Hard consequences for our Children and their families

Pangani Lutheran Children’s Centre (PLCC) is a service for street children from extremely poor back ground in Nairobi.

This time round when the world is being faced with a lot of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the families to the children we serve are not left out. These families live in the slums and in/on the streets depending on begging and casual labours for their livelihood.

The orders to stay at home and work from home by the Ministry of Health on March 27th, 2020, these were death announcement to the most of them.

To us at the Centre the orders were received with mixture of reactions “Continue keeping the children at the Centre versus letting them join their parents/guardians” not knowing what to do with 67 children accommodated under our care. Children were demanding to go home to die with their relatives...

Social workers cannot travel to the shelters to monitor the children due to the restrictions which were put in the public travelling sector.

It took us some time before coming to an agreement on the way to go. Stay at home; work from home orders are a misery! Finally, we allowed some children to join their families but some had to stay and two housemothers were assigned a responsibility to take care of them. The PLCC staffs are still staying at home and they can do nothing for the children from home more than receiving calls of need from those who went home that they would wish to come back to the Centre. We keep close communication with them. Those with health issues are referred to health Centres for treatment and the invoices be sent to PLCC.

The period for the children to stay at home has been extended for unknown period of time.

Since the situation is showing signs of getting brighter as far as the COVID-19 effects are concerned, at PLCC we are trying to think ahead in case the situation normalizes, to be able to support the children back to their normal routine.

Meanwhile let us continue praying for God's intervention.