On November 24, 2023, Miral Welfare Foundation Kenya Branch held a project performance sharing event at the Vic Hotel in Kisumu, Kenya. The event brought together about 130 participants, including former and current staff of the Kenya Branch, government officials, and local community stakeholders.
Another Miral planted in the Kisumu Nando region.
The Kenya chapter started its work in Kenya in November 2013 and is currently working in Nyando district in Kisumu County. Nyando is a peripheral village about an hour's drive from the center of Kisumu, making it socially and economically backward and one of the most difficult areas for international organizations and INGOs to reach.
When Miral first set foot in Kisumu more than a decade ago, the local government's Children's Department requested that the Kenyan chapter serve in Nyando. The request was in line with Miral's spirit of humbly reaching out to the lowest of the low. Since then, the Kenyan chapter has focused its work on ensuring the basic rights of the most vulnerable children in Nyando, especially those who remain out of school due to disabilities.
(Training Peer Assistants for Social Inclusion of Children with Disabilities)
Miral Welfare Foundation Kenya, Key work Accomplishments
Miral Welfare Foundation has been implementing ‘The Project for Social Inclusion of Children with Disabilities’ and ‘Disability-Inclusive Child Development Project’ to help the community to include children with disabilities. These two works play a key role in ensuring that all Kenyan children, disabled and able-bodied alike, receive the rights they deserve and are integrated into society as active members of their communities.
*The Project for Social Inclusion of Children with Disabilities: Supporting social integration of children with disabilities in Nyanando, Kisumu, Kenya
*Disability-Inclusive Child Development Project: Supporting the healthy growth and development of low-income vulnerable children in Kisumu Nyanando, Kenya by ensuring their basic rights
First, through the Disability-Inclusive Child Development Project, We helped 45 children with disabilities who had been kept at home due to their disabilities despite being of school age to attend public primary schools. While this is a great step forward, the Kenya chapter recognized the importance of creating an environment where children with disabilities can actually learn. We built special classrooms in three public primary schools in Nyanza to create a learning environment suitable for children with disabilities. We also transformed 11 other schools and education-related facilities in Nyanza into barrier-free environments that are accessible to all, making education more accessible to children with disabilities.
(Kenya office's achievement announcement)
The Expectations of the Local Community for the Next 10 Years of Miral Kenya
The government and community officials who attended this conference expressed their gratitude for the achievements of the past 10 years. They also requested that Miral Welfare Foundation continue its efforts for the growth and social inclusion of the most vulnerable children and children with disabilities, especially those living in more marginalized and excluded circumstances in Kenya.
““Thanks to Miral Welfare Foundation, children with disabilities in the Nyando region have officially registered themselves to the government for as persons with disabilities. This enables them to receive systematic governmental support for persons with disabilities. Such efforts by Miral will undoubtedly serve as a solid foundation for the social inclusion of children with disabilities in the Kisumu region.”
-Official from the Kisumu County Chapter of the Kenya National Council for Persons with Disabilities-
“For the past 10 years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Miral Welfare Foundation has not left the side of Kenya's most marginalized children and individuals with disabilities. In the next 10 years and beyond, Miral Kenya will continue to stand with the marginalized people in Kenya under the name of Miral. ”
-Miral Welfare Foundation kenya Country Directior Bae Eunsun-
To prepare for the next 10 years, Miral Kenya has established a mid- to long-term vision for social integration through ensuring the fundamental rights of all Kenyan children with and without disabilities. To fulfill this vision, we will continue to move forward unwaveringly as we have been doing so far.
We hope that you, our supporters, will join us in the next 10 years of the Wheat Ridge Welfare Foundation Kenya with your warmth and love.