs in the country, Imani has embarked on an initiative to develop an old people’s home serving the less fortunate, retired social workers and missionaries who have dedicated their lives in the service of different communities. This group of people has no families or rural homes where they can retire to and many of them are left desperate and destitute when their productive years are over. In addition this centre will also serve as an exit strategy for challenged adults who have been brought up in different children’s agencies and cannot fit back to the community.

Programs and services

1. Community outreach activities

Trough working in close partnership with the community and the department of children protection centre, we receive information about children abandonment and neglect. Through
extensive network with the local authorities we manage to provide appropriate interventions to such children and put emphasis on the importance of children living within their family units. We also offer extensive support services to walk in clients who are faced with diverse life predicaments such as tabooed children, unemployment, terminal illness and broken
marriages. Among the cases we provided food baskets and situation management alternatives such as referrals, counseling and temporary shelter, education and maintenance support.

2. Parental care and Guidance

By offering a loving and a family environment, Imani strives to help these children understand that being orphaned or vulnerable is not their identity. We also identify, develop each child’s unique and special talents, teach, transform and train the children through education and mentorship. The environment provides physical and emotional support, spiritual nurturing and lots of tender loving care. In order to optimize the rehabilitative component in working with our children, we have counselors who undertake sessions with the children through group sessions and on a personal level.

3. Health care

Imani endeavors that each and every child receives medical care in the event of sickness. Due to the vital medical attention needed for fragile immune systems, there are care givers
who work in rotation caring for the children day and night. Imani also gives extensive care to its 5% HIV infected and 5% handicapped children.

4. Education

Quality education is one of the most important steps towards reintegration to society and has a dramatic impact on our children’s future. Imani plays a vital role in meeting this fundamental right to children under its care.

5. Reintegration

Some of the children within the Imani centres have known parents and their being in Imani is sometimes due to vulnerabilities which result to the child being placed within our care as the parents find a means to support the children. These children are housed temporarily as they are being prepared for reintegration with their families. This is achieved with time where
activities involving extensive case work, group work, community assessment, field visits, follow ups and collaborations with major external institutions are conducted.

6. Adoption

Imani strives to place children into well-screened and suitable homes whilst also keeping within the ethos of the society and adhering to best practices and the best interests of the child.

7. Foster care

This is temporary care given to children who would have normally been living and struggling in the depths of poverty and isolation and through this program will be able to lead regular lives, interact with other children, be valued and invested in as integral assets for the future.