Kwetu Home of Peace: Transforming Street Boys’ Lives Since 1993
Kwetu Home of Peace (KHP) is a charitable institution that was established in 1993 under the Archdiocese of Nairobi to help street boys in Kenya. The home was founded by Fr. Michael Meunier, a missionary of Africa, as a Care and Feeding Centre for street children. Today, KHP is a residential center that rescues, rehabilitates, and reintegrates street boys back into their families.
Our History: From a Feeding Centre to a Residential Centre
KHP started as a feeding program for both boys and girls who lingered around the church begging for food and money. Fr. Michel and his fellow priests realized that the majority of the children they served were homeless and slept on the streets. Thus, they decided to establish a residential home to care for their pupils’ needs and monitor their school performance. In 1995, Kwetu Home became a residential center acting as a halfway house for street boys.
Our Program
Our program has three intakes per year, rescuing 20-25 boys to live in our main center. Our main center in Ruai houses a capacity of 120 boys. After a three-month drop-in phase, the boys are transferred to the main house in Ruai where they continue with rehabilitation, receive spiritual formation, and have a chance to go back to school. The whole process at our Ruai Home takes about two years, after which the boys are reintegrated back into their families.
Our Major Commitment
Our primary commitment is to give these boys love, dignity, and hope to reclaim and restore their well-being to rediscover their talent and potential for a productive future. Our home has 120 boys, ranging from 8 to 17 years old. We cater to the children’s upkeep, training fees, medication, clothing, housing, psychosocial support, and more.
Our Impact
Children have great potential to change their own circumstances and become productive and successful members of society, KHP believes. We exist today to serve children from the streets, and this work is made possible through the support of our well-wishers. We are also motivated by the transformation seen in the boys who have passed through our care. Our program has made a significant impact on the lives of the boys we serve, and we continue to strive to make an even greater impact.
Our Vision and Mission
Our vision is for transformed street boys to develop to their full potential. Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate boys from the streets of Nairobi back to their families. We aim to safeguard the lives of children and restore their dignity, especially children with disabilities. We do this by reuniting children with biological parents when possible, placing children with next of kin, and recruiting and preparing foster parents or community-based caretakers.