During the height of Kenya’s post election violence in early 2008, Immanuel Afrika was founded as a centre to rehabilitate street boys. Many of the boys, including Emmanuel and Daniel, were rescued from Turkana, an exceptionally dry area where they often had to compete with livestock for the little water they found. The boys even witnessed families fighting at gun point over ownership of a man-made borehole.
The centre currently feeds and houses 50 former street boys, who are enrolled in school or vocational education. Those with suitable families are reconciled and reintegrated whilst others make the centre their permanent home. The centre seeks to provide love, acceptance, encouragement and a very important second chance at a normal and productive life.
Immanuel Afrika opened a new centre to replace their previous rented premises in 
February 2012. However, there was no water supply to either the centre itself or to the surrounding area and rainwater harvesting was not sufficient to supply water to the community due to the sporadic rains which are typical in Kenya.
In March 2012, Just a Drop worked with Brownbuilt Engineering and Construction Ltd to install a water tower and a 16,000 litre water tank in order to provide safe storage and a regular flow of water to the centre’s kitchen and bathrooms.
An irrigation project has also been started at the centre’s one acre farm which has boosted the centre’s supply of food. They now have surplus beans, onions, spinach and maize and the centre can sustain itself with the food it produces, providing a healthy diet to the boys attending. The centre is even hoping to start selling the water to the surrounding community, benefiting their area and generating a sustainable income to further support the boys.
Daniel and Emmanuel can now go to school and concentrate on their education, in the knowledge that after school they will not be forced to walk for miles to look for water in the dangerous conditions that they used to face.
Our sincere thanks to the Anthony and Pat Mascolo Charitable Foundation for making this project possible.
Project Sponsor: Anthony & Pat Mascolo Charitable Foundation
Date of Project: March 2012
Beneficiaries: 1,062
