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After seeing at first hand the life of struggle and danger experienced by the children of the Nairobi slums in Kenya, a group of Byron Bay travellers decided to do what they could to help. African LEAF was formed – a small, Byron Bay-based charity, working to provide education and a safe living environment for orphans and other vulnerable young children in Kenya.

Kenya has a total population of around 40 million people, most of whom live below the poverty level of around US$1 per day.

Like many other African countries, factors like HIV/AIDS, malaria and famine have gradually turned Kenya into a nation of orphaned children & teenagers. In 2006, UNICEF estimated that there were about 2.3 million orphans in Kenya – about 1 million of whom were homeless.

As Kenya has no social security system, the only hope for these children comes from large international aid agencies and the thousands of smaller charities and NGOs like LEAF that work to support them.

For the past 5 years, LEAF and its sponsors have been caring for some 20 orphaned children through an arrangement with the Nairobi Rudolf Steiner School, which takes these children on as full-time boarders – providing them with an education as well as a temporary ‘home’.

One of African LEAF’s new projects is assisting a struggling rural kindergarten in Kalama with a grant to purchase playground equipment, toys and craft materials.

Kalama is about 70 kms east of Nairobi and is the home village of two of our LEAF children, Faith and Junior and the Kindergarten is situated on community land, adjacent to the local primary and secondary school. The school currently has 34 children aged 2 ½ to 4 years old, 5 days a week, and has been given premises by the school rent-free but has no other resources.

LEAF is an acronym for ‘Love, Educate, Acknowledge and Feed’.

The people involved in LEAF, most of who have visited or worked in Kenya over recent years and seen the situation there for themselves, believe that every one of us has a moral obligation to help these children lift their country out of poverty through education.

So how can you help?

A one-off donation, or better still a regular monthly donation – even of just a few dollars – can be made using the link on this website. Maybe you could even offer to sponsor a child, which has to be seen as a serious, long-term commitment.

Another way would be to apply to become a member of LEAF. Click here to view Membership Options.

Or if you have some time to spare and would like to be involved as a fund-raising volunteer, contact African LEAF to find out how you can help. For other ways you can help, view our How You Can Help section.

To donate directly to African LEAF,  select the link below:

African LEAF – helping to care for and educate the Children of Africa.

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L…

Love is about compassion and empathy for all human beings. Loving someone regardless of their race, tribal beliefs or stigmas. Love is as necessary as food, water and clothing.

E…

Education comes in many forms, it is not just in a classroom. It is about learning how to keep house, how to cook, how to be a mother or father or how to tend to animals. We are trying to improve accessibility to education for all children. Education is essential for growth and development of wisdom and for future independence.

A…

Acknowledging the individual person, acknowledging where they have been and what they have experienced. Acknowledging their tribal beliefs, their gender and their individual trauma and capabilities. Acknowledging life’s barriers, poverty and their importance.

F…

Feed – without food and water it is impossible to develop our body and mind.
Without food or water we cannot begin to love, educate or acknowledge each child.