Helping child-headed families in Kenya

Michael* is a beneficiary of the SOS family strengthening programme in Mombasa. He lives in the slum of Shauri Yako and heads a household of nine. Nineteen years old, he is already married with one child and has three brothers and three sisters. One of his sisters, a minor, is the mother of a baby girl.

Michael is now the head of his family following his mother's death last December. She succumbed to an HIV-related illness. When SOS Children came into contact with the family, she was bedridden and had not eaten for three days. She informed them that she was on anti-retrovirals (ARVs) but had stopped taking them due to a lack of food (people on ARVs must eat a balanced diet so that the nutrients can boost their immunity and make them less susceptible to opportunistic infections).

Michael's mother was married but her husband died in a road accident. Since she did not have a source of income, a problem faced by many uneducated African women and was forced to engage in risky sexual activities so she could provide food for her family. Unfortunately she became infected with HIV. Michael assumed the responsibility of looking after his siblings long before the death of his mother. He earns a living by hawking ornaments made from coconuts shells. He buys the unfinished ornaments and decorates them. The little money he makes is not enough to take care of all the family needs and sometimes he is forced to borrow from the local elders and neighbours.

Since he joined the Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) in December 2008, Michael has been involved in parenting skills workshops designed to enable him to effectively care for his siblings and his own child. Recently, his family received two mattresses from the programme because they had nothing to sleep on. The family has also been earmarked to benefit from a nutrition programme. It will include basic food supplies and nutrition education sessions on preparing a balanced diet using available and affordable food. Michael's siblings, who are in school, also participated in April holiday tuition as part of the SOS Children's Village support programme for the beneficiaries. Children were provided with school materials and during school holidays, attend remedial classes.

When going through the family development planning process with Michael, he mentioned that the family would be better off if he had a machine that is used to cut coconut shells instead of having to buy unfinished products from other people. This, he said, would also enable him to supply unfinished shells to other hawkers. So, as to build his capacity, Michael will join the Shauri Yako support group where the members will be trained in business skills and eventually get a loan from a partner micro-finance organization.

Michael is grateful to the SOS FSP for its support and is confident that his family will attain self reliance, but his story is not an isolated case. Supporting a large family is a common problem faced by young adults and children in developing countries where HIV/AIDS is prevalent. The SOS FSP in Mombasa is working hard to ensure that these families get the educational, nutritional and skill-building support that they need in order to survive and stay together.

*For confidentiality purposes, we have changed the boy's name